Port Louis — Throughout the ages, it is thinkers and teachers, discoverers and inventors, professionals and entrepreneurs, traders and businessmen who have made the world progress. They form a disparate lot, lumped together as "the middle class". But their vision and their urge to do better have provided mankind with the spirit and the resources to help usher in a better tomorrow.

A recent article by S. Ganguly of India, reproduced in l'express of 17 July, pinpoints the role of the middle class in improving India's economy as well as its democracy. "The middle class ethic of working for a more prosperous future is spreading across the board." The McKinsey Global Institute has forecast that India's middle class, currently numbering 50 million, will have exploded to 583 million by the year 2025. What is worth noting is that "a middle class-governed society would certainly improve Indian democracy in many ways".

The middle class is also a buffer between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and is in general a rampart against extremism and bigotry. However, a large proportion of the middle class has its roots in the proletariat, and this fact is looked upon with envy by those members of the working class that did not or could not follow in their footsteps.

Immigrants particularly have largely helped their country of adoption to progress economically. The Indian diaspora and the Chinese diaspora are well-known examples of large groups of immigrants and their descendants who have done quite well in business and the professions. Their culture of hard work and savings has stood them in good stead in difficult times, but this has not been to the liking of everybody.

The self-styled Lord Superior, a well-known exponent of calypso in Trinidad, voiced such sentiments when he called upon the Trinidad Prime Minister some 50 years ago to "tax the Indians mad" on the ground that they had been exploiting the people. In his own calypso style he sang:

. They got one million dollars tied between their legs . and advised the Prime Minister "to chop loose the kapra (dhoti) and haul out your income tax".

But such sentiments of a racial character have no raison d'être where the middle class is multi-racial as in Mauritius. But if the middle class shrinks, it will no longer be able to act as a buffer against extremists of all kinds. Unfortunately, our Minister Superior, who is also a Magician, is continuing with his act of making the middle class disappear. You are losing your purchasing power? Don't worry. You will pay less income tax Sorry, that was not meant for you, but for the wealthy who need the extra money to invest.

You have saved for your children and for your old age? Sorry, the savings will be taxed "pour encourager" others not to commit such a crime. The money is meant to be used for development, not to be kept unused in a bank. You own a house which you have built or which you have bought with your savings? Sorry, your house is National Property now. You have to pay NRPT on it even if you are already paying your dues to the Municipal Council for services that it provides.

Our Minister Superior, taking his cue from the Lord Superior, is taxing the middle class mad. Whereas other emerging economies are promoting the expansion of the middle class, here his policies are making the middle class shrink. But continue to have hope which Shakespeare told us springs eternal in the human breast. The Minister Superior, who is also a magician, is capable of making your savings reappear, your house become your constitutional property again, and restoring your purchasing power . provided you are still alive and the middle class has not disappeared by the time he leaves office.