World News and Trends: Is a middle class utopia practically affordable?
As more people in third-world countries are being considered "middle class," will the effects bring negative results?
Mankind has periodically sought to bring about a prosperous, plentiful and peaceful paradise well before God is ready to produce it. In the past Britain's Labour Party manifesto has read like a blueprint for the Kingdom of God.
Now we read that "the middle class in poor countries is the fastest-growing segment of the world's population. While the total population will increase by about 1 billion in the next 12 years, the ranks of the middle class will swell by 1.8 billion . . . The middle class will almost double in poor countries where sustained economic growth is lifting people above the poverty line fast. For example, by 2025, China will have the world's largest middle class, while India's will be 10 times larger than it is today" (Foreign Policy [FP], March/April 2008).
That is, of course, if we don't suffer a major world famine first. Serious repercussions are already manifesting themselves. For instance, third-world riots over rising food costs have already occurred. And Foreign Policy editor-in-chief Moises Naim said, "Prices are soaring not because there is less food, but because more people can afford to eat more."
The impact of the emergence of a large middle class in Asia will also inevitably drive upward the costs of world resources other than food. The insatiable demand for electricity in China and India boggles the mind. The FP article continued: "The adjustment to a middle class greater than what the world has ever known is just beginning. As the Indonesian and Mexican protestors [to higher food prices] can attest, it won't be cheap. And it won't be quiet." (Source: Foreign Policy.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2008
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
