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ll over the world, the economic slowdown is taking its toll on just about everybody. In developed countries like Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal, it is the jobless and the middle-class who are feeling the pinch most of all. Except of course the 1 percent at the very top and their coterie of another 3-4 percent, give or take. Just about everywhere, life’s getting even better for that 5 percent. Only for the remaining 95, the degrees of pain and grief vary in their intensity. They are the people feeling the brunt of the austerity drives, the cutbacks and the rollbacks, nobody else. It’s the same people, the overwhelming majority, who get hurt every time. Without exception.

The self-proclaimed champions of democracy and free-market capitalism, the mighty United States of America, have laid bare the obvious truth yet again. While poverty grows, the super-rich will continue to get tax-deductions on their Learjets, Warren Buffet will pay less tax than his secretary and Obamacare will be repealed if the Republicans could have their way. Fortunately, for most Americans that’s an unlikely scenario, thanks to the ineptitude of those challenging their beleaguered president at the next election. Would anybody in this country like to promote that brand of free-wheeling capitalism?

You couldn’t, not really, if you consider the evidence. On the one hand, the last five years have seen exceptional economic progress right across this sprawling country. Poverty is down, but far from beaten. Wages are up significantly, unemployment is down to single-digit. The middle-class, defined by ownership of a refrigerator, a TV set and a car or motorcycle, has grown from 25 to 42 percent of all households. Three out of four Indonesians 14 years of age and older now have a mobile phone. But on the other hand, the cost of everyday essentials has continued to rise, putting the squeeze on just about every home. How the 95 percent respond to that reality is clear.

“I think it is the government’s duty to support those who can’t find work,” say 92 percent of the people, up from 87 five years ago. With unemployment going down but cost of living going up, more people are more compassionate today. The growing sympathy is in itself an indicator of social progress, the haves caring for the plight of the have-nots. In time, a society that can afford to be more caring will see legislators pushing harder for an effective safety net. The pressure on those primarily responsible for wanton corruption and callous law-enforcement will continue to mount.

Those living in homes where the breadwinner has a job aren’t looking at life through rose-tinted glasses. Eight out of 10 Indonesians continue to believe “the gap between the rich and poor is growing”. The fluctuations are negligible. Nowadays, 70 percent say they have “recently cut down my spending”. This has climbed back up from the low of 63 just two years ago. At a time when there has been explosive growth in the sales of motorcycles, refrigerators and TV sets, this may seem a contradiction of thought versus action. The explanation lies in the fact that these “modcons” are no longer luxuries in the owners’ reckoning, they are necessities. We need to remember that only 42 percent of the population live in households with all three of these worldly possessions. This group is growing rapidly and that is good news. Once these acquisitions enter those homes, they become a part of everyday life, nothing particularly special.

Who is to say what is a luxury and what isn’t? There are no constants, except change itself. Proof of those changing perceptions is provided by the 68 percent who “don’t buy luxuries anymore”, moving up from the low of 58 in December 2009. To many, an ice cream is a luxury. To a few, even Gucci is passé.

It is these contrasts that make the BBM debate all the more poignant. Most of those kicking this political soccer around would probably agree in private that a price hike of subsidised fuel is long overdue. If the cost of essentials like transport, education and health were affordable, available and accessible, the prospect of rising costs for food and fuel would have been more palatable than it is now. In public, too many politicians are using the protests of the people as an easy opportunity to curry favor. They forget that the majority of voters aren’t easily fooled. The vacillation of parties changing position has been duly noted. The postponement of the inevitable isn’t a victory, whichever side of the argument you are on.

What we cannot forget is social justice, what we cannot ignore is the growing inequality. Those failures are visible everywhere, from the Occupy Movement, the English Riots to the Arab Street. And presently, on the main streets around Indonesia. Common sense needs to prevail. The lines between ideologies, capitalism versus communism, liberals versus conservatives, often get too blurred nowadays. For the elite, it’s all about “me”, and less about “us”.

These conclusions are based on Roy Morgan Single Source, the country’s largest syndicated survey. More than 26,000 respondents are interviewed every year, week after week. The data is projected to reflect 87 percent of the population 14 years of age and over.

The writer can be contacted at debnath.guharoy@roymorgan.com.