Is our society matured enough to sustain our changing economic fortunes?

Barring the most recent economic crisis, the last fifteen or so years have seen a significant general rise in the spending capacity of a large chunk of the Bangladeshi people.

Over this period of time, millions of Bangladeshis graduated from the lower income to at least lower-middle income, and from lower-middle income to the middle or upper-middle income segment of the society.

The economic improvement can be seen in the unprecedented levels of investment by local and international brands in the country's economy as a result of consumption levels increasing at a meteoric pace until the latest global crisis.

So, the economic middle class of our nation has seen the addition of millions of new members over the last decade and a half.

Now, we must keep one thing in mind - the nature of a nation is shaped largely by its middle class. They are the main drivers of economic development and the key sculptors of social norms. They are in touch with both the root levels and the elite class, so they have great influence over a nation's culture and traditions.

We also have to keep in mind that our national education system in general is arguably far from being world class, and right now is not the most capable of producing competent global citizens.

Bangladesh, especially in the '80s and '90s and up until perhaps the early 2000s had a vibrant middle class, and an intellectual class that used to feed its thought processes - the latter although not perhaps the most competent, was at least functional to a workable extent.

After that period, as the economic development on a national, societal, and individual level resulted in rapid graduation of people from the lower to the middle-income segment or the middle class segment of the society, what our society experienced is millions of people with relatively primitive mentality becoming members of a class that by nature helps to shape the culture and traditions of our society.

Meanwhile, many widely respected and revered senior public intellectuals have left us for the afterlife over the last decade or so. The ones that remain, and the new crop of thinkers - apart from a small handful - do not enjoy a high degree of reach or credibility among the mass. The possible reasons for the latter are subject to research and debate.

So, we now have a giant number of poorly educated people in our middle class with little to no civic sense and critical thinking skills, and a generally dysfunctional intellectual class incapable of guiding them.

The result is a divided, disfigured society filled with disrespect and hatred, with hardly any generally accepted culture or tradition.

Does it mean that our future is bleak from a social point of view? I do not think so, because I can also see positive developments. Unlike in the past, over the past few years a growing number of our youngsters are coming back home after getting higher education and training in more developed and socially more matured nations. They are serving different sectors of our economy and society using their (hopefully) broader and deeper understanding of the world.

A slowly but surely rising number of relatively young, sensible, and competent critical thinkers are attracting a growing number of readers and listeners from all levels of the society especially on social media - helping to start or continue important conversations - which I hope is helping to narrow the social divide in terms of critical thinking and reasoning skills.

Bangladesh has also seen a growing number successful startups over the last few years by relatively young and energetic, visionary entrepreneurs, which are generating employment, enabling especially youngsters from across the social divide to mix with each other, sharing and exchanging knowledge, again helping to close the social divide.

So yes, there definitely are reasons for optimism, too.

I hope that in the coming months and years, the government - formed by whichever party is elected by our people - will prioritize effective investment in academia at all levels, public health, and infrastructure, among others. Measures to decentralize our economy from overpopulated mega-cities such as Dhaka and Chattogram, for instance, are also going to be crucial.

Overall, our government will have to create social, political, and economic environments that will encourage a higher number of qualified Bangladeshi scholars and entrepreneurs living in different corners of the world, especially the West, to come back home. The expertise as well as thefinancial and intellectual capital they will bring with them, should help to strike a better balance between our economic development and social progress. For this, ensuring political stability in the long run is going to be critical.

Our economy has been developing at a very impressive pace over the last decade and a half. As a proud Bangladeshi, I am hoping that the rate at which our society needs to mature to sustain this development in the long run, is soon going to be on par with the rate of economic development.

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P.S. This is a surface-level assessment based purely on personal observations and experience. If you have read the whole piece, thank you. Any opinion you may have, whether agreeing or disagreeing with my opinions, or adding to my knowledge, are most welcome.

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