What do you think it's like to live in the middle class cars?
Well, most followers of this blog have a regular or semi-regular internet access, which means, in general, that they have clothes on their backs, some food and most often a roof over their heads even if the situations can be more or less precarious and they can know various kinds of struggles, so Iâd say the majority of us already know what itâs like to live in the middle class cars.
Now the big difference between the Train and our capitalist models of societies is that we are encouraged, or at least those on top make us dream of, changing our social status. See, the so-called âAmerican dreamâ for example, its the promise that with enough work anyone can make it to the top, everyone has the same chances (haha!). Itâs in the collective mind that if you work hard enough you can climb the ladder and become richer, have a better situation (âWhaddaya mean racial inequalities in the USA, Jay-Z and Barack Obama are rich, arenât they?â). Sure, it can happen. But in capitalism, for it to happen, you donât actually climb a ladder, you just stomp on people underneath you. A few people can get richer, but at the expense of poorer people, there canât be people getting rich if there are no poor people to exploit, you canât save money on the t-shirt you buy if itâs not made by extremely poor people in third world countries, you canât expect such a cheap cheeseburger in your McDonaldâs if the employees are paid an actual decent wage.
Anyway, all this to say, the middle class in most societies around the world is told that they can get a better status (and if they donât, well, itâs their fault). But in the Train, where the motto is âknow your place, keep your placeâ, I wonder if the system is exactly the same. Are the guards, the gardeners, the middle class workers given opportunities to move to the front. Can they get promotions? Are they allowed to dream to be in the front and enjoy its luxury (just as Edgar and Curtis did in the beginning, saying how they would act when they would be there, just as we all say sometimes âWhen Iâm rich Iâm gonna do this, or do thatâ) or are they trained to stay in their lane because thatâs the way it is and that trying to change things would be chaos, as Mason puts it? The tail section is taught that everyone should remain in their preordained position, this is something Mason and Wilford both repeat, so we could think that everyone stays in their place and there are no possibilities to âmove to the frontâ, unlike in our society.
However, there are a few examples of tail-sectioners having gained a better social status: Paul the guy who makes the food, and Gerald the violinist (and itâs interesting to notice that both ended up fully collaborating with the Front, probably because they didnât have a choice). So maybe in the Middle thereâs also a system of rewards, maybe they let the workers think that if theyâre good enough they can get a better situation?
All middle class workers are obedient, even more than the tail sectioners, for a simple reason: itâs not just that they are brainwashed, itâd be too easy to think that way, but because they have something to lose. Of course guarding prisons or growing tomatoes, or repeatedly making sushi for spoiled brats is not exciting but itâs better than having nothing. The middle class, just as it is in real life, remains silent most of the time because they have jobs/house/material privileges to keep. At least, theyâre not the scum of the train, theyâre not âtail-section pricksâ to quote Minsu, they have a purpose, jobs and defined roles, a little bit of comfort. If they rebelled, they would be dead and thus lose everything. So I think in the middle sections they prefer to stay where they are and enjoy what they have (a level of comfort thatâs nowhere near what you can find in the Front but still better than the Tail) instead of trying too hard to push towards the Front and risk losing everything. Do what theyâre told, ask no questions, just accept the situation and admit it could be worse.
