In every society in history, in every human community that exists, will exist or has existed on this planet, there has been an Upper and Lower Class. Some people simply have more power, prestige and wealth than others. I’m not arguing how or why this is, or even if it should be, just that it is.

Now we can argue that there are intermediate classes, a Middle class, if you like. Or we can cut hairs like economists, political scientists and sociologists do and talk about multiple classes or of gradients in our class system. We can postulate about or define upper and lower middle, working, lumpen proletariat, petit bourgeois, elites and so on. Or we can argue how people are distributed into classes, where the boundaries are, and how to define who belongs to which, or how hard or easy it is to change classes, either by political action, personal initiative or violent revolution. We can disagree about what determines who gets into which class, and how much control we have over this as a society or as individuals.

But this is all speculation and discussion, open to debate and partisan disagreement. The point is, some people have more wealth, power and prestige than others, and except for those two guys at the very top and the very bottom, we all see ourselves in some great, undifferentiated Middle Class, oppressed by an elite above, and threatened by a rabble below. In general, we may hate the elite, but we all want to join them, so we tend to cut them a little slack. After all, many of us have convinced ourselves (sometimes with a little help from those above us) that if we work hard, follow the rules, and don’t cause any trouble, someday we’ll get to climb up the ladder too. This conviction is called the Social Contract and when it breaks down and people lose faith in it, the society becomes unstable. Not everyone has signed on to this, but most of us in the middle have. The ones at the top know its all just a sham, and those at the bottom agree with them, but for different reasons. But as long as enough in the middle accept the Contract, the Center, and the Society, holds. People show up to work and the Ubers run on time.

So we can’t afford to fight those above us, after all, not only do we want to grow up to be like them, we also recognize that without their help we’re not going anywhere. Now for the low-lifes and scumbags below us on this social pyramid, all we can see is a great mass of troublemakers and criminals. They are lazy, violent, larcenous, stupid, greedy and envious: everything we’re NOT. Because, after all, we are Middle Class, we are nice folks, we have a work ethic, we are law-abiding, family-minded, educated, patriotic and religious, we know our place, but we wish to better ourselves. Aren’t we wonderful?

But those below us, they just want what we have earned through hard work and they are not willing to work for it. Money for nothin’ and chicks for free. They want our stuff! And when times are tough and things are hard for everybody, we suddenly lose faith in the elite because we think they (the elite) will take our (the Middle Class’s) stuff, and buy them (the Lower Classes) off. The Social Contract depends on the Upper and Middle classes ganging up on the Lower. This is Fascism. When the Middle and Lower classes gang up on the Upper, its called Socialism.

This delicate balance (the Social Contract) is breaking down. It used to be the Lower Classes, were poor, lived in crappy neighborhoods, had lives riddled by crime, drugs, unemployment, debt, family dysfunction, cultural decay and the collapse of social and civic institutions. But that was all in the Ghetto, the Barrio and the Reservation. It didn’t happen to nice white folks in the ‘burbs, did it? And of course, it couldn’t be racism, because everybody has heard of that black guy who is a Silicon Valley mogul or that Latino dude who made it big on Wall Street. That’s our proof! They must be inferior, they do deserve what they get. After all, we have proof that SOME of them were able to claw their way out of poverty, so why can’t the others? If they can’t better themselves like we did there obviously must be something wrong with them.

The Middle Class is buying its detached house outside of town, they have two cars, and their 1.7 kids are going to college. They may be wallowing in debt and living paycheck-to-paycheck, but it is manageable. They have a nice job, wearing a necktie in an air-conditioned office, or they run a real estate investment counseling business. Or maybe they have a high-paying Union job, with benefits, at the local factory. They are doing better than their parents did, and their kids will do better than they are. The Social Contract works!

Or does it?

The small rural towns, the Mayberry’s and Anytowns of middle America are becoming poor and crappy; crime, drugs, unemployment, debt, family dysfunction, cultural decay and the collapse of social and civic institutions is becoming rampant, not only in small town America, but in the suburbs and bedroom communities around our decaying cities, too. All those nasty things that happened in the Ghetto, the Barrio and the Reservation are starting to happen to nice white folks, too. There are no more high-paying jobs, no more factories, no more Unions and no more neckties. The blue collar jobs are being shipped overseas and the white collar ones automated. The management jobs will start going next. You know its coming–you’ve seen it in your own careers, haven’t you? Your kids can’t afford to go to college, and they’re living in your basement; but there’s more computer power in their telephone than there was at Apollo Mission Control. Whoopee, aren’t we wonderful?

The cancer started at the extremities but its working itself up into the body now, the gut and lungs and heart of the nation. We can’t all be Silicon Valley engineers and Hi-tech entrepreneurs. We can’t all run art galleries or teach Pilates to Seniors. Someone has to drive the trucks and turn the wrenches, at least until Gupta, robots and Mexicans take over those jobs, too.

The Social Contract needs to be re-negotiated. And Donald Trump is just the man to do it. After all, its people just like him who negotiated the last one.