Middle Class And Society’S Intellectual Potential[Средний Класс И Интеллектуальный Потенциал Общества]

Introduction. In sociology, the tendency of the middle class reduction, structural changes in its composition is mainly considered within the framework of socio-economic consequences: decline in production and taxation base, the increasing impact on the budget, the threat of weakening social stability, and derogation of faith in social justice. However, the process of reducing the middle class (in combination with a number of other factors) results in deeper destructions: decrease in the society’s intellectual potential, in the population’s de-qualification and deprofessionalization. The aim of the study is to describe the socio-psychological portrait of a middle class representative and to analyze the hypothesis of the scientific practicability of introducing the coefficient of inventive activity as one of the criteria for developing the society’s intellectual potential. Methods. The author uses onthological analysis, generalization of independent characteristics, observation, comparative and contrasting comparison, balance method. Scientific novelty of the study. The author proposes an additional criterion for evaluating a middle class representative: personal dignity as an indicator of moral and psychological identity, complying not only with consumption standards, but also with sample ideas about intellectual potential, personal self-sufficiency. The author considers the factors affecting the intellectual potential of society, on the processes of population’s de-qualification and shows that it is possible to use the coefficient of inventive activity as a tool for assessing the intellectual potential of society. Results. The author makes a preliminary analysis of the socio-psychological destructions caused by the middle class reduction, points out the correlation dependence of the region’s population level of intellectual potential and the share of middle-class families. Conclusions. The low level of salaries that does not make it possible for people employed in science and education to become part of the middle class, the reduction of small and medium-sized businesses, and the transfer of entrepreneurs to government institutions result in intellectual degradation of the society and de-qualification of a significant part of the workforce. In the context of a decline in the quality of professional education, it is necessary to search for new criteria to assess the intellectual potential of society.