Oversimplification
The "middle class" is not monolithic. Voter turnout in Poland was massive and they dumped the bad guys. Brazil recently elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over authoritarian Jair Bolsonaro. And let's not forget Joe Biden's big win. There seems to be more of an ebb and flow to the authoritarian spread. And where it takes hold it's not necessarily permanent.
The battle is not lost.