Tolkien is very obviously putting forward some kind of aspirational project for better living through whatever. Namely that small ordinary people (hobbits) who

Tolkien is very obviously putting forward some kind of aspirational project for better living through whatever. Namely that small ordinary people (hobbits) who come from the Shire (the green pastures of England) and live in Hobbit holes (quant English cottages and farmhouses) are more powerful than kings, wizards, and unspeakable evil (Hitler), despite the fact that they live in the shadow of a golden age (the British Empire) that will never happen again. Plus the evils of industrialization, in case you got to the end without spotting the obvious. But social class matters intensely, and it's a shame that people are forgetting that. (The great virtue of Samwise Gamgee being not just that he is loyal, but most importantly that he knows his place in the order of things).