General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why I don't like the term "white privilege" [View all]kjones
(1,053 posts)I may be one of them, I admit to having maybe a passable
understanding of Marxism.
Marxism is all about the class, material conditions and production.
Race doesn't really factor in there, so, unlike some others evidently,
I don't see any inconsistency there.
I'm currently mid way through a graduate Marxism class, reading a lot
of stuff I probably wouldn't have gotten around to otherwise. There
are some interesting ideas in there, not all of them I agree with, but
thought provoking nonetheless.
I think what people are missing (unless I'm misunderstanding you) is
that your point isn't that racism etc doesn't exist but that it is both
a symptom of, and a distraction from, class and economic problems.
And that is something people can agree with or disagree with, but I
think we can all agree that both types of problems exist (social relations,
such as racism, and economic problems) and need to be fixed. I also think
most of us would agree, as stated a few posts up, that we can "walk
and chew gum at the same time." You may not agree to that though, in
fact, your post implies as much. Again, to each their own.
So to sum up, I understand basically what you're going for and I respect that,
though I personally think we should keep fighting all issues on all fronts. I think
Pandora's Box is opened and even if conditions of economic equality were
installed in America tomorrow, there are still some problems that would not
be fixed by it, domino style, even given time.
Hopefully, my interpretation of what you've posted is correct, and the
negative reactions above are unwarranted...that is, other posters regarding
race and believing you are purposefully derailing racial equality or are using
Republican talking points.
Because Republicans either argue that racism doesn't exist or is somehow a
positive thing, while what you're saying is "there are bigger things to deal with
that, if fixed, will fix racism in turn."