I am, not surprised; but, somewhat dismayed with ...

[guillaumeb]

34. Divide and conquer.

During the 1930s and 1940s, many union members were promised economic justice in return for social peace. The vast majority of these union members were white. These white workers DID receive economic justice in the form of higher wages, retirement plans, more vacation time, and limited say in working conditions.

But to receive these benefits the unions had to purge themselves of any radical members such as Communists and Socialists. Thus any movement for social justice had to be sacrificed for the economic gains.

But the trade off was illusory and temporary, as the Presidency of Ronald Reagan showed. Beginning with the PATCO strike, union members were shown how any economic gains could be wiped out. Capitalists took back the higher wages, stole the retirement money, and generally have succeeded from 1980 until 2015 in wiping out most of the gains that were won with so much struggle.

How did the capitalists do this? They did it by playing the blame game. White workers were told that black people were to blame because welfare payments were too costly. Even though more whites receive welfare than blacks, only black people can be "welfare queens", a favorite Reagan phrase. Mexican workers were to blame for stealing jobs that white people formerly had, like in the formerly unionized meatpacking industry. Racism and ethnic hatred were used, as always, to divide the working class.

Until social justice is attained, until people realize that workers must be united against the rich, there can never be true economic justice.

Excellent post