Bernie Sanders
In reply to the discussion: So I guess we got the meme [View all]AOR
(692 posts)There is no possibility of separation. The battle is between the ruling class (those that own and control the means of production, the commons, the resources, and all the power and those who profit mightily off of that power structure) and the rest of us who own nothing but our own labor and have no power whatsoever. The level of confusion here in the discussions on this - whether deliberately created or just plain confusion - is beyond anything I have ever witnessed on any political forum. Institutionalized racism is the by-product of capitalist social relations and there is no other narrative that fits the historical material reality other than that. Hope you don't mind but this seems to fit your post from a class perspective. I have no idea how this doesn't apply to the underlying foundations of the struggle of Black Lives Matter. Maybe I'm missing something.
The Class Struggle and the American Working Class
Written by John Peterson
"For millions of people around the world, the United States represents the ultimate citadel of reaction: Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, the CIA, imperialism, sanctions, war, drones, anti-communism, discrimination, and exploitation. The American people are alleged to be a homogeneous bloc of ignorant, indifferent racists who blindly and enthusiastically back the reactionary economic and military policies of their government. Many peopleeven on the left imagine that the US is immune from class conflict, and that life for the majority in the belly of the beast is prosperous and peaceful. However, while there may be an element of truth in some of this, the reality is far more complex. The United States is in fact a society riven with deep class contradictions. It has an enormous and powerful working class and an inspiring revolutionary pastand future."
(Snip)
Class struggle
"So just what is the class struggle? Simply defined, the class struggle is the struggle over the surplus wealth created by the producing classes. Will that surplus go towards further enriching the minority that controls society? Or will it go towards improving the quality of life of the working majority who actually produce the wealth? Or perhaps we can live in a world without exploiters, where society democratically determines what is to be done with the wealth we collectively produce?
The ruling class is that class which controls the state and owns the means of production of societythe land and natural resources, the workshops and factories, the banks. The actual producers of wealth are those who own nothing but their ability to work, and are therefore either owned outright as slaves, tied to the land as feudal serfs, perhaps own a tiny plot of land on which they scrape out an existence while still having to work and pay debts to others, or sell their labor power for a wage to a capitalist. That is the simplified essence of the class struggle. In the modern era, that struggle is above all between the working class and the capitalist class."
(Snip)
Class society
"All of this applies to the US just as much as any other country dominated by capitalismyou cannot have an exploiting capitalist class without a working class that is being exploited. Long before US capitalism entered its predatory, imperialist phase, the ruling class enriched itself on the vast natural resources and labor of millions of people right here on the American continent.
In fact, Americas more than 155 million workers are among the most exploited on the planet. Based on an extremely high level of labor productivity, American workers create vast amounts of wealth for the capitalists, but receive only a small ratio of that back in the form of wages. The effects of a strike of even a small portion of the American workers would be devastating to the profits of the capitalists. For example, just 36,000 unionized dock workers load and unload every ship on the West coast of the United States. This means that every single container imported to the US Pacific coast from Asia and beyond must first pass through the hands of a relative handful of union workers. Even a one-day strike of these dockers would result in billions of dollars in losses to the capitalists. This is a clear indication of the colossal power of the US working class.
The working class is the overwhelming majority of the USA; the wonders of its cities, railroads, highways, mines, industry, and vast tracts of farmland are the result of the workers sweat, tears, blood, and brains. And yet, Americans themselves are rarely taught the truth about their own history. There is a very simple reason for this. If American workers were to understand their true power and their classs repeated attempts to change society, they might be tempted to engage in open class struggle again and againand this represents a mortal threat to the continuation of the capitalist system."
Full article at link...
http://www.marxist.com/the-class-struggle-and-the-american-working-class.htm