Re: Why the proletariat?

[Bruce McQuain <mcquain@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Adam wrote:

>Because workers produce all the wealth under capitalism, they have the power
>to overthrow it.

  One has to wonder why they haven't then.  I don't say that flippantly or
to provoke...I do wonder.  My theory is they have see no reason to do so
because of the relative comfort they've been able to attain, the "accomodation"
they enjoy.  I believe it was Rakesh that quoted the example of the "Ford
contract" (I believe that's correct).  That accomodation has kept workers
quietly in check for years.

    Don't forget what you are demanding they do...destroy the institution
that has helped them attain this comfort zone for something radically different
that only promises a "superior lifestyle" with nothing to point too as proof.

  My experience tells me that human beings are not creatures that will
willingly jeopardize what they consider a most adequate lifestyle for
nebulous promises of
a more "moral" lifestyle, a "fairer" existance, or "social justice".  Those
terms
have little meaning to a people living "comfortably".  The comfort zone has
to be threatened before they'll take any action.  Look at France right now
for an example.

>Also, capitalism thrusts ever increasing numbers of workers together,
>collectivising them whether they like it or not. So Capitalism creates
>the potential for collective struggle which is neccessary to defeat
>Capitalism at the workplace.

  With the virtual office becoming more and more common, that's something that
can't be counted on.  Many more workers will be physically isolated in the
not to distant future.

>Sometimes when particular groups of workers are oppressed, like
>in Nothern Ireland, it is only at the workplace workers from
>both sides of the divide can come together and discover their
>common interest and combined power.

  OK...but how does that translate into action when outside the workplace
they are divided?  It would seem to me that it would be extremely difficult
to overcome the rift outside of work in the particular case you cite.

>Marx was able to discern these trends in his time. Now, however, it is
>clearer than ever. There are more workers in South Korea today than there
>were in the whole world in Marx's time.

  And they are more comfortable/content now than they were 10 years ago.  What's
the incentive to rock the boat?  This comfort zone developed by workers in
industrialized capitalist countries is what has stunted any Marxist or
communist grassroots movements from gaining much ground anywhere within the
so-called  "democracies" of this world.  Why should they trade what they
perceive as "real"
gain for what can only be presented as utopia, especially when what is being
touted
has been perceived to have failed so miserably in the USSR and eastern
Europe and as
oppressive and totalitarian in China?


  McQ





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