Labor aristocracy and imperialism

[Charles Brown <BrownBingb@xxxxxxx>]

Subject: Forwarded from Anthony (reply to Charles Brown)

A note to Charles Brown on the Labor Aristocracy and
imperialism.

^^^^

Hello Anthony , you brave comrade ! response below:
^^^^

I read you posts with the pro-imperialist quotes
lifted from somewhere or other on the internet. those
views do exist among a strong, and very reactionary
and backward sector fo the working class, and among
its aristocracy, in the United States.

But those views do not represent the consciousness of
the labor aristocracy in the United States.

Nor do they represent the material interests of that
social layer.

The consciousness of the labor aristocracy in the
United states is contradictory, and its material
interests are as well.

^^^^^

CB: Yes, I would say that the notion that the U.S. is "Number One" represents
part of the contradictory consciousness and material interests of U.S. trade
unionists and many workers. You are correct to say that things are
contradictory, but we cannot ignore the "bad" side of the contradiction.

Union and worker participation in the current anti-war protests certainly
does express  in part , the "good" aspect of this contradictory
consciousness. Yet, although it is very difficult to make a summary statement
about "the"  ( contradictory) consciousness of tens of millions of people
over many decades, the current status of reform , let alone revolution, in
the U.S. is a significant failure.  "Domestic and international " policy are
today abominable, even for U.S. standards. Somehow, whatever the masses of
U.S. workers are thinking, it has not moved them to reign in their
imperialist government.  I am not trying to express blame, but a neutral,
factual observation.  If we are to hope to do anything to change this, we
must honestly face first the reality of what things have, "bottomline" , come
to at up to this point.

The large anti-war demos give a lot of hope. However, although there is union
participation, the reports characterize a lot of the participants as socalled
"middle class" ( although I am one who defines class such that I would say 85
% of the population is working class, and a lot of "middle class" are
technically working class).  We should continue to be very much focussed in
activity for "No War"; it is just that these peace struggles to not mark a
fundamental change in the long term consciousness of American workers or
labor. But as usual, of course, we do everything to "persuade labor" to be
more in this peace movement.

I'm trying to think how to respond to both you and Comrade O'Lincoln, in
that, I am not pointing to these things to "write off" the privileged.  As I
said in one post, I don't see how anything substantially revolutionary can be
done without winning over the privileged and reactionary sectors !  Since
_Leftwing Communism_ we have been charged with working in even reactionary
trade unions, no ?

 I present these stark examples for us to consider how exactly does one go
about changing minds that are like this ? Until we are blue in the face,  we
can prove with statistics the error of their assessments of their privileged
material status ( "richest and most powerful country") relative to Holland or
 the third world, but there is enough validity to their assessments  that
their real life experiences refute our statistics. Not only that, we all know
the psychology of defending one's position in an "argument" works against us.
 If somebody has been arguing all their life that they live in the greatest
country, they are not changed from that position by logic and facts ( as if
most people consider issues arch-rationally like that anyway).

Not to mention I can't even think of terms strong enough to describe the mass
religion of anti-communism that has been instilled in American masses over
the last 90 years, capped off with the fall of the Soviet Union. How the hell
we could persuade any significant number of American workers with
Marxist/Communist arguments that they are actually thinking and acting
against their own interests in considering themselves living in the richest
and most powerful country in the world is difficult for me to see.

 Not only that, there is a carrot and a stick dynamic going on here.
Imperialism does not win over the "privileged" only with "imperialist goodies
and booty" , as Lenin termed it.  The very fact that there are masses in the
relative surplus population, the poor, right here, who serve as examples of
what a worker can become if they lose their job for being radical, (that
fact) is a powerful stick to be gungho for America. American workers are
pragmatic.  Why should they pursue a Marxist ideal of working class radical
movement, a sure loser position in the immediate real life circumstances in
which they find themselves. Then there's the gigantic prison industrial
complex, where you can surely go if you are not sufficiently appreciative of
your "privileged" status.  The labor aristocracy is privileged relative to
tens of millions poor here in the U.S.

 Furthermore, those poor, who are a major part of the U.S. working class, are
largely disabled from participation in political struggle as they only have
time and energy to meet their survival needs. So, we have an incredibly
difficult task in moving either the privileged or underprivileged masses of
our class. That is to say, the "oppressed" are not class conscious either.
They are survival conscious and often more conscious of trying to get into
the privileged sector, by hook or by crook. And I don't know too many people
who think of themselves as among the "poor".  And the bourgeoisie knows all
this and is constantly aggravating and perpetuating all these anti-class and
anti-working class consciousness circumstances, with means ten thousand times
more powerful than ours.

Well, that gets to be a bit rambling, and I know it is incorrect to take up
such a pessimistic tone.  The only way is to aim in the direction you
outline, but it seems to me we have to start with a fully honest and
comprehensive statement of the problem and obstacles in order to go where you
suggest. Believe me, I have many years practiced the discipline of
emphasizing the positive glimmerings from the working class. I've been at
lots of factory gates and picket lines. I live in Detroit.

  Maybe I am wrong to give in to talking about all the problems. Surely mine
is an "internal" post, criticism-self-criticism,  not meant for wide
publication.

-- In terms of immediate activity ,all for preventing escalation of the
ongoing war against Iraq  -- not a word about "privileged U.S. workers".

Peace, No War,

CB

^^^^^^

That's why so many members of the labor aristocracy,
including official union delegations, - white, brown,
and black - participated in the demonstrations against
the upcoming war.

If you are a revolutionary, you can not simply write
off the priveleged workers - you must work to win them
to the side of the oppressed, and against the
oppressor. If you write them off, you not only lose an
opportunity, you lose a battle.

All the best, Anthony





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