How to unite the working class in America?

[CAleftist]

In America, let's face it, the working class is divided. Nationalists vs immigrants, whites vs blacks vs Latinos, Christians vs non-Christians, straights vs gays, etc.

All of these are divisions created by the ruling class to ensure that a unified working class doesn't rise up and overthrow the ruling class.

My question is, where to start with uniting people? It seems that finding material conditions that are common to people across other boundaries would help.

Once there are more and more people out of jobs and more and more people seeing their wages being slashed, their retirement terminated and Wall Street running off with their money, it seems that the things that divide the working class won't be significant anymore.

[Comrade Marxist Bro]

My question is, where to start with uniting people?

The working class is just a very large group of individuals. Why not try talking to people on a person-by-person basis? We don't have the mass media or resources of the dominant ruling class. We have little alternative but to rely on the old-fashioned spreading of ideas by word-of-mouth.

Tons of us are brainwashed to accept the vicious world that we've been living in from childhood as something close to an ideal, and yet plenty of people are already disillusioned and looking for answers to why the shit always seems to be hitting the fan in America. In that respect, the work is cut out for us: you merely have to convince them of the correctness of your analysis.

Most people aren't ready to soak up Marx 101 (or Anarchism 101 or even Laissez-Faire 101), so it's best to attempt to convince them on an issue-by-issue basis and then logically these issues with the underlying problems inherent to the capitalist system, rather than throwing the whole book of theory at them and telling them to embrace Marx as the first step to great enlightenment. After all, plenty of disillusioned people may retain the hope that their participation in mainstream politics can do some good, and that's not true.

Such people likely won't accept more radical ideas without getting to the epiphany that the entire system is corrupt to the point of being rigged against ordinary, hard-working people like themselves, and that it simply isn't amenable to a substantial kind of self-reform. Whether it's outsourced industry, perpetual war on Muslims, shitty healthcare, biased media, or the polluted environment, capitalism is a system where you are either profitting from others or serving those who do the profitting, and it's important for people to see exactly which side of the balance they end up standing on. Things kind of fall into place when such matters are cleared up. Of course, the ordinary Joe is not therefore going to become a camouflaged leftist guerrilla, but plenty of thoughtful people will see our ideology, be able to understand the ideas of the left, see where we're coming from and even lend their support.

Just try talking to people about their concerns -- and make sure that you yourself are educated about the facts and understand things clearly in order to proceed from that. You'll also understand their views, and will be able to refine your own.

[Victus Mortuum]

Start building minimal pan-radical-left sociopolitical organizations to act as the catalyst for the revolution. Aid in the construction of the Worker-Class Party-Movement. American workers wouldn't be divided, if broken from the presuppositions, the social framing, of having private dictators controlling the economy and manipulating the government. If you can shatter this simple illusion, this simple implicit assumption, you have broken through much of the problem - with other positions following suit over time.

[Peace on Earth]

Help people overcome their problems. If workers are concerned about a lack of health protection on the job, work to gain benefits for the workers and then explain how, in a better system, all workers would be protected where they work (as well as in control).

Much of what is said here is abstract. The problem is, abstract won't put food on the table. Solutions that alleviate problems, along with explanations of the problem and solution, will do far more good than any abstract rant will do for a worker.