a 53% poverty surge is reshaping suburbs

[bcbm]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/suburban-poverty-surge-challenges-communities.html?_r=1

[ВАЛТЕР]

Could this be a chance for some class consciousness to appear in the US? With so many out of work, and living in poverty, they are going to look for a way out. Rallying them, and organizing them into a class conscious body should be the focus of any leftist group.

[CAleftist]

Could this be a chance for some class consciousness to appear in the US? With so many out of work, and living in poverty, they are going to look for a way out. Rallying them, and organizing them into a class conscious body should be the focus of any leftist group.

Which revolutionary leftist group exists in the US that could fill that need?

[ВАЛТЕР]

Which revolutionary leftist group exists in the US that could fill that need?


I can't think of any. Perhaps leftists need to organize as it is. Turn communities affected by poverty into leftist bases of action. The first step would be to oust the gangs which infest many of these communities though.

[Adorno4498]

Wouldn't race mistrust and indoctrination by the public education system be an issue in primarily Afro-American and Latino areas, though?

[ВАЛТЕР]

Wouldn't race mistrust and indoctrination by the public education system be an issue in primarily Afro-American and Latino areas, though?

It may, depending on the community and the area. Therefore you would have to gain their trust by allowing Leftists who are not white to educate the community, in order to spread ideas of class solidarity. It may take a while, however it would be well worth it. Especially if Leftists organized neighborhood defense in order to protect from crime and violence.

Remember that there are also poor white areas as well, although I can see these as being the hardest areas to reach with Leftist ideas.

[Le Socialiste]

Perhaps the most important thing to note here is the steady erosion of what has made up the American 'mentality' for half a century, namely the "American Dream." A growing percentage of the population (specifically those who make up the working-class) are witnessing a return to the general lack of financial independence that defined America prior to the 1950s. We've heard before how the growing disparities between the "rich" and "poor" have largely returned to pre-Depression levels, but as the financial crisis trudges on we'll be seeing this reality more and more until it's impossible not to see it. As it currently stands I think people are reaching the point of total and complete disillusionment. It won't lead to communism, but it will hold the potential for radicalization.

[Adorno4498]

It may, depending on the community and the area. Therefore you would have to gain their trust by allowing Leftists who are not white to educate the community, in order to spread ideas of class solidarity. It may take a while, however it would be well worth it. Especially if Leftists organized neighborhood defense in order to protect from crime and violence.

Remember that there are also poor white areas as well, although I can see these as being the hardest areas to reach with Leftist ideas.

I see a programme like that of the Black Panthers as maybe being effective, namely distribution of radical literature, self defence classes and a free breakfast programme. Of course, back then, the only issue of radicals appealing to blacks and Latinos was the issue of race mistrust, and they had the Black Panthers to help. Now, we have a brand of individualism and romanticisation of wealth with the advent of hip hop and electro. Then again, there are radical hiphop/electro artists.
As far as the white working class, the main glue that keeps the current relations going stateside is the Liberal Contradiction, namely, the fact that liberalism appeals to emotion by using terms like freedom, and the fact that it is the status quo system. So, a huge goal would be to combat liberalism and dispel notions that capitalism is the best of all possible worlds, and also to inform people that modern capitalism is far more monopolistic and distraction based in nature than the capitalism preceding World War 2, and thus not truly "free".