Today's average American and the Left

[Reznov]

Does anyone else feel that there is an inherent characteristic that has sprung up around the unique and ever-changing (current-future) free market and fluctuating system that the United States currently is in, and that of its working class (Homeless to Upper middle class) that is inherently unstable and unable to work within a movement/group/organization or any other type of real world activism or action representing Socialism or the Left? The closet thing I have seen thus far has been Occupy, and now we see the results of that. What can/is possible/should come next in 2014?

I am not saying I don't there is a feeling of the need for change, I just feel that the average American worker is atm, in the most basest of words, simply contempt to be a worker. I say this even for the struggling worker failing to make ends meet, since they continue their work because they are literally forced too and yet neither a me, you has formed a party/movement nor have they done anything of worth.

Basically, besides a shit ton of useless "knowledge" on the interwebz, there has been no real shift in working class attitude/nor any change in the political/cultural(Indeed, glorification has made this even more feasible)and economic landscape to mark any shift or represent any new changing shift in current general populace thinking to come anytime soon.

In the "First World" there are subtypes within the working class. Affluent workers in the West often side with capitalists against other workers. In the U.S., there is an increasing economic and social divide between a growing underclass of relatively low-paid workers, the underemployed, the casually employed, etc., and the more affluent workers. This is a major roadblock to working-class solidarity and unity.

What if the future is that of a whole planet like the First World with a large submerged class of workers, a small affluent labor elite, and the capitalists on top?

I suppose another thing to ask is, how will we(Or a vanguard party/movement etc...) galvanize the American working class to action in the U.S.?

Maybe I'm a bit of a pessimist, what do you think?

[ChrisK]

My experience (which is admittedly limited to my time talking with workers and my own work) is that none of the workers I've known are content to be workers. The problem is that none of them see an alternative. We don't have an effective voice. If we had a more effective voice we might be able to help them see a good alternative to the way things are. As it is, they simply see no way out and are forced to live their lives in drudgery.

[AnaRchic]

There is within the working people of the world, it seems, a growing tendency toward distrust of authority and an instinct toward horizontalism. This move toward horizontalism expressed in resistance is highly significant; it represents nothing less than an evolution in human consciousness, a coming to terms of the human mind with the latent potentials of human relations embodied in the emerging network age.

The whole scope of the working class has changed. The old methodologies of the past century are increasingly irrelevant to the present situation. Great masses of workers these days find themselves in a condition of precarity in employment rather than stability. Workers literally have to compete with each other, en-mass, for the 'privilege' of being exploited by a boss. This has bred a competitive mindset toward other workers and has hindered the potential of old modes of working class organization, such as trade unions. The old vision of the industrial worker, united with his fellows through unionism, as the principle actor of social revolution is no longer tenable.

Its time to update our analysis and rid ourselves of much of our anachronistic 19th and 20th century leftist dogma. Nowadays we are facing a whole different ball game. We need to work to unite oppressed peoples throughout the world against domination in all of its forms, with autonomy and horizontalism as guiding principles and visions. We must build bridges between various social struggles to reflect this ideal, and we must work hard to mobilize our communities into self-managing expressions of popular will. Creating new forms of social organization is imperative if we are to have any hope of not only convincing, but showing people, that an alternative to capitalism exists and is viable.

In short, we cant sit back and blame the "average american" for the lack of revolutionary momentum in this country. It is our fault, for holding onto outdated dogmas and refusing to sufficiently update and expand our analysis. The movement of the future will be a movement of horizontalism and voluntary association against hierarchy and vertical power structures. In short, Anarchism is winning and is going to win the day.

[Os Cangaceiros]

It's impossible to tell what form resistance will take in the USA, if any. I thought for sure that 2009 would be a "hot year", considering one of the worst economic downturns in recent memory, which led to 25 million or so people worldwide becoming instantly unemployed in the later part of 2008, the rising rates of foreclosures, & a rising official unemployment rate which peaked at around 10%, but it wasn't (people were still too hypnotized by Obama, I guess). Similarly, I thought that Occupy Wall Street would be a minor stunt that would be localized in NYC and would be over in one week. That turned out to be wrong too.

[Prometeo liberado]

unfortunately an Orwell quote:
deep, deep sleep of England, from which I sometimes fear that we shall never wake till we are jerked out of it by the roar of bombs.”
So long as horizontalism continues to divide and conquer I really see this as a matter of very small cells(collectives if you will) pushing the man back and keeping workers interests relevant.

[AmilcarCabral]

Reznoy: There is a similar topic in the learning section about how to talk about socialism with people in America. I wrote a comment there on how it is real hard to not only talk about politics with average joes and janes out there in America, but to really talk about any thing. There is this thing in America that it is not morally correct to have any kind of conversation with unknown people outside of your family, group and known friends. The whole USA is divided into tiny family, groups and clans. People in America who do not know each other view each other as extraterrestrial species and most people wear a defensive psychologic shield around their own selves and even in their houses with yard signs that read: "Beware of dogs". Americans are not friendly to each other. Morgan Freeman in the movie "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" said something about the english people as well that are not very friendly: "The hospitality of this country is as cold as its weather"

So, having said all this about how most people in America are so uncommunicative, I really do not see a socialist future in USA. Because one of the main requirements to see a political shift of all americans into leftist ideology is for communist activists to have conversations with poor americans about how communism will be their ownly solution for poverty.

So I think that because most americans, not only rich americans, but poor americans, poor families, with low budgets are so into their own selves, into their own world, so anti-friends, anti-people, anti-talking, so silent, and who are reluctant to come out of their closet, because they are scared of being judged as "losers". Because of that I don't really know and I can't predict how the hell will communists, will leftists strike conversations with americans who are in their majority ultra-right wingers and who have lived an ultra right wing life. And are so uncommunicative, and who do every thing in secrets, who are so mysterious and enigmatic. American families are like Batman and Robin who live and hide in their bat-caves

So I think that what we need to do first is turn most mysanthropic paranoid anti-social americans into communicative, friendly, open minded and rational americans, and then when people in this country get cured from their social phobia, agoraphobia, paranoia, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders, and become normal people in which you can have a conversation about how all the wealth of USA is concentrated in the top 30% of the country (5% upper class + 25% middle class), while 70% (is billled to death and taxed to death and living a life of zero fun), and how only a workers socialist government can save that 70% of USA, maybe then we can foresee a socialistic future for USA.

But not right now, americans right now (even the poorest americans) have a psychologic communicative shield around themselves, their houses and their families that destroys any possibility for leftists to save them from their own poverty and misery

Something has to give !!


.





Does anyone else feel that there is an inherent characteristic that has sprung up around the unique and ever-changing (current-future) free market and fluctuating system that the United States currently is in, and that of its working class (Homeless to Upper middle class) that is inherently unstable and unable to work within a movement/group/organization or any other type of real world activism or action representing Socialism or the Left? The closet thing I have seen thus far has been Occupy, and now we see the results of that. What can/is possible/should come next in 2014?

I am not saying I don't there is a feeling of the need for change, I just feel that the average American worker is atm, in the most basest of words, simply contempt to be a worker. I say this even for the struggling worker failing to make ends meet, since they continue their work because they are literally forced too and yet neither a me, you has formed a party/movement nor have they done anything of worth.

Basically, besides a shit ton of useless "knowledge" on the interwebz, there has been no real shift in working class attitude/nor any change in the political/cultural(Indeed, glorification has made this even more feasible)and economic landscape to mark any shift or represent any new changing shift in current general populace thinking to come anytime soon.

In the "First World" there are subtypes within the working class. Affluent workers in the West often side with capitalists against other workers. In the U.S., there is an increasing economic and social divide between a growing underclass of relatively low-paid workers, the underemployed, the casually employed, etc., and the more affluent workers. This is a major roadblock to working-class solidarity and unity.

What if the future is that of a whole planet like the First World with a large submerged class of workers, a small affluent labor elite, and the capitalists on top?

I suppose another thing to ask is, how will we(Or a vanguard party/movement etc...) galvanize the American working class to action in the U.S.?

Maybe I'm a bit of a pessimist, what do you think?

[Atsumari]

We are forgetting that most of America's working class is in China, Thailand, and Bangladesh as well.

[AnaRchic]

We are forgetting that most of America's working class is in China, Thailand, and Bangladesh as well.
This isn't exactly correct. Perhaps the majority of America's industrial working class is in other parts of the world now. The working class in the US is becoming increasingly characterized by service-sector and IT industries.

The simple fact is, the vast majority of Americans sell their freedom to an owner in order to survive and have any standard of life at all. This is the working class, the large segment of society that is exploited and oppressed.

[AmilcarCabral]

"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -John Steinbeck



How right was John Steinbeck about what he said in that famous phrase. and one thing i would like to add is that there is a shift toward the right-wing philosophy of life in America that began with Reaganism and neoliberalism in the early 1990s and now more radicalized with the 8 years of Bush, and Obama in which workers see themselves like small business owners. And part of the oppressor ruling class. They want to sort of psychologically and spiritually see themselves as part of the owners of the businesses where they work, and because of the very real high unemployment levels in America, a person a full-time job, feels an ego-boosting and a sense of power and superiority over the people who are not so lucky to enjoy a paycheck every week from a full time job. That's why most full time wokrers get into luxury Toyota Camrys, Honda Accords and expensive cars in order to show it off to their neighbors (To keep up with the middle class right-wing jones)




And since americans are taught to behave like if USA was a football game, a wrestling match where their own neighbors should be trashed and destroyed. US full time workers now use their own superiority of earning a decent full-time paycheck every week as a weapon in order to trash and bash the people who are not so lucky to have full time jobs like the immigrants, many gays and lesbians, oppressed blacks, prisoners. Remember that americans try as hard as they can to bash trash and do what ever they can to hit a home rune in the football and baseball game that USA is.


That's also because according to Karl Marx, the oppressed majority adopt and emulate the same fascistic arrogant behaviour patterns of their rulers and exploiters

You don't have to be a psychologist to see how most radicalized to the right-wing most US workers are, specially the workers of powerful corporations like American Airlines, Wal Mart, Mcdonalds (Mcdonalds workers treat their customers like shit), Verizon. The workers of Best Buy are another kind of assholes to treat customers like shit. The whole working class of USA is too far to the right-wing, too xenophobic, too stuck-up, too self-absorbed.

And remember you guys, most americans are educated to love their government like if US government was a sort of FARC rebels liberator, they see Obama as Martin Luther King and Bush as a Che Guevara

That's the way americans see US government. Maybe a super powerful crisis will destroy that fake-belief that most americans have, that ultra-optimism that most US workers (even Mcdonalds workers have a false belief that some day they will own a Mcdonalds store)

,



This isn't exactly correct. Perhaps the majority of America's industrial working class is in other parts of the world now. The working class in the US is becoming increasingly characterized by service-sector and IT industries.

The simple fact is, the vast majority of Americans sell their freedom to an owner in order to survive and have any standard of life at all. This is the working class, the large segment of society that is exploited and oppressed.