I can think of one group of "people" who deserve

[Cheung Mo]

Scabs. Fuck those rat bastards.

[LSD]

Scabs aren't a social group, they're defined by their actions not their identity.

So, like with fascists or rapists, there is absolutely nothing wrong with stopping them from engaging in their harmful behaviour.

[RebelDog]

Yeah scabs are the lowest form of human life possible.

[BobKKKindle$]

Scabs may be in direct opposition to our conceptions of working class solidarity and the fundamental importance of the class antagonism - but surely it is not fair to call for such unjust treatment? One has to consider the motives and material conditions that give rise to the will to defy a strike. A Scab is, in marxist terms, a member of the reserve army of labour that, when given the oppurtunity to sell his labour power, does so. The Capitalist hires the scab because the workers he has previously involved have tried to gain improvements in their material conditions, and given that the aim of any Capitalist firm is the accumulation of Capital, the Capitalist can gain more profit through buying labour at a cheaper price than the price the striking workers are demanding.

We know that under Capitalist society, the only way in which one can surivive without ownership of the means of production or state benefits is through selling their labour power. Ultimately, through Marx's materialist philosophy, we must accept, that, given the between the oppurtunity to survive (getting a job) or retaining solidarity with one's working class comrades, most will choose the former. This is material conditions acting over abstract ideas - Marx's philosophy over Hegels.

Similairly - Rapists - Over half of child abusers were abused as children earlier in their lives. To call for the annihalation/persecution of rapists is to fail to fully understand what drives someone to sexual abuse, and a simplistic view of crime.

I would expect better from leftists who proclaim to look beyond the simply and into the inner mechanisms of Capitalist Society! :angry:

[Vanguard1917]

One has to consider the motives and material conditions that give rise to the will to defy a strike.

That's right. There are very few things worse than middle class 'radicals' who like to call workers names from the sidelines.

Workers cross a picket line for a number of reasons. Key among those reasons is our failure to convince them of the benefits of striking. It's easy to call people names. The real challenge is winning people over to our side.

The 1984-85 Great Miners' Strike in Britain is a good example of leftwing activists getting on their high horse and dismissing the whole of Nottinghamshire as a 'scab county'.


Ultimately, through Marx's materialist philosophy, we must accept, that, given the between the oppurtunity to survive (getting a job) or retaining solidarity with one's working class comrades, most will choose the former.

That's incorrect, as the history of working class struggle shows. Workers, in their struggles, differentiate between the short-term costs of striking and the long-term advantages of solidarity. In the 1984-85 miners' strike, the majority of British miners defied the Tory government and went without wages for over 50 weeks - right till the end... even when defeat seemed more and more probable.

[Fawkes]

what are scabs?

EDIT: Nevermind, I know what they are.

[Marukusu]

Originally posted by Freedom for all...ALL
what are scabs?

EDIT: Nevermind, I know what they are.

I don't. :(

[Fawkes]

Workers who break picket lines.

[Marukusu]

Ah, strikebreakers.
Fucking egoistic idiots.

[RebelDog]

Scabs of course take all the benefits the collective agreement the union fought for, gave them. Then they can't stand to lose pay and side with the bosses. The picket line is the battlefront of the class war. The feeling of workers organising themselves and taking on the bosses is the greatest feeling of all. The comradery is unique and the solidarity actions of other workers gives people a taste of what could be achieved if we rise up and start to refuse and rebel as a class.
Bused in scabs are no better. The feeling aginst the scabs still runs deep through the mining communities. Class traitors one and all.

[BobKKKindle$]

No doubt working class solidarity does give great satisfaction and hope, but not all workers have a level of class consciousness and political awareness that will enable them to remain in solidarity with their fellow proletarians during a strike period when they could accept a job if they wished. Remember that the Capitalists have control over the means of communication as well, discrediting workers movements and preventing workers from realising the full potential for change. In addition, many proletarians are increasingly being led astray by ideologies that seek to divide the working class on the basis of race, nationality, and religion.

Lets not forget that, despite being class traitors in that they are oppossing the interests of the working class, Scabs also have family members to support, and the only way in which they can do that is through selling their labour power.

The majority of the posters on this board can no doubt not relate to the experiences and hardships faced by someone who is desperately seeking for a job so that he can care for his family. I certainly cannot, so I dont make sweeping ultra-leftist judgements about Scabs.

[Vanguard1917]

not all workers have a level of class consciousness and political awareness that will enable them to remain in solidarity with their fellow proletarians during a strike period when they could accept a job if they wished.

Of course. But this is a problem that the vanguard of the working class (i.e. the most conscious sections of the working class) needs to solve through its leadership of the working class as a whole.

No one is born a scab, and class conscious workers are not the way they are because they somehow were born gifted. Class consciousness comes about through struggle and confrontation. The vanguard of the working class, in times of struggle, needs to take responsibility for raising the consciousness of rest of the class - including all its rearguards.

[Conghaileach]

Jack London on Scabs:

After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made a scab.

A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue.

Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles.

When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out.

No man (or woman) has a right to scab so long as there is a pool of water to drown his carcass in, or a rope long enough to hang his body with.

Judas was a gentleman compared with a scab. For betraying his master, he had character enough to hang himself. A scab has not.

Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.

Judas sold his Savior for thirty pieces of silver.

Benedict Arnold sold his country for a promise of a commision in the british army.

The scab sells his birthright, country, his wife, his children and his fellowmen for an unfulfilled promise from his employer.

Esau was a traitor to himself; Judas was a traitor to his God; Benedict Arnold was a traitor to his country.

A scab is a traitor to his God, his country, his family and his class.