There has been an unfortunately emotional exchange in recent weeks concerning Third World demographics and strategy. A few years ago, I read some literature by left academics that suggest there has been a shift in Third World class demographics. They have suggested that rural proletarians are now commonplace. Upon further scrutiny, however, I also found that they've got things wrong on the status of small tenant farmers and sharecroppers, not to mention urban elements who are under modern debt peonage just to operate things like shops. According to these authors, they're all now part of the working class, just because the peasantry doesn't exist in the Third World anymore. The question that begs is: Really?
