We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, July 30, 2016

White Workers Resisting Capitalism and White Supremacy: An Interview with RedNeck Revolt

Click here to access an interview with representatives of Redneck Revolt posted on The Hampton Institute.

What I especially like about this interview with the people of Redneck Revolt is that they offer explanations as to why working people should not let themselves be divided racially/ethnically by the ruling capitalist class in the US. Divide and rule has always been a major strategy used to quell opposition to the rule and exploitation of ruling classes, and there is currently an obvious attempt to do just that here in the US. The interview also provides numerous examples of working class struggles throughout US history that have been expunged from the history books that most working class children are exposed to. 

I have only one criticism of a view taken from one of the interviewees when he/she declared:
As Fascism is also inherently an anti-capitalist ideology, we have to understand that at this historical moment, when many are suffering under capitalism, and looking for better ways to live, that the working class, and particularly the white working class, is much more susceptible to reactionary and fascistic ideologies and influences.
The premise that fascism is an anti-capitalist ideology is completely false. Granted fascist organizations will sometimes use fake anti-capitalist rhetoric to attract militants, but in their actions they always serve the powerful capitalist class. They as sociopaths are easily drawn to, and corrupted by, the ruling class because they are rewarded in a variety of ways by ruling class agents. Fascism must be understood as capitalist rule without all the niceties of civil rights and legal processes that adorn and serve to hide their rule. Thus fascism is capitalist rule without the soft leather gloves of some rather anemic civil liberities to reveal the hidden fists of authoritarian class rule. But it is still the same class rule.