The political involvement of U.S. workers in electoral politics and, more specifically, in the Democratic Party has proved to be historically necessary, as a result of the pre-existing weakness and fragmentation of the U.S. working class. It is not clear at this point whether the result of this involvement will reinforce the subordination of the U.S. workers to the capitalists or, contrariwise, the result will be the political strengthening of the U.S. working class. The outcome of these struggles is contingent. The duty of Marxists is to support the workers and help them grow politically.
Julio Huato ------------ We really need some numbers that breakdown who the working class is and how they vote. I really don't know. I live in a liberal area and I don't personally know a single republican. When California had party specific primary ballots my polling place had one Republican booth with the light turned out to save electricity. I never saw anyone use it. You would think it was haunted. ... At a guess most of the working class already votes Democrat. If you look at the blue-red map of last week's election almost all the traditional working class strong holds around the Great Lakes, except Indiana, on the Northeast Coast and along the Westcoast were blue. The biggest other manufacturing, production, distribution, transport, etc. state was Texas which was of course red, along with the Slave States and the boonies of Midwest-West. I need a much better sense of the true demographic of the US. The most radicalizing events in my life after the 60s were an endless series of deadend jobs with deadend pay. The general outlines of Capitalism made itself felt nearly every hour of every day. So, by the time I got around to reading Capital v.1 it was like going through a picture book. The way Marx approached the economy was querky, but entirely legiable, once I got the hang of it. Volumn 2 was as boring as can be, lots of paperwork that used to go on upstairs ... I had to put it down, and I'll get back to it later. But there was nothing like Trotsky. The point is get that reading done. The working class isn't going to go anywhere without it. I don't know how to do that education work, but it is essential. Part of the problem is that most people early on learn that schooling and learning are usually ego destorying experiences in which you are degraded and diminished. Marx et al. can not be taught that way. The point is not punishment, but liberation. I mean there is attitude out there over Marx in an equation that goes something like this: Marx = Communism = Dictator. The approach has to be much more organic. ... CG _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
