Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 19:49:10 -0700 (PDT) From: commie zero zero <commie00-AT-yahoo.com> Subject: AUT: class ((by (the) mechanics for disrepair)) more on class by yet another group, which i was thinking might help this discussion along, if people still want to have it. also, sean: my understanding is that $60,000-100,000 is considered a "living wage" for a family of four. so, by your definition, anyone who can get by is middle class? very strange. but then again, i think discussion of wage amounts is meaningless in a discussion of class. the fact that someone is waged, and does not have the power to hire or fire, to me, means they are working class. they might be more-or-less relatively affluent, but they are working class... anyway... without further ado, here's (the) mechanics for disrepair ( http://www.geocities.com/mechanicsfordisrepair): Class. The first thing we have to understand in order to understand capitalism is class. Class is not an economic category, as we are often led to believe. Class is determined by much more than how much money one makes. In order to understand class, we have to first understand how we relate to the capitalist system through the work that we do. Does the work you do produce profit for someone? Do you receive only the equivalent of a small portion (if anything) of what you produce or enable to be produced? If you are a blue or white collar waged-worker, a student, an unemployed person, a homemaker, an artist, or a farmer the answer is most likely a resounding "YES!”. The second thing we have to understand in order to understand class is our power-relation to capitalism. Do you have the power to hire & fire people? Do you have the power to create and/or enforce laws, start wars, etc.? Do you have the power to impose wage-slavery? Do you own and control the means of production / reproduction? Do you have any real power over the people who do any of the above? If you are a blue or white collar waged-worker, a student, an unemployed person, a homemaker, an artist, or a farmer the answer is most likely a resounding "NO!”. Answering "yes" to the first question and "no" the second set of questions means that you are working class, a member of what is sometimes called the proletariat [1]. It means that the majority of the fruits of your labor (whether that labor is producing and distributing commodities or reproducing [2] the labor necessary for the production and distribution of commodities) are taken from you in exchange for a fraction (if anything) of what you deserve. It means that you have very little, if any, real social power over the capitalist system. Opposing the working class is the ruling class. The ruling class are those who receive the majority of the fruits of our labor, those who have the power to hire and fire people, to create and/or enforce laws, start wars, etc., those who own and control the means of production / reproduction, etc. They are corporate CEOs, upper and middle management, politicians, the police forces and agencies, the WTO / IMF / World Bank / TABD / etc., all national governments, and more. Capitalism is the struggle that rages between these two classes. The notion of middle class is invoked by the ruling class to obscure this struggle, but the middle class is a myth. There has been no middle class for a long time. However, the working class does not sit idly by. Through absenteeism, workplace theft, sabotage, strikes, riots, insurrections, grassroots community-building, workplace organizing and movements against sexism, racism, homophobia and the destruction of the environment, and much more, we fight the ruling class. Capitalism does not change only in response to its own needs. While the capitalist system is changed in minor ways by the competitions of the ruling class, constant working class attacks are the source of capitalism’s major changes. The ruling class has to keep reinventing capitalism in response to our attacks. Every change in government (from "democratic" republics, to fascism, to totalitarianism), every change in management forms, every war, etc. is in some way an attempt to destroy working class power. However, nothing they do can destroy the class struggle (since class is necessary to capitalism), they can only obscure the division, and momentarily weaken us. It is important to note here that while the ruling class is aware of the class struggle, and wages it willingly, the individuals in that class do not always work well together, have ideological differences, compete with one another, and are sometimes unaware of how what they are doing effects us. As an example: black members of the ruling class from the US probably do not often knowingly perpetuate racism. By being capitalists, however, they must do so because the system is set up to maintain and strengthen cultural (and national) divides. NOTES 1. Members of the working class can also include those from outside the class who have given up their privilege and joined the struggles of the class. 2. Reproduction is the process which enables production. As an example a homemaker engages in reproduction by making food for the waged members of the household, helping to raise children who will become new members of the working class, etc. ====commie00 --------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/commie00 --------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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