Date: 17 Dec 96 09:20:17 EST
From: jonathan flanders <72763.2240-AT-CompuServe.COM>
Subject: M-I: US Working Class


>>The  revolutionary left grew massively in the late 60's and early
70's and then collapsed everywhere in the late 70's and 80's. I do
believe that this was because of political weaknesses. If you don't think
socialist parties can be built in the US, how do you explain the growth
of such parties in the the 60's and 70's ? <<Adam Rose

Jon Flanders:

  They grew because there was a mass civil rights movement, followed by a
mass movement against the war in Vietnam, followed by a mass feminist 
movement.

  This political radicalization co-incided with the post WW2 baby boom 
coming of age, millions of young people ready to go into action when the 
Vietnam war was at its peak. Organizations with all sorts of political 
lines grew rapidly in this atmosphere. You waved a red flag, and you had 
a group.

  When the Vietnam war ended, no over-arching issue took its place. In 
1980, with the election of Reagan, overt attacks on the working class 
came to the forefront of the ruling class agenda, but it has taken much 
longer than we thought for the effects of this assault to radicalize the 
workers.

  Personally, I think a few more years may be necessary, to clear out 
those in the industrial plants near retirement age, before a younger 
generation can assert itself in the working class.

   From my vantage point in the rail industry, I can see this process
working itself out. There have been literally thousands of young workers
hired in the last five years or so. They come into a situation much 
different than those at the top of the seniority ladder. The work rules 
that lined the pockets of the old timers have been systematically 
eliminated, with the collusion of the rail union leadership. The work has
intensified, abuse by supervision is increasing. 

  Since the early nineties, every convention of the engineers union, the 
BLE, and the conductors-everyone else union, the UTU, has seen the voting
out of the president. This is a reflection of the changing composition of
the membership. At a certain point, this change will produce a political 
radicalisation that organized socialists can recruit from. It just hasn't
happened yet.

  You emphasize the responsibility of a political line, to explain 
socialist weakness in the US. I argue that it is explained by objective, 
historical causes.

   



     --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---