Date: Thu, 18 Apr 96 09:49:32 GMT
Subject: Splits in the working class



Lisa and Justin agree that :

> we have to distinguish between long range interests and short range
> interests, classwide interests and narrower interests. It is in my
> interest to beat the next guy out for a job. As a white male first
> world worker it is in my interest to oppose affirmative action, keep
> Blacks and women down and keep the third world poor. These are real
> interest. That they are short range and partial doesn't make them
> less real.

Ah, that's better. Everyone's united against me !

It is not in Justin's or my interests "to oppose affirmative action, keep
Blacks and women down" , long term, short term, or any other term.
It is not in Lisa's to keep the third world poor.

In Nothern Ireland today, catholics are oppressed. Do protestants gain 
>from this situation ? No - they are paid less than protestants in the
rest of the UK. It is the means by which they are kept down.

This has always been true in those areas of the US where racism has been
strongest - the whites are also poorest in those areas.

If men accept women's oppression, bosses will find it easier to sack
men and employ cheaper women. The bosses ( male + female )  will get
higher profits and lower wages. Working class men and women will end
up with lower wages.

Precisely why is it in men's interests to prevent women who want to
getting abortions ? why is it against men's interests that women are
paid equal wages for equal work ? Why should men be opposed to workplace
creches ? A shorter working week ?

If there is an atmoshpere of bullying + intimidation at work, sexual
harassment becomes more likely, primarilly from men in authority but
also potentially from oppressed workers. 

If workers, women or men, are confident to complain, sexual harassment
is less likely. But it is also less likely that men or women are forced
to work unpaid overtime for fear of the sack, etc. Men and women will
be less alienated, and the men less likely to harass women.

Since we, the working class, are not "a band of waring brothers" like
the capitalists, our interests, short or long term, are collective
ones. There is a difference between the basic structure of our class
as opposed to theirs. Marx did NOT say to English workers in the 1840's
"you have nothing to lose but your chains, and your short term benifits
>from the oppression of Irish workers".

Adam.

Adam Rose
SWP
Manchester
UK


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