Date: Fri, 19 Apr 96 09:08:21 GMT
Subject: Re: Splits in the working class



> 
> To see this, look at the prisoner's dilemma again. Suppose women support
> male worker's demands for higher wages, taking time awy from their
> pro-choice struggles to do so. 

Why on earth should they do that ?

Women and men should fight together to increase their wages, and
women and men at the same time should fight for the right of women
to abortion. The more self confident and well organised women and
men are at work, the more self confident and well organised the women
and men together will be in fighting for abortion rights, and vice 
versa.

People don't have a finite amount of time for fighting for their
rights - the opposite, different struggles cross fertilise eg Black
vietnam vets were important in the stonewall riots.

>
> Adam's view ids defective because it overstates how easily such changes
> will be. For him. all we have to do is get rid of mistaken ideas and
> prejudices. (Not that that's so easy.) 
>

Rubbish. It's not a question of simply getting rid of mistaken ideas and
prejudices - this is the feminist approach. You can have as many sexism
awareness courses as you like ( and I am in favour of sexism awareness
courses ) but unless there are successful battles against sexism and
the conditions which nuture it, involving men and women together, the
courses are pissing in the wind.

To answer your prisoners dilemma, I'd argue that prisoners A,B,C,D,E,F,G
. . . should get together and burn the fucking prison down.

And in case you think this is abstract, this is exactly what happened a few
years ago throughout the UK, most notably a mile away from where I live,
in Strangeways, Manchester. The enduring legacy of this is that there are
real problems for the Tories in persuing their law and order policy, since
the prisoner officers are seriously frightened by overcrowded prisons. 

Adam.

Adam Rose
SWP
Manchester
UK

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