File spoon-archives/marxism2.archive/marxism2_1996/96-04-30.191, message 17


Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 01:10:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: Justin Schwartz <jschwart-AT-freenet.columbus.oh.us>
Subject: Re: Splits in the working class



Adam says that peiple do not have a finite amount of time to fight for
their rights and interests. That's not my experience. My own time and that
of everone else I know is exteemely finite. Time I spend working for
abortion rights I cannot spend ealking a picket line with a union on
strike or writing a leaflet for Solidarity. ANd I have precious little
time as it is, between kids and law school.

Of course in the long run each of these struggles reinforces the other.
But that's in the long run. In the short run, they compete foir scarece
resoureces, including time.

--Justin

On Fri, 19 Apr 1996, Adam Rose wrote:

> 
> > 
> > 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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