Posted by editors on January 19, 2009 at 10:05:27:
Know thyself…
One of the most obvious differences in the pro and con arguments about systemic change is in the way we identify ourselves in relation to our society. Our nation’s history carries along with it the concepts of freedom and democracy…, individuality and the social responsibility…, loyalty to the nation itself, the concept of patriotism…, and in all this mix we live with an economic system which contradicts much of the individual freedom concepts inherent in the principles of Democracy which, supposedly, are the very essence of our national being.
The terms …, Democracy, Individual Freedom…, are, in themselves, subject to contradiction in that Democracy means “People Power, Demos, (People) Cracy (Power) and translated into real working concepts produces social group interactions in which We, democratically decide the best ways to interact in all our needed social activities for the well being of both the society and the individual. Unless we conduct ourselves for the best interests of the society and the individual…, where neither is sacrificed in the process, the terms…, freedom and democracy…, the two words which all Americans have been taught to respect…, have no realistic means, and their counterparts.., servility and autocracy are the society’s real institutionalized forces.
So, in what kind of society do we live?
In everyday parlance, as well as in most of our social institutions, particularly those which emit daily “information” about everyday happenings, the term,:” working class,” is often associated with blue collare workers only. Among the many, the term evokes an image of workers with hard hats and lunch pails trudging into smoke spewing factories, or mines or mills or construction sites.
Our education system and culture have fostered the idea that others who work for a living …office workers, teachers, scientists, service workers, clerks, real estate agents, accountants, etc….are white collar employees, or professionals, or middle class…, anything but working class..
Social classes are far more definitive than those vague terms convey. The members of a social class have distinct characteristics in common…, characteristics t express the ECONOMIC divisions within othe existing society and reflect the essence of how the prevailing system works.
In our present capitalist society, all who are compelled to sell their ability to work to an employer , private or state, in order to make a living belong to the working class, and so do their families.
The working class includes all who must work in order to live, whether their labor be mental or manual. The working class also includes all who are looking for work. The working class in the U.S. encompasses the overwhelming majority of the population.
The working class produces ALL social wealth. It stands in sharp contrast to the capitalist class, which lives off its ownership of society’s means of production…, which are the means and facuilities used to produce all the goods and services , and its ability to exploit, use workers for profit.
The working class is the ONLY socially useful class in society.
The capitalist class is a socially useless class that automatically controls the economy , and has deciding influence in the political process, to serve its own selfish interests.
How do we become a free and responsible society in which the best conditions for our selves and our society are never at the expense of any individual’s well being. How do we incorporate the democratic process into our social, economic and government institutions so that our historic respect for the individual does not devolve into a “license” for the individual to do whatever suits his fancy which may be harmful to others and to the society at large?
In a civil society, individual freedoms are necessarily qualified with the term, responsibility…, which means that your individual “freedom” must include a respect for another’s right to his own personal freedoms and conditions for well being. This is not a difficult arrangement . It can easily be constructed among mature and responsible people. It’s the only way group life, meaning societal organization, can exist in a state of peace and material well being, which, obviously, are not present in our current societal conditions, nor were they ever under the system of capitalism.
Any society in which the necessaries for life are fought for constantly …, as is the condition under capitalism… where the privately owned corporations , in order to survive in the competitive commodity markets , when conditions demand, have NO OTHER CHOICE but fire the working class people whose livelihood depends on their jobs…, cannot rightfully, honestly, call itself a DEMOCRATIC nation, and must, by its own actions, resign itself to its rightful description…, an economic dictatorship known as capitalism…, a system which uses the political government to manage its working class population, , which, in combination, can only rightfully be known as a society in which “Corporate Fascism” is the ruling system,.
Working class or capitalist class? No equivocations… The only way a worker can remove himself from his class , as did a Bill Gates (Microsoft) …, and move into the capitalist class is to find a way to use, exploit use enough workers to produce enough values and convert these to wealth …that his own two hands can never produce. The innovations Bill Gates added to the existing computer concepts, ..are duly recognized , as are his marketing practices, which are still being contested in the courts as being illegal and in violation of the “Fair Trade“ laws.
From working class to capitalist class? There is no way other than using enough wage workers to produce enough values which will be marketed, sold and from which enough profits are accrued to enable the user of wage workers to amass enough wealth to be able to live without working, as does the capitalist class in this economic system.
No other way under capitalism, excepting lottery winnings, or any equivalent “Stroke of luck” windfalls.
Working class or Capitalist class? Know thyself.