class war redux?

[Carrol Cox]

MScoleman at aol.com wrote: "Which, all raises an interesting question ...
is it actually easier to raise class consciousness in good times
than in bad?"

There must be some reasonably well done histories that explore this. But
I think it is at least possible that almost *all* great mass struggles
and/or revolutions have occurred in periods of "rising expectations."
Falling expectations or increasing misery, on the other hand, tend to
have an individualising impact, and thus tend to dampen mass activism.

I think one possible area of research on this is the period in the U.S.
from 1970-80; There is a coincidence (which by itself establishes
nothing) between the falling economic and personal expectations after
the 1974 slump and the steady shrinking of left activity during the same
decade.

Carrol