>Michael Yates wrote:
>
> > However, I also believe that folks do not think much can be
> > done about it. You know, they say and understand that the rich get
> > richer and the poor get poorer but they don't know how to get beyond
> > this. So the buy lottery ickets and dream. Perhaps this is a major
> > failing of our labor movement, to develop any kind of class politics and
> > to kick out the people who did.
>
>I think this is true. It is difficult if not impossible to make even rough
>numerical estimates of the number of people whose politics are
>grounded in thinking nothing can be done so why bother
By the way, this is one of the themes of Nina Eliasoph's fine book, Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life. Since the "ordinary" people she studied believe that nothing can be done (and that since no one can know all the facts, things are best left to "experts"), anyone who makes political claims is disparaged as "soapboxing."
Doug