>
> Hardly. Exploitation is a historical category, not a moral one;
actually, exploitation is both and much more. how can you possibly argue that exploitation is not a moral category? why the hell should anybody get upset if its just a 'historical category'?
> working people have managed to resist the neoliberal beast a bit more
> effectively than others, winning back some of the surplus-value they've
> created via higher taxes on the wealthy, universal health insurance,
> strong unions, etc.
yes. and white workers continue to do better than black workers in the states for the same reason: relative priviledge, relatively better access, a sense of relative entitlement and a willful ignoring of deeper issues.
European workers never see the surplus extracted from
> the Third World by the Euromultis; that ends up in the coffers of
> Eurobankers and the IMF.
Now who is ignoring history? yes, things are changing. just like the states, the connection between those who make large amounts of money and those who work is becoming increasingly tenuous, i.e., less of it is available for social democratic goodies. still, to argue that those who live and work in western europe are not benefitting (in the most shallow material sense of the term)from the fact that western europe is wealthy is a bit over the top.
My own feeling is that by turning exploitation
> into a kind of primal, original sin,
can you show me where i did this?
we end up with a dead-end moralism:
> when everyone is guilty, then noone is guilty.
i'm not at all clear where these accusations of moralism are coming from but i will say this: that the 'workers as innocents' model has got to go! yes we all hate this system, and yes, working people are victims of authoritarian depradations, but yes we as workers are all tragically, if not willingly, complicit in the status quo, and no, no worker needs to walk around feeling guilty about this, but yes, workers need to take responsibility for their unwilling comlicity and yes, yes, yes do something creative and forceful about it because those who rule will do nothing to undermine the system.
>From that, it's all too
> easy to slam working people (and, ultimately, ourselves) for being stupid
> morons who don't know their/our own interests, instead of asking why
> this system prevents them/us from being aware of their interests.
can you show me the evidence where i slammed working people? demanding more from working people (at least in terms of imagining a different world) is not the same as slamming them!
Instead
> of hating what this system has turned people into, we've got to love what
> they might yet become.
sorry, i do hate what this system has turned people into precisely because it is hard for me to watch authoritarian degradation, a menancing yet almmost banal constant, manifest itself as automatic self-annihilation. my rage is real. but my love and hopes for life is real, too, which is why i insist that we all, including 'workers', do the absolute best with what we've got. it is a prerequisite to any kind movement toward a just society.
chris niles the new abolitionist
>
> -- Dennis
>
>