>I would say that there is a fairly broad band of strata between the bourgeoisie and the working class, which represents, let us say, the fuzzy boundary between the two fundamental classes of capitalism.
But even a fuzzy boundary still requires a definition.
>The second option: This is workerism of a certain kind: here the communist, against all the facts of his own life, argues that only a worker can be a communist, that only workers have revolutionary potential, and the party must consist purely of workers - no 'petty-bourgeois elements'. This paradoxical position of the communist involves tortuous attempts to show that everyone outside the bourgeoisie is actually a worker.
Even by (what I regard) as the ridiculously narrow interpretation of working class you have implied, I must say that the above is nonsense. Arguing that "only workers can be communist" etc might be paradoxical if we swallow your implied premise that the people arguing it are not working class. But actually, I think it makes sense to argue that all those who have to work for a living are all working class. In which case your paradox collapses like the share price of a company whose balance sheet is stripped of fraud. Either way, the essential premise of your conclusion is itself dependent on the conclusion being correct. A rather basic logical flaw.
> In other words the communist must locate him/herself subjectively WITHIN the container of the working class. Withough going into detail here, this is akin to the mistake of workerists such as CLR James et al, opposite to the Leninist error.
>
>But I think of this differently and this is the idea I want to share. I don't think that many communists are IN the class in the sense I mentioned,
Since you don't seem to be offering any definition of working class, it is difficult for anyone to test your assumption that "not many communists are IN the class". Luckily for me, my working class credentials can survive the narrowest of definitions. So I can safely challenge you without fear of being accused of paradox.
So I'll ask the question; Why don't you think many communists are IN the (working) class? What is your definition and why. Granted the boundaries will be fuzzy, but surely that is no excuse for neglecting to offer any reasoned definition at all?
Bill Bartlett Bracknel Tas