You can't talk about socialism by identifying the responsibility of the working class with the guilt of the ruling class, thus constructing the spurious national "We" with a community of interests, playing into the hands of the very imperialists whom you oppose.
Michael Parenti writes:
***** The Terrorism Trap by Michael Parenti City Lights books, 2002
...Various critics of US policy end up blaming America for the wars pursued in its name, noting that "all of us" have failed to stop what is being done in our name. But does this mean we are collaborative authors of US militaristic policies? More often, we are kept in the dark about what is done in our name. I do not blame the American people for what fundamentalist Muslim zealots did on September 11, nor for what secretive and deceptive fundamentalist empire-building zealots in Washington have been doing to help create the kind of world that brought forth the religious zealots.
Part of the problem may lie in the bad habit that many people have in using "we" when they mean US political and financial elites. To say that "we" are thwarting democracy abroad, impoverishing other populations, or bombing innocent people, when really referring to the actions of the White House, the CIA, the Pentagon, the IMF and the WTO, is to assume a community of interest between the general public and those who regularly prey upon it, which is just what the predators want....
<http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Parenti/Terrorism_Trap.html> *****
I think Parenti got it right. Unless well-meaning critics of US policy quit the bad habit of using the spurious national "We," working-class Americans will be deterred by the weight of nationalism from assuming their class responsibility to themselves and others for fighting for a world free from exploitation and oppressions. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>