I think you've formulated a succinct answer to the "mystery", and have at the same time posed the riddle to be solved. I especially like your idea that many people adopt ,sort of semi-knowingly, the middle class slight illusion.
Socialists in the "midWest/middle class" territories have got stuck with effectively promising pie in the sky in the by and by like preachers, i.e. socialism for _future_ generations.
CB
From: Bill Bartlett
That's a more interesting question. I can try to answer some of it, having pondered the question a lot myself.
The thing to remember is that people's consciousness is strongly influenced by perceived self-interest. So if people perceive no possible benefit in seeing something as it is, but some possibility (even a remote possibility) of gain from seeing things somewhat different than as they objectively exist, they will more than likely adopt the latter course.
Now clearly socialism in our lifetimes is perceived as not just unlikely, but impossible, for most people. So the option of adopting a working class consciousness with all that entails, is somewhat pessimistic. Whereas adopting an American 'middle-class' consciousness, that denies objective reality offers comparatively greater hope. The hope of being able to, perhaps, with hard work and a bit of luck, becoming a capitalist oneself one day. Objectively this is clearly overly-optimistic for most people, but at the same time it has to be admitted that an American worker probably does stand more chance of becoming a capitalist, than becoming the citizen of socialist America.
Its a long shot still. For most people a very long shot, about the same chance as winning the lottery. But people buy lottery tickets in their millions, while very few people are making bets on the socialist republic coming to the USA in the near future. The odds are better on the lottery.
So can you blame people for adopting a class consciousness that befits the reality of the situation?
>Why, at all times and in all places, have masses of Americans been
>perfectly content to be mulcted by elites, and why have they been so
>hostile to any suggestion of alternatives to capitalism? I've heard
>many answers to those questions and have found none really
>convincing.
As to people being "hostile to any suggestion of alternatives to capitalism", once again there is a perfectly rational explanation. Sadly, most of the alternatives people have heard of are simply not practical. Socialism, defined as social ownership and control of the means of production, is feasible depending on how it is organised, but this isn't often suggested.
The usual alternative proposed, often slanderously referred to as "socialist", is some kine of state ownership and control of industry. Or heavy regulation of prices/wages/production. But in association with continued private ownership of industry and market distribution of goods and services.
Now, to give the masses due credit, they can instinctively see that this isn't going to work for very long. Well its been tried hasn't it and those economies that tried it always fall into a great untidy mess. So people are understandably "hostile" to remedies that they correctly surmise are only going to make matters worse.
A lucky few have the time and patience to pore through the political junk to look for sensible alternatives to find the correct answer. But most get no further than the snake oil salesmen masquerading as "socialists" or "reformers". They take one look at their flawed wares, realise they are quite un-servicable for the task and hurry away disillusioned.
Capitalism may be a hideous, dangerous and insecure economic system. But at least it works.
So it isn't that people are stupid. On the contrary, unlike most "socialists" they have correctly judged that the alternatives most usually touted won't actually work. Maybe they should have kept shopping around, but I can understand that most people don't have the stamina. And anyhow, even if they did eventually stumble across something they thought might actually work, the odds of benefitting from it in your lifetime are correctly assessed by most people as being too remote to be of any practical benefit.
Better to just put your energy into trying to gain emancipation by winning the lottery. And adopting the appropriate class consciousness for that choice - the middle class consciousness.
Its all perfectly rational, you see? From the standpoint of rational self interest. It is us socialists who are acting against our own individual rational self interest, not the mainstream society. They're not mad, we are.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas