http://www.bopnews.com/archives/003526.html#3526 ************************
I DO think that the left needs to confront the meat of this issue. As we all know on this list, the capitalist system treats skills as commodities to be bought and sold on the market. Workers sense this, if they are not always able to articulate it. The right plays on the fear of job loss in the labour marketplace and plays its race card to the proletariat. Most of the left seems mired in responding morally, "These poor people," and so forth. "What can be done, other than reforming our asylum and immigration laws and of course, respecting 'our' democratic State's borders and voting for increased funding of border protection police apparatus?"
In this dynamic, the right is viewed as having more commonsense. Theirs is a simple solution : nationalism. "You aint' part of 'our' our nice social democratic or whatever capitalist republic-like nation, get the f**k out!" That simple solution finds receptive ears amongst even the smartes of the ignorant.
At the same time, "these poor people" from various non-industrialized States, are smart enough to realize that they *do* want an employed-wage-share of the greater wealth to be had by selling their skills and time in the more industrialized States. Naturally, they want more for their labour and time than a few pennies. So, they cross the borders into the more industrialized spheres under the rule of Capital, virtually brushed across national lines by the invisible hand.
It's capitalism and its system of commodity production which is driving this racist dyanmic. But the left--for the most part--seems afraid of articulating this dyanmic, mostly out of ignorance on the part of their rank and file constituencies and by fear, on the part of their bureaucratized leaderships, of appearing "unrealistic" to the workers of the world.
Regards, Mike B)
****************************************************************** "You have deep-seated survival anxieties. And you don't like bigots, bullies, snobs or hypocrites. Subconsciously there are many people you hate."
"Consciously, sir, consciously," Yossarian corrected in an effort to help. "I hate them consciously." from CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
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