--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
<http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#060406>.
>
> If you stick around to the end of the show, you can
> hear Jeff Faux
> agree with me that his argument for cross-border
> solidarity among the
> working class amounts to a restatement of "Workers
> of the world
> unite!" He laugh sounded a little nervous, though.
Good show. However, one question that I have for Jeff Faux is what is it exactly that will motivate "ordinary people" for cross boarder solidarity? Jeff seems to stipulate that it is the worsening of living standards, but that argument has two major problems.
First, ordinary people do not exactly see their living standards declining, but they need someone like Jeff to tell them about it. What they do see is "more" "bigger" and "better" consumer items - from electronic gizmos to SUVs, to mega-churches, and to MacMansions. While such items do not necessarily improve living standards - they appear as they do, at least to the ordinary people? So what makes Jeff think that "ordinary people" in the US who consume electronic gizmos, gaz guzzling SUVs, and MacMansions would solidarize with poor Mexican fam laborers rather than with people who bring them these gizmos?
Second, even if "ordinary people" actually saw a decline in their living standards themselves, instead of being told about it by left-wing intellectuals, what is the guarantee that this realization will produce cross-national solidarity as opposed to, say, populist or nativist fascism ? Of course, nobody really knows, and anyone's guess is as good as anyone else's, but the historical record seems to make the fascist outcome look more likely. Past performance is not a guarantee of future success, as we are constantly reminded, but it at least puts the burden of proof on those who claim that this time it will be different.
So given these two problems, what is it exactly that would make ordinary people opt for cross-border solidarity with their fellow grunts rather than for mindless consumerism cum religious escapism or nativist fascism?
Wojtek
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