But they have to view themselves as the *agents* or protagonists, responsible for progressive change in this country. This, which should be obvious, must be said because people in the left tend to argue about the merits of voting on the basis of whether or not the elected politician in question (or her/his party) has it in its DNA to deliver progressive change. And I think that's totally backwards. ******************************************
I think people can more easily see themselves as "agents" (as powerful), if they know
a few basic principles of capitalist political-economy: number one being
that they create the wealth of the economy, but they don't get to own or
control what they socially produce and number two being that not only is wealth
based on their co:operative labour, but also includes the ownership and control of Nature.
If these simple principles were to be absorbed by enough workers, a progressive,
class conscious/self-conscious movement could be organized with a view to wresting control and
ownership of wealth and by extension, political power away from the capitalist class.
But of course, when you put these matters to the working class in such a positive
way, you almost always run into a deeply ingrained, authoritarian psychological
character structure which kow-tows masochistically to existing power in order
to achieve the limited power bestowed within the hire-arky e.g. petty management
positions in various organizations, including the military, the church, the educational
institutions and corporations.
And there's the rub.
Regards,
Mike B)
Watch the communist manifestoon! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1oGIffyVVk
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