But the question Doug raises is this: is political support for Obama a
"real means of struggle" for the working class? I remember similar arguments about Clinton back in 92, and what did we get? --Welfare "reform" and trade policies that systematically eliminated working class jobs. I hear max saying "give Obama a chance", but c'mon: how many times do we have to get fucked over before we wise up?
As I read the Marx quote again, it occurs to me that Julio's interpretation should be inverted. Given the historical context, the assumption that an Obama presidency would systematically support the interests of the working class is at best an "idealistic fantasy". Thus it is the uncritical Obama enthusiasts--not the Obama "skeptics"--who are analogous to the anarchists Marx ridicules.
Miles
^^^^ CB: Here you ignore the centrality of racism in US politics and history. The act of millions of white working class people ( 85% of the population is working class) voting for a Black person for President is a "primo real means of struggle" in the US. It creates the potential for Black/White unity on other issues
By the way, Karl Marx had this insight , too. In _Capital_ , he famously said concerning the US specifically, " Labor in the white skin will not be free while labor in Black skin is branded. "
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