[lbo-talk] The Necrosocial

[Carrol Cox]

In trying to get a grip on the social dynamics of a given society at a
given time, in the first instanc it is 'objective' place in a set of
social relations that counts, not consciousness -- for there never has
been any clear one-to-one relationshp between class and consciiousness.
Hence my argument over the years that the u.ss. working class
constitutes over 85% of the population. I think Doug is correct on that.
But when we start analyzing consciusness, either at the present or (what
seems more important to me) in a hypothetical future, then we do have to
have something more flexible than 'mere' class. But, again, I'm not sure
that it's worthwhile trying to show actual entrepreneural conditions of
life. For one thing, historically there has been a lot of accunts which
characterize "false consciusnes" as petty-bourgeois consciusness, and
that, however we want to label it, is (I think) the focus of this
exchange.

As I understand it, the basis of p-b (or petty producer as I prefer to
call it in English) consciousness is the expectationof such a producer
when he/she brings their product to market that Say's law should apply,
and if it fails to apply,if there is no buyer (at a "just price," for
their product, then someone somewhere is responsible: i.e.a strong
element in the aroused p-b consciusness is a kind of conspiricism
(usually direced against bankers),  and then the demand/trust is in a
_government_ to do something about it, to catch those criminals (or
criminal jewish bankers) and put things to rights.

So that is the object of our search, is it not, to find those elements
in the material condition of large sectors of American Workers that
makes them 'feel' like the classical p-b? But I don't think it helps to
label them p-b in material fact.

Carrol

Doug Henwood wrote:
> 
> On Nov 22, 2009, at 2:11 PM, Eric Beck wrote:
> 
> > But what percentage of people in the developed world, and even in the
> > developing world,  have credit cards? Not to mention auto loans, home
> > loans, and the like. Plus more and more people have to make
> > entrepreneurial-type choices about consumption versus savings, etc.
> > Isn't it true that debt structures more peoples' lives than ever
> > before?
> 
> Yes, it's true. I think someone or other coined a term "secondary
> exploitation" to describe it. But this strikes me as a new wrinkle on
> being working class rather than some kind of petit bourgeoisification.
> The central point of being p.b. is being between the capitalists and
> the workers, having one foot in each camp. There are many ways in
> which today's workers are more like 19th century workers than those of
> the mid-20th century, as unions disappear and state supports weaken.
> 
> Doug
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