On 2010-02-17, at 8:43 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
>
> Marv Gandall wrote:
>>
>>
>> I suspect the US ruling class has a better appreciation than many
>
> Now I'm bothered by the matter of agency. Does the "U.S. Ruling Class"
> have a mind that appreciates this or that? A sector of it did sort of
> get together decades ago to tell LBJ not to run again, but only a
> sector. Individual capitalsits are highly class conscious, but only as
> individuals, not as members of a collective with a consciusness. And
> 'thinking aliike' as Domhoff explored it means that they support (as
> invidivduals) the same sorts of policies when those policies are
> preented by policy makers. But how does it actualize this appreciation
> you speak of?
================================== Is there a working class? Are classes internally divided in multiple ways? Do they, despite their internal divisions, have overarching interests apart from other classes which have contributed in the most significant way to our understanding of the past and present?
Clearly I believe this to be the case, and within this context and on the basis of my reading, I suggested that the ruling class (Domhoff's definition is acceptable) is aware (would it have helped if I had said "generally aware?") of the potential for popular unrest resulting from attempts to reduce Medicare and Social Security benefits, the so-called "third rail in American politics". I haven't detected much disagreement about this. Nor about the need to "actualize this appreciation" (your expression) by moving to "carefully and systematically prepare public opinion, including through a high-profile commission of purportedly 'neutral' experts duly deliberating and recommending a series of budget cuts to Congress."
Classes, as you say, are composed of individuals, but classes are also composed of class institutions - industrial and commercial associations, trade unions, cooperatives, political parties etc. - whose interactions are crucial to our understanding of how societies function. These organizations, if you like, do have a "consciousness", expressed in the program of demands they advance which reflect class interests and primarily draw on support and funding from individuals within the class. I don't see how you can separate the individuals from their "collectives", and don't agree therefore that capitalists are only conscious of themselves as "individuals" with no consciousness of or attachment to their class institutions. This seems so obvious to me I must be woefully misunderstanding the point you're trying to make.