Agreed. Understanding that all class dominated societies are based on the expolitation of those who produce helps too. It may have been easier, from our historical vantage point, to see how the product was separated from the producer in feudal societies; but then, the social relations of production and appropriation were obscured by a whole lot of relgious and traditions cultural mysticism regarding who was entitled to be wealthy. What Marx did in e.g. "Value,Price and Profit" was to demystify the festishism of commodities in a capitalist political-economy.
^^^^^ CB: And I agree with you.
Unfortunately, today, in the US and perhaps in your country, many workers are buying into a whole set of old and new ideas - anti-communism, individual responsibility for poverty, welfare "cheats", racism, national chauvinism, commodity fetishism - that prevent the formation of working class and socialist consciousness. *******************
Relgion isn't as strong in Australia as in the USA. We have an atheist heading up the Labor Party. She's also the PM and unmarried to boot. No kids on top of that and her 'boyfriend' is a hairdresser. This could never happen in the USA, all of which is why I'm damned glad I moved to Australia. Of course, there's an election here on August 21st, so the PM may change. Her opponent is a Catholic and is running hard on projecting the image of 'family man' and tough love for the working class.
Other than that though, the dominant ideas of your ruling class, as outlined above by you, up there in the "Greatest Land of All..mwah" are ever the ruling ideas of our class society as well. Nationalist ideology is particularly strong i.e. that the working class and the employing class have interests in common--the kinder, gentler Greens don't challenge this notion either. Fear of competition in the labour market spurs the easy answers in the minds of the "Master Chef" watching/voting TV audience: blame those in weaker positions e.g. refugee workers on boats etc and never your masters in the employing class. Commodity fetishism helps tremendously in the project and is dominant everwhere in a world where the realities of producers and wealth production are turned on their head, in the mind i.e. Ford produces cars or God gives us a good crop.
Mike B) *********************************************************************** http://wobblytimes.blogspot.com/