On 2013-05-09, at 6:10 PM, Shane Mage wrote:
>
> On May 9, 2013, at 4:28 PM, Wojtek S wrote:
>
>> Shane,
>> Do you really believe that Bubbas and their guns is what stops the armed
>> agents of the US state from imposing control on the 99%?
>
> That control has always existed, but as I recall they were very, very concerned about Panthers and their guns.
> Their control is never perfect, but they want it to be.
> Nobody knows who will do what in a real crisis, but they do know that the Bubbas are part of the dangerous underclass.
> Therefore gun control.
The American ruling class has nothing whatsoever to fear from the Bubbas, as you call them. Quite the contrary. The conservative bourgeoisie in particular has enlisted its working class and small property owner base, congregated in and around the Republican party, as its electoral spearhead in its heightened efforts to wholly dismantle the gains won over decades of struggle by organized workers, blacks, women, gays, environmentalists, and other groups. We can disagree, and have done so, as to why these latter constituencies remain stubbornly loyal to the Democratic Party and kindred social democratic parties, but that's a separate question which need not detain us here.
The point is that the gun-toting Republican base may be a part of the underclass, but in a deeper crisis which would spill outside the confines of the electoral system, they would not represent a danger to a beleaguered US ruling class suddenly confronted by forces breaking away from and to the left of the DP (like the Panthers earlier), but a crucial prop to its continued survival. Meanwhile, the Republican leadership happily supports the self-arming of its base. Therefore no gun control.
You're well enough versed in the history of fascism to know the role played by the most frightened and muddled workers and petty bourgeoisie everywhere as the willing foot soldiers of reaction. We're a long way from fascism in the US, but it is easy to see from where the contending forces would come from. I'm surprised this has to be spelled out for you.