Why it is NOT “Class Warfare”

[NashvilleLefty]

The term “Class Warfare” is a dog whistle left over from the Cold War roughly meaning “Communism”. The “Red Scare”. “Redistribution of Wealth” is another dog whistle, with the same meaning. Although the “Red Scare” has been eliminated, some people want to resurrect the fear.

It can be argued that if, indeed, this is a matter of Class Warfare that the Upper Class fired the first shots.

However, “Class Warfare” would imply that everyone in the upper class was complicit. That is simply not the case. There are Millionaires, Billionaires, and even Corporations that understand the importance the importance of the Middle-Class and the importance of Employee Productivity by providing Employee benefits.

In fact, I would venture to say that the majority of the “Upper Class” understand this. Unfortunately, the upper class Minority are the ones who are attempting to manipulate our political process to their advantage.

The recent claims of “Class Warfare” not only hurt the Lower and Middle Classes, but they hurt the Upper Class as well! It’s the classic rule of Supply and Demand. The more people who have the ability to buy your product, the more demand there is.

I have heard Candidates claim that the reason they don’t create more jobs is because of “uncertainty” over new laws. What I have heard and what makes more sense, is that they don’t create new jobs because the DEMAND isn’t there. Tax policy, etc is just fine - but if they don’t need new employees to meet the demand then they won’t hire them. If demand is high enough to require hiring new employees to meet the increased demand, then they will hire them whatever the policies may be.

[safeinOhio]

1. The real class warfare is being

waged against workers, minorities and women, and is not coming from the left.

[tularetom]

2. For all his faults Henry Ford was smart enough to realize this

He knew that if his own employees could not afford to buy his products then very few others could afford them either. So he paid a wage that put the Model T within reach of everybody that worked for him.

If nobody has a job then nobody is going to consume. They can automate and outsource up the wazoo but they need consumers and they won't have consumers until unemployment goes down.

[Zalatix]

3. Henry Ford didn't drink the Prisoner's Dilemma kool-aid like his successors did.

[socialist_n_TN]

4. Of course it's class war. It's ALWAYS been class war..........

and if there are people in the 1%, much less a majority, who truely believe that it's NOT a class war, then they aren't doing fucking shit about it. Which means they're complicit in the class war against the working class and the poor.

The problem with capitalism is that the SYSTEM itself accomodates and encourages class war. It's the nature of the beast. If there are a few capitalists with doubts about waging the class war against the rest of us, that won't stop them from waging it anyway. Because IF they don't wage that war, by the nature of the system that they are playing in, they will lose in the game of capitalism. Don't EVER kid yourself that there can be any outcome OTHER than class war as long as the dictatorship of capital rules us economically, politically, and socially.

To paraphrase SDS from the Sixties: The fascists will shoot you, the conservatives will cheer on the fascists, the moderates will watch your execution on TV, and the liberals will cry over your grave after turning you over to the fascists. A capitalist might intellectually SEE that "trickle down" is bullshit (anybody with a modicum of brains would see this) and they might be sad about the decline of the middle class and even know that it will be a problem for the bourgeosie in the long run, BUT THEY CAN'T GO AGAINST THE WAY THE SYSTEM IS SET UP. So they'll cry over the bones of the "middle class" while turning them over to the fascists. They have too much invested in the system to do anything else.

Don't expect the elites to help us. The system won't ALLOW them to help us.

[NashvilleLefty]

5. I agree with SOME of what you say, BUT

I disagree with much of what you say.

For one thing, you lump all Capitalism into an "us vs. them" mentality, which is very immature and VERY naive.

For instance, there is a BIG difference between Caveat Vendor and Caveat Emptor Capitalism. Pure Communism works well on a local basis, but breaks down on a larger basis wherein beareaucracy becomes inevitable. Socialism addresses some of these issues, but still consolidates the economic power into too few hands which is the same problem that Caveat Emptor Capitalism has.

Free Enterprise and free competition drives innovation, and should be encouraged. However, when my house is on fire I don't want to be concerned with whether I am up-to-date on my bill. But, when the fire trucks arrive, I want them to have the best and most up-to-date equipment. Therefore, I want a blend of Capitalism and Socialism.

Capitalism is not the answer. Communism is not the answer. Socialism is not the answer.

We need to search for, and FIND, the answer.

[TBF]

7. Oh dear.

The only naivety in this conversation is the suggestion that capitalism would ever work with socialism. Your "blend" is impossible and it is not because of socialism. By definition capitalism is not going to allow it. Start with the past 100 years in this country and tell me how long your "middle class" lasted. That's about how long your special blend will last as well.

[socialist_n_TN]

8. You can call it "immature" and "naive" all you want.........

But I've had 60 years of life in the working class and I KNOW that it is an us vs them situation. Those fuckers will LITERALLY kill you and not bat an eye if it improves their profit margin. Retirees are "useless eaters". If you can't see that then you're the one who's led a sheltered life.

[TBF]

6. "It's ALWAYS been class war .... " is the right answer.

And the owners get very pissed off when we fight back.

[socialist_n_TN]

10. Yep. The owners prefer the "class massacre" model.......

I, for one, don't play that shit.

[limpyhobbler]

9. Yes 'class warfare' was used for decades as a dog whistle.

Charges of 'class warfare' attempted to associate left-wing democrats with socialism and thereby also to imply a treasonous association with Soviet communism.

But that crap is getting old and I think people are starting to see through it.

For one thing the Soviet Union is gone and the cold war is over, so the fear of commies isn't nearly what it used to be.

For another thing the income disparity between the extremely wealthy and everyone else has become more and more obvious. It's clear that we have created a permanent overclass the likes of which has not been seen since the aristocracies of centuries past.

Take Mitt Romney for example. This is literally true: none of Mitt Romney's descendants will ever have to work a day in their lives. Well, for at least the next couple hundred years. If he has 5 or 6 kids, and they all inherit their share of the family fortune, they can just live off of the 'earned' interest on the money without ever having to work. Same for the grand-kids an great grand-kids. What's worse, they will all be taught that they earned it, that they deserve it, and that they have the right to it.

Not only do they not have to work at all, but they live lives of extreme luxury. This goes on while other Americans are denied medical care they need to live healthy lives. While people are forced to choose between food and medicine. And while politicians work with private corporations to loot the public treasuries.

It is clear to most people that this is not fair. So the tide may have turned for that 'class warfare' dog whistle. It's become obvious to the American people, for the first time in decades, that the class war has been going on for a long time. They're just upset that their class is losing.