2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)Class Warfare [View all]
Good morning, DU Community!
One of the more interesting distinctions that I notice on DU:GDP is the manner in which the supporters of each of our two Democratic candidates perceive issues involving class warfare as influencing their choices. Now, lets identify a working definition of class warfare, before we continue this discussion, okay?
Well go with the old Sociology 101 definition: class warfare can be understood as the tensions that exist in a society, between competing groups with different socioeconomic interests. A few years ago,, for example, there was the Occupy Movement, which focused on the very real differences between two groups -- the 99% and the 1%. The Occupy Movement was intent upon informing Americans of a reality that few elected representatives in Washington, DC, openly addressed: that the 1% had been engaging in class warfare against the 99% for decades.
The Occupy Movement was similar in spirit to what Martin Luther King, Jr., was planning in late 1967 - 68: a Poor Peoples Campaign, in Washington, DC. More, Kings planned campaign was similar to the movement from the 1890s, known as Coxeys Army, which attempted to highlight the elites class warfare against the majority of citizens of this country. And, of course, there was the labor movements struggle to form unions, to protect the working class from the cruelties of the 1%.
In the context of the 2016 Democratic primary, it is accurate to say that the central focus of the Sanders campaign is to defend the 99% from the attacks of the 1%. This obviously requires an awareness of the class warfare that is damaging the quality of life in America for the vast majority of people -- and hence, confronting the extreme corruption of our political process, where Wall Street controls most elected officials from both the Democratic and republican parties. Hence, Bernies campaign is funded exclusively by citizens contributions.
The Clinton campaign also has raised a significant amount of money from average Americans contributions. However, unlike Bernies campaign, Hillarys has accepted millions from the Wall Street elites, who happen to be engaged in the class warfare against the majority of the nations population.
From the Sanders campaigns viewpoint, those Wall Street contributions to the Clinton campaign are significant. More, Hillary herself has taken extremely large speaking fees for her meetings with Wall Street., and the Clinton Foundation likewise is funded by the elite in this country, and some rather unattractive foreign interests.
Whats not clear is what positions that Hillary, her top campaign people, and her grass roots supporters take on class warfare. Obviously, those currently making a good income are comfortable with the current economic realities. They are not working two part-time jobs for low wages. But certainly, a significant portion of her supporters are dealing with many of the same financial pressures as the rest of us.
The Sanders campaign isnt advocating taking revenge against all wealthy people. Rather, we are demanding an equal playing field. To establish a level playing field, we will eventually need to work in unity with people from every socioeconomic class in the country. But before we can do that, we need to increase the unity among the targets of the 1%s class warfare. I think it is fair to say that this is among the reasons why many progressives find the thought of voting for Hillary distasteful, although perhaps necessary, if she is our partys nominee.
I will not pretend to know what is the thinking of those targets of the elites class warfare, who are supporting Clinton at this time. Id be curious to learn.
Peace,
H2O Man