What the Ruling Class Fears- In a Word

[Orwellian_Ghost]

We are trained against solidarity our whole lives

I mean, maybe not in our families or certain personal influences, but on a societal/cultural level we are never taught that one person's suffering belongs to everyone, and that we are all responsible for alleviating anyone's suffering in our society.

Even further, we are taught that other struggling people are our competition, our enemy. It is near impossible to overcome that.

So we have a tendency to compartmentalize our political picture, as if all of these 'issues' are separate - war, immigrants' rights, environment, corporate welfare, unemployment, globalism, outsourcing, healthcare... But in reality, these are all part of the same overarching problem. The biggest fear of the ruling class is that all the people will figure that out and turn against their true enemy.

They are doing a damn good job, I must say. Divide and conquer, blame the victim, dichotomies ad infinitum...

For any movement to become successful we need to learn how to overcome those obstacles, we need to learn why/how we are alienating potential allies. But it doesn't help that so much activism is party-oriented, because that, in and of itself, alienates half the population from the get-go.

I think it is all or nothing right now, and 'nothing' is winning...How do we harness the 'all'?

[Radical Activist]

1. So when Obama talks about unity and uniting the American people...

Maybe he isn't talking about compromising with Republicans as some people accused. hmmm....

[Donnachaidh]

9. if a good number of the Republicans in the house and senate now

aren't gone Obama will be compromising his ass off, and you can bet your ass THEY won't let him have anything without handing over every little tidbit they dream of. All the flowery speeches won't mean diddly-shit with the obstructionist Republicans making his *unity* look like crap. And they WILL, because neither Obama nor any of the Dems now in office have the backbone to tear up the rulebook and kick the asses needed to be kicked.

Don't equate solidarity with the sort of compromising the Dems in Congress and the Senate are doing now.
Republicans don't DO solidarity. And they're having a fine old time sitting back and watching the spineless majority leaders doing nothing.

[Radical Activist]

10. Why not consider for just a moment

that you misinterpreted what Obama was saying about unity. The lines about compromising with Republicans didn't come from Obama. It came from his opponents.

How can you overcome the Republicans? Unity and solidarity. Its the only way. Don't you think someone trained as a left wing community organizer knows that? Think about it.

[readmoreoften]

21. A lot of people trained as "left wing organizers" know a lot of things.

And many of them wouldn't vote for Kucinich let alone Barack Obama. That's because they're socialists and communists... you know leftists. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both center right wing candidates. Both are for *almost* unfettered laissez faire capitalism and military expansion. Kucinich is center-left, for god sakes. Any true "left wing" organizer who is putting their eggs in an Obama basket is suffering from an identity crisis. It's like a "Right Wing activist" voting for Kucinich and thinking he's getting what he wants.

Sure you can build unity with working class Republicans--heck, you can even join hands with working class fascists with the right pro-nationalist blather--through a modicum of education about their own economic interest and a slight step to the right.

But that's not what Barack Obama is doing. He's just a blank canvas on which everyone projects their hopes and dreams. And at the end of the day, you'll have a centrist, slightly right wing candidate and so will the Republicans you think you've duped.

[Radical Activist]

26. uh

If someone decides they want to be a relevant part of the political system then Obama is likely to be someone who allows a left wing movement to grow without the undue government interference that usually comes from the government.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Solidarity, forever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYiKdJoSsb8

[scarletwoman]

3. Well, there ARE more of us than there are of them.

That's why they do everything they can to make sure we stay divided.

[walldude]

15. Yup, now and in the future... They are scared shitless and they

should be. That's why they cut education funding and that's why they are trying to break net neutrality. I believe it's also why they attack the media even though the media has been complacent to what they are doing.
They fear an educated organized populace and will do whatever they can to keep the "peasants" in line. The other thing that causes fear in them is the fact that they really can't do anything that doesn't involve money. They don't know how to create anything, and even if they did it's too much work for them. They need us docile and stupid, otherwise who is going to build their houses, cook their meals, fix their cars, cut their grass, fix their internets, etc.

[JanMichael]

4. They also fear:

[Hardrada]

5. Hurray IWW!

I still have my red card.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

6. To those of us who have ears, hear. To those of us who have

eyes, see. We are all one body. Peace be with you.

[dweller]

11. Thou art that

Peace be with you also.

dp

[Festivito]

7. As in we shall hang together or certainly hang seperately? /nt

[femrap]

8. So why do you think that TPTB

staged a race between a middle-aged white woman and a younger black man?

old v. young, female v. male, black v. white. And also consider the treatment of Edwards by the MSM...and don't forget Kucinich....who spoke more Truth than all of them put together.

I never hear BO talking about women's issues. Choice? Day Care? Health insurance for Mom...NO, just for the child...wtf? Equal pay? And he has made derogatory comments about his elders. How is that to give me hope about his actions if he were to be Prez?

[The Stranger]

12. I have heard him talk about women's issues, choice and day care.

And if you are voting for Hillary on those issues, she represents the corporatist empowered establishment and is more in bed with it than anyone. Look to see the corporations and lobbyists that support her.

THAT is the issue.

[femrap]

13. You are so funny.....I believe BO and The Corporation

get along just fine.

Where were you when Edwards was in the race? He is and was the only one fighting the Corps.

So what did BO say about those issues. I read one paragraph that made me want to puke...about how sweet women are yak yak bla bla.

Do you realize how much HRC has done for women and children over the past 35 years? She and Patty Murray were the ONLY SENATORS to go to bat for women so we could finally get The Morning After Pill. Didn't see BO anywhere.

So did he talk about those SEVEN 'present' votes? He's a coward....he's afraid to stand up for women because then all of the males would call him a sissy.

You and you 'corporatist empowered establishment'....you didn't live in the '60's or '70's...you are so funny. cute, actually.

Our culture hates women who step outside the very strict gender roles...and even if they don't, they're not all that liked. Deal with that TRUTH.

[The Stranger]

23. Before he bowed out of the race, I was an Edwards supporter.

You seem to be taking this extraordinarily personally. This is an election campaign and Barack Obama is running for President. To try to make him into a misogynist because his opponent is a female is simply wrong.

Puke it up, femrap. Puke it up.

[femrap]

24. BO certainly has not said anything regarding all of

negativity that the MSM has spewed toward HRC regarding her cleavage, her laugh, her ankles and the pimping out of her daughter, did he?

Of course not. When the MSM say things like this, it is said to every women in this country. But you probably enjoyed laughing along with the boys. Same with Imis....he called every woman a whore.

I look at BO's behavior to assess his view and treatment of women....seven 'present' votes on Choice shows cowardice. Read Michelle's interview in Vanity Fair 12/07. How he refers to his grandmother living in Africa without running water as his way of understanding poverty...maybe he could send her some $$.

This has nothing to do with HRC...it's HIS behavior I'm looking at. And I see how our culture reacts to a woman running for President. Only a real man who is secure in himself sees HRC as the better candidate. The other males just can't accept as woman in that position of power, even though women in other countries have held that position.

I had no idea that the males of the US had such a low consciousness regarding sexism...sure I take it personally, I am one of those women who hears the degrading rape jokes at work, the one who trains the young college grad males so they can get the promotion instead of me. If you don't understand and realize the patriarchy of this culture, then we can't converse.

Read an article or book on patriarchy, gender roles, sexism. See why I take it personally. It's as if you think it's 'odd' that a woman would take anything 'personally'....as if she isn't a PERSON at all.

As for your 'puke it up,' comments. What are you trying to say? Just insults to someone who on your list of hierarchy is beneath your pet?

I hope you're very proud of your behavior....does it make you feel like a 'man?'

Maybe you should act more like John Edwards who actually treated women and the less fortunate with respect. We are not here to take care of the likes of you or soothe your fragile ego.

You either want to become more enlightened on the 51% of our population or you want to just go watch your porn and be oblivious. It's your choice.

I'm going to put you on my Ignore list because I don't think what I said will make any difference in your willfully ignorant mind.

[McCamy Taylor]

14. Exactly! Racism and religious intolerance and sexism are created by the "boss" to divide the worker

and suppress wages.

Solidarity!

[peacetalksforall]

16. No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe;every man

is a peece of the Continent, a part of the marne: if a
Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse,
as well as if a Promontarie were, as well as if a Mannor
of the friends or of thine owne were; any mans
death diminishes me, because I am involved in
Mankinde: And therefore never send to know for
whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
John Donne

[otherlander]

17. K&R

[patrice]

18. Commitment to HOW we are what we are can create Solidarity amongst different candidate-partisans.

There are obvious differences amongst us; just look at some of the ugly stuff that goes on on this board.

After the elections, as people become more active and work on the issues, we will see even more differences.

Because of those differences we could go back to aligning with this or that or the other political party, or we can commit to one another on the basis of an ethos that is designed to free us from false dichotomies.

An ethos defines HOW people treat one another. If we commit to an ethos, i.e. make a manner of being central to what "we" are, in most cases, our differences will take care of themselves and Solidarity will have a chance to develop. The following are some of the characteristics I think such an ethos would have :

Honesty and respect are the basis of ALL interactions.
Subjective truths are essentially important, but not more so than objective truths.
People should care at least as much about reality as they do about their perceptions of reality.
Empowerment of others is as necessary as empowerment of self.
Work in exchange for work.
Pro-active inclusion.
Continuous striving for as much concensus as possible.
Listening:Speaking = 50:50
...

Perhaps you can add some.

Solidarity Orwellian_Ghost!

[elleng]

19. RIGHT!

Now understand why MSM has been promoting division between Obama and Hillary supporters?

AND refusing to provide decent coverage for Richardson, Biden, Dodd, Kuch, Gravel, and before that, Wes Clark?

It is NO COINCIDENCDE that the main stream media does not cover NEWS; they want to keep the U.S. electorate IGNORANT!

[liberal4truth]

20. Too bad is isnt going to happen in the US. The unions are dying out including the Teamsters.

[readmoreoften]

22. The concept of the worker has been eradicated.

In law and in public opinion.

Everyone is an intern on their way to management (or so they think...) Not to mention the whole "independent contractor" thing. There has been a concerted effort to destroy the concept of the worker in order to destroy labor. Anyone who supervises anyone at anytime is no longer considered a worker. Worse of all, we don't even have any collective images of what a 'worker' is anymore, let alone a union member. What you get is early 20th century concepts: miners, factory workers, steel mill workers. There are hardly any jobs that fit these descriptions anymore.

Capital is dispersed and so is the work force. It's hard to get a solidarity between mall workers, waitresses, 7-11 clerks, gas station attendants, and maids. What is the architecture of the strike? With no factory entrances to block you literally need to deploy ten times as many strikers as there are workers for every location.

We need to re-imagine the worker...and the practical side of how solidarity can be deployed.

[Echo In Light]

25. Explains the divide and rule ruse of the Name Brand party {singular}

[GeorgeGist]

27. 'The United States of America '...

is double-speak.