• poor leftists talk about poverty, labor aristocrats get uncomfortable and insist that sociological classes aren’t materialist. “all that matters is that we’re working class - we’re all in this together”

  • black leftists talk about racism, whites get uncomfortable and insist that they’re not personally part of the problem. “we mustn’t allow the bourgeois to divide the proletariat along racial lines - we’re all in this together”

  • female leftists talk about patriarchy, men get uncomfortable and insist that it hurts them too. “this men vs women stuff is reductive anyway - we’re all in this together”

  • third world leftists talk about imperialism, americoids get uncomfortable and insist that red white and blue lives matter too. “what happened to the international working class - we’re all in this together”

you don’t have to invite yourself to every form and experience of oppression. anyone with a baby’s consciousness of intersectionality ought to be capable of admitting when they have privilege

  • LovesAGoodPigRoast [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    11·
    1 year ago

    As a black man, focusing on my individual oppression doesn’t seem to be productive when speaking to the wider leftist community as we are all here to seek the liberation of wage slavery through the emancipation of labor ownership. I don’t see the point in seeing your identity as a woman as forefront of your leftist beliefs in the same way I don’t see my identity as a black man. I’d rather a cis white male see me as a comrade than acknowledge the black struggle in the US. The latter is what we just call the white liberal and only cares about my precieved status socially. Personally, I think the inability to put one’s individualism aside for the sake of solidarity (not comprising beliefs but just not hyper focusing on them) is just a reductionist to the group you belong to, like a race or feminist reductionist. Only collectives with a strong centralized identity are able to have revolutions. A bunch of groups with a common goal that will betray each other the moment they think that others are antagonistic is called the Spanish Civil War.

    • pillow [she/her]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      11·
      1 year ago

      I’d rather a cis white male see me as a comrade than acknowledge the black struggle

      this approach fails even on its own terms of trying to achieve a common revolution for everyone. all of those other “individual oppressions” are key sites of class struggle! you can’t leave them out and mutually agree that everyone will act like the only thing that matters is worker identity, at least without completely hobbling your efforts.

      A bunch of groups with a common goal that will betray each other the moment they think that others are antagonistic is called the Spanish Civil War.

      it’s nice that you’re so trusting, but I’m not. you’re talking like they’re not the ones with a proven record of betraying. taibbi and most patsocs have already decided that publicly crucifying the trans is just going to have to be the price to be paid to gain popular support for their programs. us history is a nonstop parade of cases of labor militancy collapsing when its middle class support is bought off with concessions to split them away from labor. or black history my god, the number of times white socialists decided it was tactically expedient to keep blacks and immigrants out? this kind of thing is not all behind us. you have to be vigorous in militating for your own interests or else you’re just depending on whatever consideration you get ambiently from liberal society- which will not serve you well as material conditions continue to deteriorate.