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Kim Moody's article is a perfect example of using statistics to obscure reality. It is undeniable that the US working class is in a state of confusion, that the traditions of class struggle have weakened greatly over recent decades. While Moody cites all sorts of statistics, including the voting statistics for union households, the one statistic he doesn't cite is the percentage of union *members* who voted for Trump. I have not been able to find any polls on that, but the president of the UAW estimated that 31% of all union members voted for Trump. I know several (union) carpenters who did, including union activists. How to explain this? The reason Moody cannot explain it is that he has no serious critique of the union leadership, to start with. We have a union leadership that for decades has been preaching that the members' interests are the same as the interests of their employers. See this article <https://oaklandsocialist.com/2016/09/02/political-shifts-and-the-unions-labor-day-2016/>, for example. Then there is something else: The traditions of class struggle don't just float around in the ether; it exists in the minds of workers, especially the more conscious and determined ones. But for decades the union leadership has carried out an unrelenting war against exactly that sector of their members who best retain those traditions and seek to bring them back - in other words, who try to make the unions fight for the members. The union leadership has belittled, ostracized and even collaborated with the employers against exactly that sector of the membership. To this we have to add the decline of heavy industry in the US - exactly the sector where the class consciousness tends to be greatest. We saw a similar result in the Brexit vote in Britain, where many ex coal miners voted in favor of it. So, is it any wonder that so many workers fell for the line that because somebody has been a successful capitalist, he or she can "get the country moving again... make it great again"? How this will change is another question, but we do ourselves no favor by sticking our heads in the sand. John Reimann -- "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them." Asata Shakur Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com and // www.facebook.com/WorkersIntlNetwork?ref=stream _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
