My thoughts exactly.I suspect much of the patriotism on the part of the poor and working class,this article speaks of is due to such right wing brainwashing.As this article suggests.such indoctrination stifles any class conciousness,which is exactly the way the ruling class wants it.Trump,the GOP,and right wing media,have become experts,at channeling class inequality,and abuses of the poor,and working class,into patriotism,and the racism American patriotism engenders.
I am aware that in countries like China,the DPRK,Cuba,and Vietnam,support for the government,is often based more on patriotism,than support for socialism,and a deep understanding of theory.I do not believe we on the left,in the US,can afford the luxury of patriotism,that those in other countries enjoy,simply because in the US,patriotism is so tied to war and imperialism. If the left is to be rebuilt in this country,it won't be from ivory tower think tanks,it will come from rebuilding labor unions,and socialist/communist parties,among the poor,and working class,such as was done in the decades leading up to WWII.It means means getting out in the streets,and meeting the poor and working class where they are.It also means community aid programs,similar to what was being done by the BPP,the latter being all the more important,in a both a pandemic,and a government guided by neoliberal austerity.As for guns,it might be good to recall what Marx himself said about an armed proletariat.What does anyone think of the Socialist Rifle Association?I don't have a chapter where I live,but the last time I brought the SRA up at a PSL meeting,I was told by some it was a bad idea,because it sent a signal to the government,the left might be trying to build an armed insurrection,that the SRA might meet the same fate as the Panthers. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#723): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/723 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/76346454/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES<br />#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.<br />#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.<br />#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
