to alistair-air,
I have chosen some of your statements to respond to. Hope you don't feel
they are too out of context.
"'Poor' people are just as capable of being organised (or organising
themselves) as anyone else - all that needs to happen is that people see
a benefit in organisation. This happens time and time again throughout
history."
>
True (kinda). Definately the best way to increase participation is with
tangible victories and benifits. Particularly poor people make very
harsh and very necessary assessments of their options in terms of cost
and benifit. This is fair enough. Only with wealth can you afford to
repeat Uni, lose a job or suffer other possible consequences from
failing to focus on your individual life. Realistically collective
action has to show that it can work and is worth the risk.
However I believe their are other impediments to the poor being
political. None of these are inate or biological. The most significant
one is the violent power of the state. I consider it a big lie that the
"Hippys" and Activists of the 60's, and 70's merely mellowed or saw a
lack of benifit in political organisation. Instead their leaders were
jailed and silenced, beaten and killed. Their publications were banned
and their employment terminated. There is little mystery as to why many
poor people do not get organised or why poor organisations fail to
transform society so often. Genuine emotional, social, financial and
physical sanctions as well as all the military tactics of preventing
communication, controlling information and corrupting spokespeople are
deployed against the oppressed who attempt to organise.
"'Rich' people aren't organised so much as they are order-givers.
They're quasi-fascists, who may take advice, but still retain power to
give orders to their minions and slaves".
>
I disagree. Perhaps omega's only valid point is that rich people are
exceedingly well organised. Socially and financially. The MAI
(multialteral agreement on investment) is evidence of this if nothing
else ever was.
>"Let us not fool ourselves, half a century after the adoption
>of this Declaration (of human Rights) and supposedly under its
>protection, millions of people have died in the world without
>reaching the age of 50 and without even knowing that there was
>a universal document that should have protected them."
> Roberto Robaina, Cuba's Foreign Minister
Great quote.
>
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