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Matthijs wrote: I agree with this sentiment. I think that while support for Western workers against Western capital, including their unions, is necessary, we shouldn't conveniently lose sight of the fact that these unions have been very successful in negotiating with capital to share the spoils of the plunder of the Third World with their members. The corruption and reformism of Western major unions is not a coincidence - they are a labor aristocracy in many cases, if you look at it from a global perspective. I think it is disingenuous for us to focus on the increase in relative immiseration in the First World, even though that is of itself true, because the increases in absolute wealth among (white) workers in this part of the world have been so enormous that they cannot be swept away as irrelevant by pointing at relative difference. Instead, we should recognize that the social-democratic movement has had success in sharing the profits gained from the real immiseration of the Third World, both relative and absolute (although more so relatively), among First World workers, sufficient to make the vast majority of them supportive of the current world system. Therefore, the real revolutionary kind of immiseration, whether you conceive of it as relative or as absolute, is _for the greatest part_ going to be found in the Third World. Matthijs Krul ^^^^ CB: I agree with your overall points. However, the main revolution that the whole world needs is in the US. Since, the US is the imperialist center of this epoch, a revolution here would give significant relief to the workers in the Third World. The only ones who can make a revolution in the US are the US masses. So, we US activists have the responsibility of focusing on making a revolution in the US, even if the potential for revolution is greater in the Third World. To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Pen-l] Naomi Klein: Beware of Obama's Chicago School of Economicsboys From: "Charles Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:25:56 -0400 This message has been scanned for malware by SurfControl plc. www.surfcontrol.com _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
