What a lazy argument. Nobody argues that every worker (or organized worker) in the imperial core is a labor aristocrat. Nobody argues they are the enemy. A segment of the working class will be labor aristocrats and they will be less inclined to radical politics. In my state one of the largest employers is a shipyard that builds ships for the Navy. They have one of the strongest unions in the state and amazing benefits. They are textbook labor aristocrats. Who could blame them for supporting the war machine?
Arguing that wages stagnating disproves imperialism is lazy too. It’s obvious that our pay in relation to our cost and quality of living is much higher than in the global periphery. Even if you’ll be wracked with debt for the next decade you probably have a hospital that you can go to. We have universal K-12 education. You probably own a car that you can drive on tar roads. If you’re hungry you can probably get food. If you can work and you want to work you can get a job. Is this because of our unique American industriousness and ingenuity? Or is it because we rob the Third World every second and our bourgeoisie is nice enough to fund some amenities to keep us quiet? That the capitalists are letting these institutions collapse as the American Empire withdraws is, if anything, proof that the last 70 years have been funded by American Imperialism and the rightward shift has been because of our labor aristocracy abandoning class struggle for imperial class collaboration.
the rightward shift has been because of our labor aristocracy abandoning class struggle for imperial class collaboration.
This right here. The global north loses its privilege and immediately we see a sharp increase in naziism. The skinheads are chanting “weimar conditions, weimar solution” but this time we don’t have a Rosa Luxembourg.
The skinheads are chanting “weimar conditions, weimar solution”
Really?
How do they even know who weimar is? They’re very stupid people and certainly don’t study history.
Tangent but, who is Weimar then? I thought the Weimar Republic was named because of a place, not a person.
Nobody argues that every worker (or organized worker) in the imperial core is a labor aristocrat. Nobody argues they are the enemy.
I don’t think this is too far from Settlers’ thesis. There’s also an abundance of half-joking comments directed at the people of the imperial core (“angloid”) that some folks always take seriously. The sentiment is out there even if it’s not super common.
