The Most Revolutionary Act

The term “cultural wars,” as used by the mainstream media, seems to have two distinct meanings. It’s most commonly used to refer to the so-called “class of civilizations” between western democracy and societies where Islam is the primary religion. As Lila Rajiva points out in the Language of Empire, the US media also has an unfortunate tendency to misrepresent Islamic societies as tribal and uncivilized.

In another context, the US media uses the phrase “cultural wars” to describe the red/blue state clash, which depicts red states as populated by highly religious, family-centered conservatives concerned about individual liberties and blue states as peoples social libertines who value community welfare over individual liberty.

The US Class Divide: the Real Cultural Wars

I totally agree with Rajiva’s view that both so-called “cultural wars” are artificial, manufactured by the mainstream media to keep the American public from uniting against their common enemy, which is the corporate state. I also believe the media deliberately conceals the real cultural divide, which is between the 20% of the population who comprise the professional/academic class and the 80% who work for near minimum wage. It’s my strong belief that these firmly entrench class divisions are the primary obstacles to building an American mass movement, comparable to those taking the streets of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

The Role of the Middle Class in Policing Society

What many on the Left fail to realize is that it’s not merely the police and slick ideological propaganda that keep the capitalists in power in the US, These two forces are also aided by an army of “helping professionals” – teachers, lawyers, religious leaders, social workers, doctors, psychologists, etc – who play a crucial role in instructing the working class in appropriate and politically correct behavior.

Leftists and progressives frequently bemoan the absence of minorities at their meetings. The real problem is their failure to attract the working class to their causes – no manual laborers, minimum wage workers from Wal Mart or KFC, or low income women with children who can’t afford a babysitter. Given that the vast majority of Americans of color belong to this economic group.

Why Don’t Working Class People Come To Our Meetings?

After posing this question to working class clients and friends for 30+ years, I have come up with the following answers:

1. Liberals and progressives rarely address the nitty gritty financial issues (i.e. paying the rent or mortgage and food and doctor bills) that would motivate blue or pink collar workers to become politically active. When you can’t afford a doctor or shoes for your kids, it’s hard to get excited about wars in the Middle East, banking reform or climate change.
2. Liberals and progressives tend to be insensitive to working class culture and are often perceived as moralizing about “political correctness” and “lifestyle changes.” This often includes a heavy emphasis on changing light bulbs and other “sacrifices” activists are expected to make to reduce global warming.
3. My blue collar friends complain about not being heard at political meetings because more educated activists tend to monopolize the discussions.
4. My working class friends tend to be mistrustful of progressives in general, owing to their tendency to stigmatize common working class issues, especially chronic illness and obesity (which increase in prevalence as income decreases), smoking and gun control.

To be continued.