"Read Settlers" is a meme, but it's also a true meme. You should read it, or read other things about this thesis regarding the white working class in the US (I've heard other Marxists have since improved on Sakai's thesis but I don't know who they are).

White Americans are doubling down on the racism. As white settler colonialism is starting to face just a little bit of opposition (like teaching kids that maybe the US isn't a perfect, God-blessed country), they are losing their minds over the idea of losing even a tiny bit of their privileges. This is still a perfectly material explanation. White folks have enjoyed an incredible level of privilege since the beginning of this country and they will fight viciously to keep all of it.

IMO the bulk of white Americans are a lost cause. Not to say white folks can't be revolutionary (I'm white), but I think we probably should be spending our very limited time and resources on folks outside the imperial core break from western imperialism, and focus on the oppressed within the core. Any white Americans who want to join in are welcome but any concession to white supremacy is unacceptable.

Edit: to clarify, I'm not saying the Dems lost because racism or whatever. I don't care if the Dems win or lose, it doesn't matter. My point is much more about using electoral results and the campaigns that precede them to see where winds are blowing. It seems that "CRT" and fear-mongering about crime (and thus the need to fund even more cops) was a very effective message in appealing to large segments of the population - particularly the white population.

  • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    But note that you yourself did the analysis to become a leftist. I did the same. My point is that there is no argument, no magic line of theory which will force people to yield privilege. I came from a background of hating the wealthy and wishing everyone to have equal footing for their pursuits, with dignity for every life. As such, I came to the conclusion, after much stupidity and some research, that communism is the goal.

    • Quimby [any, any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      oh, yeah, I gotcha. yeah, changing people's minds on stuff is generally hard-to-impossible, and that becomes even more true for stuff that affects them personally.

      • gaycomputeruser [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        sniff :zizek-preference: the glasses of ideology are painful to take off, you must be forced to take them off