Are American Workers Stupid?

[Itsthetruth]

Are American Workers Stupid?
by Bill Onasch



I was more or less accused by a resident critic of implying so in my recent article, Fixing Social Security, when I spoke of many who find Bush’s "ownership society" scam appealing. I have to admit that this gullibility is not the only disturbing trend I see.

Polls indicate there are substantial numbers who still believe America was in imminent mortal danger from Saddam Hussein’s vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Many are firmly convinced the entire universe was created over a six-day period about five thousand years ago. Millions of television viewers, hardly able to contain their anticipation, tune in each week to hear a billionaire capitalist tell a humiliated apprentice "you’re fired." And a recent poll of students found widespread opposition to First Amendment guarantees of free speech and free press.

To be sure, all this is quite troubling. But I’m not quite ready to write off the masses of the American working class as "stupid." My search engine dictionary defines stupid as "Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless." While all of us can and do act foolish or careless from time to time I doubt my fellow workers are more "marked by a lack of intelligence" than our counterparts abroad who often better understand their role in the workings of society.

Our ability to learn and reason is not hampered by sub-par IQs; our knowledge and thought process has been stunted and deformed by powerful institutions designed to do just that by the tiny minority that rules America.

Whether you listen to FOX News or NPR, whether you read The New York Times or USA Today; the best you will get out of the mass media is reporting on both sides of intramural disputes among the powers that be–almost never anything from a working class perspective.

Our public schools are dedicated to encouraging individual ambitions of advancing into that Ownership Society–almost never will students be taught that there is even such an entity as the working class, much less the value of working class solidarity.

The main stream religious institutions generally promote peaceful and humble "conflict resolution" in the here and now--deferring our dreams to eternity after our departure from this imperfect world.

Even the mass organizations that our class built through determined struggle and much sacrifice to defend our interests have largely lost touch with this original mission. Most union officials at least tacitly acknowledge the exalted status of our employers, often imitating their methods and aspiring to imitate their life styles. Labor’s leaders appeal to our masters to be reasonable and champion the "Win-Win" bargaining approach that has led to one defeat after another.

But, just as I stop short of dismissing workers as stupid, I also refuse to characterize the opposing class as "smart." Yes, they were clever enough to employ bright people to shape this mind warp that befuddles so many. But none of this would have worked had our rulers not also had at their disposal enormous material reserves to create a multi-tiered society where some live reasonably well and the others think the good life is in reach. That is the indispensable foundation for the ideological prison where so many of us are incarcerated.

The competitive pressures of Globalization–along with ever-present greed intrinsic to Free Enterprise–inevitably undermines this historic foundation. As investors demand more, managers seek to extract more out of us. The bosses have never figured out any way to prosper except at our expense. That’s because in the long run, under their system, there is no other way.

The revered "Middle Class" is shrinking, the poor are becoming poorer. Altered life styles and pessimism about the future will lead many to question the fairy tales and malicious lies once accepted as gospel. And once the "stupid" workers start thinking for themselves they will also figure out intelligent ways of acting. The day when "smart" bosses start reflecting on their own intelligence quotient won’t be far behind.

The disturbing facts mentioned at the beginning of this article remind us we are still only at the beginning of an emergence from the Dark Ages we have long suffered through. We have far to go. But there are enough preview examples of a coming Renaissance to give us confidence in our future.

The often bitter strikes, job actions, and organizing drives being waged today are great class rooms as well as class struggle. Much will be learned even when such battles fail to win their immediate objectives.

While some workers are falling for Bush’s Social Security privatization swindle most are suspicious and many are ready to fight to defend their benefits. This is another excellent opportunity for education going beyond this one issue.

No, we may be crazy but we ain’t stupid.

http://www.kclabor.org/laboradvocateonline.htm

[screembloodymurder]

1. If the're not stupid,

they must be blind.

[BillZBubb]

2. If you have to ask that question, you already know the answer!

A majority of American workers are stupid. Yes.

[Itsthetruth]

6. Do Some DU'ers Have An Anti-Worker Class Bias?

As you can see some DU'ers seem to have a class bias. It appears they identify more with the rich, affluent and educated rather than those who are the primary victims in Bush's war on unions and working people in general.

That's sad. I wish they were on our side. Their hostile and negative attitude towards "those stupid workers" certainly won't help us to educate and mobilize working people against the Bush governments attacks on our rights, liberties and living standards.

Their attitude gives ammunition to those who charge "liberals" and other progressives with being " rich intellectual elitists" who have nothing in common with the great majority of American people who are not in their class.

Oh terrible it is that us "dumb" workers are not so bright and smart as them. Perhaps if were lucky they will pat us on our heads and do great things for us. And who knows, they might even help those even dumber Black and Hispanic workers if we let them lead us!

[jdj]

8. we have way more ammo than them, but we don't own the media

that ultimately is what it is all about.

[BillZBubb]

12. I don't have an anti-worker class bias.

I have an anti-imbecile bias. Anybody making less than 40 grand a year that ever votes for a Repub is an imbecile.

Is that clear enough for you?

[QC]

16. Amen! The class snobbery around here is astounding.

Sometimes, when the subject turns to working people, we sound like a group of Tri Delts dishing that tacky girl who made her debut at the worst cotillion in that off-the-rack dress.

[QC]

15. Kerry got the majority of voters under $50k/yr.

Every other demographic went to Bush.

Looks like it was nice, middle-class, college-educated people who put Bush in office, not those oh-so-tacky hayseeds and hardhats, as so many alleged "liberals" like to believe.

[jdj]

3. it's a racial thing

they don't understand that class is not about race or gender or even sexual preference.

They think as long as the white guys who claim to be christians are in office, they'll be protected.

And they continue to believe this even while they are slung over a barrel and butt-fucked in every way possible.

[Blecht]

10. This is one theory why MLK was murdered

He was starting to get more and more focused on class inequality, then BLAMMO! King was so intelligent and charismatic that he might have been able to reach even the most thick-headed poor white bigots out there. That scared an awful lot of rich white folks.


A nice article from FAIR goes into this better than I could:

http://www.fair.org/media-beat/950104.html

...
By 1967, King had also become the country's most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War, and a staunch critic of overall U.S. foreign policy, which he deemed militaristic. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech delivered at New York's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 -- a year to the day before he was murdered -- King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

From Vietnam to South Africa to Latin America, King said, the U.S. was "on the wrong side of a world revolution." King questioned "our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America," and asked why the U.S. was suppressing revolutions "of the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World, instead of supporting them.

In foreign policy, King also offered an economic critique, complaining about "capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries."

You haven't heard the "Beyond Vietnam" speech on network news retrospectives, but national media heard it loud and clear back in 1967 -- and loudly denounced it. Time magazine called it "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi." The Washington Post patronized that "King has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."

In his last months, King was organizing the most militant project of his life: the Poor People's Campaign. He crisscrossed the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would descend on Washington -- engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol, if need be -- until Congress enacted a poor people's bill of rights. Reader's Digest warned of an "insurrection."
...

[makhno]

14. Similar to Malcolm X

Once a popular leader moves past narrow racial or religious views, bam, there comes the shot. If nothing else, MLK and X show us what the system fears the most, and that is angry, united workers who've transcended the racial, religious and gender biases promoted as "inherently human" by the bourgeoisie.

[makhno]

13. And neither do many Democrats

Sad as it is. We should really work on promoting a class-based approach to politics among progressives.

[two gun sid]

4. People who are scared often act stupid. n/t

[jbm]

5. I think the issues are irrelevant...

Unfortunately, most people don't make understanding issues or government a really high priority in their lives. I also think that most people see that there are two sides to every argument, but instead of doing the research and soul searching it would take for them to find where their true stand is on an issue, they just look around and go with the guy that 'thinks like them'. That's where we've lost the public.

When I worked with the local dems during the last election, I was amused by a handful of people who struck me as being ideologically predisposed to being conservatives, and yet I could see the absolute inner struggle taking place within them as they adamantly defended things like abortion and gun control. For whatever reasons that exist they had identified themselves as dems, and having done that, they would adjust their views on the issues accordingly.

I don't think it's about the public being stupid..it's about the public identifying with the repubs. That's why images of 'average working guy ' versus 'educated elite' have such a huge impact. Far to many Americans simply look for a 'kindred spirit', and trust that whatever that guy decided is what they would believe too, if they just had the time or ability to understand the issue.

If we can find a way to get the public to identify with the liberals, they'll adjust their views on the issues themselves. I think it's not about them being stupid..it's just the way that human nature works.

[Itsthetruth]

7. Can't Reach And Mobilize Workers That Way

I posted major excerpts from the article written by brother Onasch.

The kclabor.org guidelines indicate that "labor movement and other nonprofit media may reproduce with attribution."

Around 70% of union organized workers DID NOT vote for George Bush. However tens of millions of workers did not vote at all. I think that's because many they didn't think the election Bush or Kerry really addressed their class interests and needs.

The appeal to them as workers was vague and almost invisible. After all, John Kerry didn't want big business and their Republican whores to accuse him of advocating "class warfare".

The fact is, the great majority of workers did not vote for Bush or did not vote at all. Do you really believe that the only marginally and semi-intelligent workers are those who voted for John Kerry?

You can write 50 million or more workers off as "stupid" if you like. But with that snobbish attitude don't expect to ever win them over.

[jbm]

11. I either articulated my post very badly..

or you totally misunderstood it. I was NOT saying that the American worker is stupid. I was saying that for most, issues and politics are not a focal point of their lives. I absolutely believe they are 100% capable of understanding the issues, but it's easier for them to just align themselves with the guy that they perceive thinks the way they think. We ALL do that all through our lives. It really IS human nature to go with the group you feel connected with. We just are complacent in different areas. If the politically complacent connect with us, they'll opt to see the issue the way we do instead of the way the repub does.

[haele]

9. American workers are over-stressed -

Look at what makes up the average working Bushbot -
Most working Bushbots are people who get their news from drive-time during the commutes. S/he usually spends 12 - 14 hours a day either at work, in transit between home and the worksite, or out running errands for the family.
At work, s/he is usually doing the job of what used to be two to three people as little as five years ago, and s/he is constantly being exposed to job uncertainty; what will happen if the next contract isn't won, what will happen when if one or two customers fold and take their business away, what will happen if there's a downtic in the economy.
On the homefront, s/he is constantly faced with the repercussions of consumer inflation (especially rising housing, food, gasoline and health costs) and the overwhelming prevalence of advertising everywhere pushing the idea that "to shop is to be successful".

His/her children and their peers have most likely already been seduced by product propaganda and the working Bushbot, like his/her progressive counterpart, is constantly exposed to consumerist whining with the child's efforts keep any semblance of "school status", despite anything the parent may do. Children are cruel, and the seemingly poor children without the latest cool clothes or gadgets have always been unmercifully bullied. But it's worse nowdays since all the school's functions have been reduced to a form of semi-educational daycare and what used to be a period of time spent developing capabilities is now being used as a societal holding pen until the kid is old enough to break out and either go up to the next level or take a job as a drone. So if the parent has any compassion for what the child is going through or are tired of the whining, they're spending hard-earned money trying to get them into some out of school function that they hope might develop the confidence and capabilities the schools are no longer teaching.

What little free time the working Bushbot has is spent trying to cram in as much family time or enjoyment time into what is left of the day or what weekend s/he might have. Which means spending money s/he and the family don't have.

The working Bushbot is usually exhausted and stressed out trying to keep up and "hold onto what they deserve" - or what they are told they should deserve. And under such duress, critical thinking is one of the first things to go in many people - so it's very easy to control them with a bombardment of propaganda. After all, in most cases, they're just too tired to think past the next ten minutes, let alone the next ten days - and if it wasn't "work related", they're most likely too mentally and emotionally exhausted to critically work out the implications of what had happened to them in the last hour, let alone what might have happened yesterday.
So long as what happened isn't as direct as a foreclosure notice from the mortgage company or wrecking the suspension of their car in a huge pothole, it flies past their mental radar and any preconceptions they may have had to make to cope with life.

The working Bushbot is a sad creature that doesn't have the time to be able to think critically, or the coping mechanisms to be able to consider something that falls outside their lifestyle patterns. Sometimes, they're just selfish and narrow-minded, but most times, they're just too busy with their own lives to think about the big picture and how it affects their future.

Haele

[jazzjunkysue]

17. Only 51% are stupid. They're also the same 51% that are selfish,

short-sighted, fearful, biggoted, controlling, insecure, self-righteous, narrow-minded, lazy, ignorant, and greedy. 48% have displayed a capacity to learn.