One of the crowning ironies of post-industrial American life is the fact that a great portion of the working class has been wholly co-opted by capital.
We see this in the supporters of both major political parties, but most strikingly in those of the "Republican" party: The Democrats do, after all, devote a small portion of their energies to reasonable acts: They believe that all should be equal before the law. They believe that religion should not control the government. But never forget the bottom line: They don't even pay lip service to any truly meaningful concept of social justice. They're satisfied to let capital run the show. Minor ameliorations of the condition of the working class do not a proletarian revolution make.
All right then, some workers sell themselves to the Democrats. A man may sell himself cheaply and we may grieve his weakness while we understand his motives. But what of the man who sells himself for nothing, and indeed pays with his rights and his honor for the "privilege"? The mind reels.
Frightened by media propaganda equating race with crime, deceived by preachers whose sole religion is to accumulate capital, opiated by television, the Judas proletariat unreflectively serve masters who despise them. Enticed by the dim and remote possibility of gaining wealth in lotteries and casinos, they dream of aping a master caste which will never, ever accept them as equals, no matter how many dollars they grab. Give them a color television and they'll call themselves informed; give them a gun and they'll call themselves powerful; throw millions of their brothers in prison and they'll call themselves free. Give them someone to look down on and they'll forget that they're only one rung from the bottom themselves.
Give them thirty pieces of silver, and they'll kowtow as to the ancient emperors of China.
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