Editorial: Class unity. Now more than ever.
The one thing the ruling class has succeeded at for centuries is keeping us divided. No longer
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Society is rooted in hierarchy.
Democracies, monarchies, dictatorships—you name them—all rely on dividing the population. There has always been a ruling class, and they have been successful in holding onto that power by one way and one way alone: class unity.
Class unity has been kept from us for centuries. It feeds into every topic in this magazine, from greedy landlords taking advantage of their tenants to resisting colonial powers and institutional white supremacy.
For the vast majority, people in the ruling class are dealt a far better hand than others for one simple reason—they’re both players and dealers. On top of that, their buddy owns the casino, sets the rules in their favour, and bails them out when they run out of money. They accomplish this not only by looking out for themselves but by pitting everyone else against each other.
Politicians, business leaders, bankers, and a cacophony of wealthy and powerful people that rule the world from the shadows collude daily to keep the working class at war with itself. They own the media outlets and the politicians that divide populations along the arbitrary lines of parties that all aim to do the same thing. Conservative fighting with Liberal, Republican fighting with Democrat, these are much the same people in power aiming for much the same goals while simply using a different lens.
All this effort to stop the one thing that will truly put their perverted system in jeopardy—class unity and its by-products, such as unionization, means better benefits, higher wages, job security, and so much more—and, ultimately, less money in the pockets of the wealthy. Capitalism only exists in a predatory state and overthrowing or fundamentally altering such a system cannot be done by a select few.
The ruling class has created an environment in which people will defend billionaires instead of the people they are abusing every day. Horrible working conditions, marginal pay, and non-existent benefits mean very little to working-class people.
The push for class unity is more than a fringe movement or some far-fetched notion. It is a vital first step towards ultimately dismantling a system that has pillaged and exploited the entire planet, leaving billions of people for dead.
This article originally appeared in The Resistance Issue, published April 13, 2021.
