Reply To: More on Brexit
I agree Robbo. A class based analysis elucidates a debate between capitalists over the best way to manage the socio-economic conditions in their interests.
The political messages at the surface level are what most workers engage with, European Internationalism/Liberalism versus British Protectionism. What is amusing in my eyes is that both political messages hide the opposite economic fundamentals. The EU has fundamentally protectionist economic institutions, whilst the ERG types support opening up British businesses and the British Labour market to a large scale devaluation, not a shoring up.
This I suppose is the difference between right wing brexiteers and left wing Eurosceptics, leaving the EU to degrade or elevate the economic conditions of workers in Britain respectively. The issue is that this left wing eurosceptism presumes that British workers deserve better material conditions than workers overseas, and also presumes that it is even possible for “revolution” to be achieved by one “working class” in isolation. It is as if capifalist businesses will just follow suit and operate only in one country. In response to this you often read of Unions of Socialist Republics, but I’d sooner sell snow to the inuits. To me, it all just smells of a nostalgia for the past, where in their eyes there was a more tangible class struggle before joining the EEC. Of course, it doesn’t really matter if it’s tangible or not, and if it isn’t, you’ve probably failed to move with the times (Excuse my rambling).
Either way, Brexit is a converse opportunity to break and be distinct from an unpopular capitalist binary. There appear to be no illusions that a “socialist” controlled EU, “socialist” british State or “Union of Socialist States” can change the inherent realities for workers under capitalism. Many voted for Brexit due to nationalistic tendencies and anti austerity sentiment (perhaps both) but I guess it’s our cause to insist upon capitalism as being the biggest problem for workers.
I suppose it is worth self reflecting that a lot of workers may not easily engage with what I just wrote. The task then must be condensing it down and having further material there for those whose attention we do manage to attain.
