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Black Power, White Power, and Class Warfare

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Black Power, White Power, and Class Warfare

Some thoughts on all three...

from JoeUser Forums
Lets see here, what has been going on recently...Millions More March, the Nazi rally in Toledo. Two conflicting rallies...one about "Black power" and one about "White power."

What does Black Power really mean? I think at the heart of it, it is not so much of a movement to gain more power than what is due, but a crusade to protect the minority black population, and liberate them from the (real or imagined) oppression they are feeling. White Power, on the other hand, is usually little more than a slogan accompanied with others used to make white people fear an imaginary horde of black people taking away all their power and leaving them helpless. This fear of an imaginary horde of minorities rampaging through the streets is (at least one of the major factors in) what drives people to join racist organizations like the Nazis or the KKK.

Now for a quick look at the history of the two terms and those who use them. White Power people, throughout history have been those who want to oppress minorities. I don't think I need to go too far with examples, this should be self evident to anyone with the simplest understanding of the civil rights movement. Black Power people, on the other hand, have usually been martyrs or heroes fighting for the liberation of their people (MLK, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba) against racist regimes (Whether they be the US government or the Congo under Belgian rule) . Of course, there are exceptions (the first to come to mind is Robert Mugabe, who continues the oppression). Now we are at an interesting point in history, though. Racism isn't really present in the laws of the land, the Jim Crow laws are off the books (at least in North America), and it is frowned upon by most. But, to quote MLK, "the Negro is still not free." The majority of the poor working class are minorities. The question remains, what is next for these movements and organization?

Now, to mention the unmentionable words (or, drop the c-bomb), class warfare. For years, the ruling class has remained almost exclusively white in North America, and the poor working class has consisted of a disproportionately high number of minorities. I think that this is the perfect opportunity for these organizations to broaden their base. Instead of becoming vehicles for the liberation of only black people, become genuine working class liberation movements. Bring in the working class of all colors. Broaden your base. Reach out to your brothers of all colours. And while you're at it, get rid of that anti-semite Farrakhan. You will probably accomplish a lot more by trying to liberate the whole working class, intstead of conceding that you are somehow inferior and need affirmative action programs to compensate for it. Fight racism, fight poverty, fight hatred, for we are all brothers, comrades if you will, no matter the colour.
politics
21,959 views 27 replies
Reply #26 from JoeUser Forums Top
Sorry doc mano got you on this one. Hitler most definetly was a "fascist" just like his buddy Mussolini.

Fascism and socialism are not mutually exclusive since they deal with different aspects of a country.


From wikipedia:


Nazism was the ideology held by the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, commonly called NSDAP or the Nazi Party), which was led by its "Führer", Adolf Hitler. The word Nazism is most often used in connection with the dictatorship of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 (the "Third Reich"), and it is derived from the term National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus, often abbreviated NS). Adherents of Nazism held that the Aryan race were superior to other races, and they promoted Germanic racial supremacy and a strong, centrally governed state. Nazism has been outlawed in modern Germany, yet small remnants and revivalists, known as "Neo-Nazis", continue to operate in Germany and abroad.

Originally, Nazi was invented by analogy to Sozi (a common and slightly pejorative term for the Nazis' main opponents, the socialists in Germany). The Nazis from the era of the Third Reich rarely referred to themselves as "Nazis", preferring the official term "National Socialists" instead. Nazi was most commonly used as a pejorative term; however, its use became so widespread that, currently, some Neo-Nazis also use it to describe themselves.

There is a very close relationship between Nazism and Fascism. Since the term Nazism is normally used to refer to the ideology and policies of Nazi Germany alone, while Fascism is used in a broader sense, to refer to a wider political movement that exists or existed in many countries, Nazism is often classified as a particular version of Fascism.
Reply #27 from JoeUser Forums Top
There has been a lot of controversy as to whether or not the 'National Socialists' were actually socialist or not. It can be objected that socialists are internationalists, so nazis can not therefore be socialists. However in 1914 most of the mainstream European socialist parties had no problem in dumping their internationalism in favour of complete support for their various national governments in the ensuing slaughter. It was from the small remnant of socialists who refused to do so that the international communist movement was born, probably its only moment of nobility.

In economics Hitler and Mussolini were essentially corporatists, content to allow ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange to remain in private hands, but with strong elements of direction and guidance from the state, which became particularly pronounced when their nations became economies directed towards war.

Hitler was a racist and this is not a part of socialist ideology. That is not to say that socialists have not been racist. Under the cover of 'anti-zionism', Stalin's Russia was at least as anti-semitic - probably more so - than tsarist Russia. This despite the fact that the nazis saw communism as another Jewish conspiracy.

Many neo-fascists and neo-nazis consider themselves to be a 'third way' between capitalism and communism. The history of these movements show them to have been coalitions of political extremists, some favouring an anti-capitalist and anti-communist stance, others keener to stress a race-based nationalist movement. The early nazi movement was certainly full of radical anti-capitalist activists, but most of them were violently purged from the nazi ranks in the 'Night of the Long Knives' (1934).

Fascism originated with Mussolini in Italy and similar ideologies were adopted in Portugal under Salazar and later in Spain under Franco. Some degree of anti-semitism is also found in these ideologies, which all originated in traditionally catholic countries, but nowhere near to the same 'systematic' degree as in Hitler's deranged racial theories.

The fact that the question is difficult to resolve is not surprising. Political movements can be similar to each other in some ways, yet dissimilar in others. Here in (South) Korea we have a vibrant capitalist economy, the basis of which was essentially laid out by a series of 'Five Year Plans' in the 1960s under a military dictatorship, while our neighbours to the north have developed the 'communist' world's first hereditary monarchy.
Star Control: Origins