I think a workers' revolt in the United States...

[AKDavy]

will look more like what's happening in Libya than what's happening in Egypt.

That includes a military that will ultimately side with the masses from which they come, and a core group of oligarchs and their puppets defended by mercenaries.

[RKP5637]

1. You're reading my mind, I just now posted a reply with somewhat similar in

another thread.

[alfredo]

2. Those mercenaries come from the class they are oppressing.

[RKP5637]

3. Yep, the teabaggers would be right up there defending them. n/t

[AKDavy]

4. It's just called selling out

Police are generally recruited from the lower working class, then given middle class wage to give them a stake in the status quo and a reason to defend the Power Elite.

[pinto]

5. That's a broad generalization, imho. (objectivity disclaimer) My grandfather was a cop.

Yet still feel that broad assumptions don't really help define issues or find resolutions to social/political problems. :hi:

[readmoreoften]

9. Your grandfather notwithstanding, the class character of the police is an important topic debated

around the world. If one grandfather chooses not to shoot because he's a fantastic guy who really cares about the people, that doesn't mean much in the long run.

Also, we're not talking about police. The police are on strike with the workers in this case. What we're talking about is MERCENARIES. Blackwater XE being called in, etc.

[pinto]

15. I think my point is the depersonalization that results from some generalities.

I know there's useful aspects to looking at the big picture in the light of social trends, movements, connections and components. Yet I feel those all need to be more detail based to really be useful. Broad brush assumptions are often just that, broad brush assumptions.

And again, I admit to some bias in regards cops. It's obviously a family thing, not political. I can step away from that, tho. :hi:

[coalition_unwilling]

27. Technically, no one is on strike yet in Wisconsin. That's not to

say a good general strike wouldn't bring the state's power elite to its knees and compel them to capitulate to the workers.

[AKDavy]

12. Yes, it was a broad statement

I feel the same about broad statements about the military. I was a Marine, and my son is a soldier.

In a growing security state where police increasing use military tactics and enforce a proliferation of nebulous laws, I no longer see police as friends of citizens. I know personally of too much abuse of authority.

My daughter had a personal confrontation with a police office that has caused her to teach my two grandchildren not to assume the police are their friends, and to call the police only as a last resort.

All due respect to your grandfather's generation of police officers.

Read "Three Felonies A Day"

[pinto]

17. Get your POV. Thanks for the response.

:hi:

[alfredo]

29. But they do have a code of conduct. It doesn't mean they

are better than us, but there's a mechanism for enforcing discipline. But if there is rot on the top, it oozes down the chain of command. The top influences the behavior of his charges.

[Teaser]

6. and you think a workers revolt will happen here when?

.

[murielm99]

7. When people have nothing left to lose.

Let's hope we don't get to that point.

[AKDavy]

13. When a critical mass can no longer afford...

ESPN and Budweiser

[Teaser]

24. yeah but I'm looking for a time frame here

any speculation?

[AKDavy]

30. If that could be predicted it could be prevented

I like to think it will be soon, and I'll participate and support any action that I believe will accelerate it.

To be very honest, if I were sitting in a coffee shop and heard credible plans for revolution being discussed at the next table, I'd say nothing and let it happen.

It could be wishful thinking on my part. I like to believe in the people ultimately having the ability to control their destiny. We seem to be living in a nation of fearful sheep. I want to see them grow fangs.

[JVS]

8. I think a worker's revolt in the US would be wiped out like the Russian revolution of 1905

However, I'm confident that the leadership in this country will continue to fuck things up to the point where the society becomes unable to function as happened before 1917.

[readmoreoften]

10. That's hopeful!

(no sarcasm, really):hi:

[JVS]

11. It's a strange kind of hope that anticipates that the country's leaders cannot solve problems.

[sufrommich]

14. Indeed it is. At least elements of both the left and right

can agree on something."Don't like the election, we've got a solution".x(

[AKDavy]

19. I think it's a hope based on the belief that real change requires

things to get worse.

I call it the "threshold of suffering," and I think the skill of the ruling class can be measured in their ability to maximize exploitation by pushing the masses near but never across that threshold.

I share the belief that we have the cross that threshold of suffering to cross the pain threshold, the point where a people with little to gain from dissent decide they have nothing to lose.

I also call it the Budweiser/ESPN withdrawal threshold, because sports and cheap bear are my preferred metaphors for the various things (entertainment, medication, fear, patriotism, nationalism) used to manipulate citizens.

[socialist_n_TN]

28. Well, I think that a lot of us put a lot of hope..........

in Obama. He said all the right things. If he would have DONE all the right things, or at least forcefully FOUGHT for the things he campaigned on, then I don't think that we would be believing that "the country's leaders cannot solve problems." What he SAID gave us that hope. What he's done has lost the hope.

As it is, I've come to the conclusion that the system, politically and economically can't be saved. Whether Obama didn't really believe in what he campaigned on or whether he decided it was too difficult to even TRY after he got in doesn't matter at all. One way or another there's got to be a radical change because it's obvious that no leader that's out there now, is going to make much difference.

[socialist_n_TN]

25. Trotsky said that the '05 revolution ...........

was a watershed for the Russian workers movement. They put their childhood behind them and became grownups. Paraphrasing of course.

Evem failures can have positive features.

[TBF]

16. You never know... Law enforcement in Madison, WI is hosting a sleepover tonight

this is a good reminder to billionaires (and their apologists) that you don't know how the military/police are going to come down. They may just surprise you:

“Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and
Governor Walker’s attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin’s
devoted public employees is wrong,” continued Palmer. “That is why we have
stood with our fellow employees each day and why we will be sleeping among
them tonight.”

http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/February11/0225/0225wppa.pdf

[socialist_n_TN]

26. And the military, including the NG, know.........

that they have a responsibility to DISOBEY illegal orders. I hope the Wisconsin NG is being reminded of this CONSTANTLY by friends and family.

[RagAss]

18. When we see ourselves as already dead....Then the Revolution begins.....we've go a little way to go.

[Vinee]

20. it just takes little tiny spark to set off a giant powderkeg.

[RagAss]

21. It takes one night of not being able to feed your kid. Then life means nothing and nobody....

Nobody on this earth can put fear into you.

Welcome to DU !

[Vinee]

22. yep.

thanks.

[rucky]

23. Worse. They don't seem to have a divided underclass like we do. n/t