Capitalist Class Unity Across the Political Divide Means That the Working Class Can Do It Too

George: “Hey, Ellen. Fancy meeting you here.” Ellen: “Not really, George, considering how we both run in the same economic circles. Or, did you miss me at the country club last week?” George: “Oh, I guess I forgot seeing you there. Anyhoo, is that lovely lady with you your sister?” Ellen: “Don’t start your shit, George. Is that not-so-lovely lady with you your grandmother?” George: “Shhhh! Um… so, how about we be friends? I hate Trump, ya know.” Ellen: “Really? Then that makes you all right in my book, George! Wanna have lunch at the country club tomorrow? In fact, how about you come on my show and dance with me? I promise to be nicer to you than I am to my employees.” George: “Gee wilickers! My PR people would love—er, I mean that *I* would love that! Can Barbara come too?” (Image courtesy of Ken Schultz at outsports.com)

Wow, is the working class ever at each other’s throats these days. The regressive elements of both the Right and the Left push divisive identity politics that detract from class unity and get us to instead focus on unifying under the banner of immutable qualities like race, gender, sexual orientation etc, or religious choice (or lack thereof). Of course, the divide is often instigated between those who are white, male, cis-heterosexual, able-bodied, and (oftentimes) Christian on one side, and anyone who is something other than that on the opposite team.

Those like myself from the Classical Left who insist upon class unity are dismissed or derided as “class reductionists” and told that “first” we have to give reparations to these other groups within the context of the capitalist system and “then” we can move on to discussing class unity. That is, after the mainstream Left spews all sorts of hateful vitriol and bigoted legislation against the White Male Hetero Team on the stated behalf of the Everyone Else Team, thus sparking no end of animosity between the competing groups. This in turn serves to inflame and provoke the dark identitarian elements of the Right, which ultimately plays into the hands of the capitalist class whose system the Regressive Left simultaneously claims to be against and closely aligns itself with.

The result? Lots of class in-fighting and mutual animosity among the workers that makes the type of class unity which elements of the Left insist we can do “next” to be bloody unlikely to happen. This suggests that the class unity and mutual respect must come now, not “later” after everyone is presumably done hating each other by using the identitarian methodology.

Here is the thing to consider. One big advantage the capitalist class has over us other than its control of vast sums of money, its control over the government, its private ownership of the media, and its ownership of the means of production that we all depend on to live is the fact that unlike the working class the capitalists are fully class conscious. Yes, the capitalist class has its internecine rivalries and will denounce the odd maverick capitalist like Donald Trump when doing so serves its purpose, but overall that class stands united across partisan lines for their shared material interests.

And yes, they do compete against each other in terms of business, but at the end of the day it’s all just business to them, much like ruining lives of the working class happens to be, and that doesn’t stop them from cordially hobnobbing at their exclusive country clubs that workers would never be allowed in except as servants.

There you will see capitalists who are white and black, male and female, straight and gay, cis and trans, able-bodied or with cerebral palsy, Christian or atheist, pro-vax or anti-vax, Democrat or Republican et al, golfing and sharing Asgardian mead together with full awareness of the most important thing they do have in common: material interests and status on the socio-economic totem pole. And there you will see them gleefully not giving a shit about the petty and superficial differences that divide the working class today thanks to the handiwork of the elite upper middle class on behalf of the capitalists they admire and aspire to become.

Those shared interests among this diverse array of capitalists are diametrically opposed to the shared material interests of the entire working class. However, we allow them to use their control over social media, the government, and the universities to spread propaganda and emotionally charged rhetoric that divides our class into competing factions. We hate each other rather than hating the system that puts us in this position in the first place, which pitted both our ancestors and our present selves against each other on the labor market; and which turns us into Oppressors or Oppressed in rotating fashion over time.

However, this capitalist class unity shows us that working class unity is not only possible but necessary for our forward progress. It can work for us just as it works for them, and we need to make an exception to an important rule by actually following the example of the capitalists for once.

Let’s do this by taking a look at a rather telling recent example of this across-the-partisan-divide capitalist unity to make my point crystal clear, despite the feel-good sentiment it hides behind. However, that same sentiment can be used by us in a real sense to unite with and respect each other. The aforementioned example is the friendship struck up by war-mongering, fundamentalist Christian straight male conservative ex-president George W. Bush and ego-mongering, liberal assimilationist lesbian actress & talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

How did Bush and DeGeneres first meet? Both of them and their respective spouses were invited to sit in the private box of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones while attending a football game rather than sit amongst the working class rabble. Can you blame them? Would you want to sit around us if you were them instead of us? So, yeah, we can sympathize there. After all, how many wealthy capitalists do you see hanging around working class people outside of briefly at campaign rallies? This reality contrasts, of course, with the number of swooning workers on both the Right and the Left who say that they can readily imagine this or that wealthy bureaucrat or celebrity sitting down and having a beer with them because they’re just people like the rest of us and likely share all the same core values that we do blah blah blah.

Anyway, DeGeneres gained widespread liberal applause, including on the CBS News clip linked above, by defending her friendship with Bush despite their vast differences of political opinion as being based on “kindness and civility.” Nothing wrong with that idea, but I think what was actually behind their friendship was the two of them seeing that what they have in common as filthy rich capitalists who support capitalism due to being among the tiny handful of its beneficiaries far outweighs any ideological differences. After all, both of them ended up in that expensively rented audience box instead of on the cheap seats with everyone else despite one being a “privileged” white male heterosexual Republican and the other being an “oppressed” lesbian Democrat because of the most important thing they do have in common: obscene amounts of money and hence lots of actual privilege.

(Nevertheless, DeGeneres’s “kindness and civility” to the anti-LGBTQ Bush still didn’t sit well with many on the Left, including Ken Schultz as explained in his article for outsports.com. So, I guess with some Bush’s loathing of Trump only goes so far, especially if they are not also a capitalist.)

Note how the notoriously socially conservative, staunchly anti-LGBTQ, Christian fundie Bush and his wife had no problem making friends with and fully accepting an LGBTQ couple as long as the latter were also capitalists; and note how DeGeneres and her wife, reputed to be diehard liberal activists, could be fully accepting of the likes of Bush as long as they seemed to share the same material interests (okay, and maybe a love for the Dallas Cowboys). Of course, I doubt that DeGeneres would be openly proclaiming this friendship and camaraderie with Dubya if he hadn’t already made himself politically acceptable to Democrats and liberals by proclaiming that he hates Donald Trump, however indirectly, and then a year later making a point to show up at the fundraiser for Trump’s nemesis Brian Kemp. But not being as much of a fool as he looks and talks, Bush did precisely these things, so he and DeGeneres are good to go with being openly friendly.

I have no idea what type of politics Jerry Jones subscribes to, but I think it’s safe to presume that he is fully pro-capitalism and that his common material interests with both Bush and DeGeneres means that he can care less about any cultural and social issues he may differ with either of them over. The important thing is their common material interests and where the three of them stand on the economic pecking order. And if Jones happens to hate Trump, or at least say that he does to them or in public, then all the better for friendship and happiness between capitalists (especially if they’re determined to stay on the good side of the Establishment).

My main point with this example? If people from the capitalist class can put their cultural, social, political, and lifestyle differences aside to achieve friendship and class unity then we of the working class can do the same. Not only can we do it, but we need to do it because time is running out to save each other and the world from capitalist greed. The Dems and the Repubs are not going to do this, so it’s up to us to take over running the world ourselves on behalf of everyone on this planet and the very ecosystem itself rather than for a handful of wealthy plutocrats. And to accomplish this, we need to stop letting these fat cats divide us against each other.

After all, George and Ellen did it. And so did most of the rest of their class.