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Comment on We live in a post scarcity information society and we still haven't moved on from capitalism.

When you’re discussing politics you have two choices. You can avoid highly specific terms and focus on real world problems, or you can parse out the meaning of every single word and win a meaningless argument.

99% of the people in America know exactly what I mean when I say ‘middle class.’ Maybe 5% know what ‘petite bourgeoisie’ means. Probably less. You don’t win elections by arguing the difference between the Social Democrats and the socialists, you win them by talkign to people about how much a gallon of gas costs.

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PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I think the argument is that creating these definitions ruins class solidarity. You are working class if you have to go to work every day to live period.

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- Dagwood222@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Or you can present people with actual plans written in terms they understand and are comfortable with.
  
  I used to work in public health. One of the first things I learned is that a patient needs to be approached on their own level. Some people can handle exact medical terms, and others blank out when they hear terms they don’t understand.
  
  If you have someone’s ear for five minutes, are you going to waste three of them trying to bring them up to your level, or do you change your terms to fit their point of view?
  
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  - intensely_human@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Depends on how much distortion is required to get the concept to their level. If the concept doesn’t map to there, then giving them the impression that they understand is misleading them.
    
    In those case middle class is just fine for petty bourgeoisie. But there’s always a distortion in swapping out terms for similar terms, and that needs to be paid attention to and recognized as a potential source of misunderstanding and trouble.
    
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    Dagwood222@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Read ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X.’ Malcolm came from the streets and had been in prison. He could break down complex idea into terms the people could understand. Don’t assume that because someone lacks your vocabulary they are ignorant. Like I siad, it’s on the leader to reach out.
    
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- intensely_human@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Well, there’s the concept of group consciousness, and that definitely depends on a good working set of definitions.
  
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Cowbee@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Yes, but at the same time, this is just an argument for using terms incorrectly and perpetuating bourgeois terminology. The idea of a “Middle Class” was invented in order to give the Proletariat a realistic goal (in their eyes) to work towards, in order to divide the Proletariat against itself.

If more people understand class dynamics, they will also understand more about their surroundings, and will also be able to better think for themselves, instead of you trying to do all of the thinking for them.

Education is important.

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- Dagwood222@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Education is important, but not all knowledge is equally important.
  
  I liken it to a carpenter who uses Imperial units instead of metric. You can argue that metric is more exact, but if the carpenter can do the work why ‘correct’ them?
  
  It’s not the job of the people to be better educated, it’s the job of the leaders to find a way to speak to them that they understand.
  
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  - Cowbee@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I disagree. It is the job of leaders to push for education, so that the people can be trusted to make correct decisions on their own. We currently have an issue with rising fascism at the hands of an under-educated working class, which is resulting in a violent backlash against academia and science, because education is being strategically cut by fascists.
    
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    Dagwood222@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    “Tax the rich.” Anyone can understand that.
    
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