Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Meaning of Class Warfare

There has been a class warfare going on... It's just that my class is winning. And we aren't just winning, I mean we're killing them. -Warren Buffett, a rich financial capitalist. 
In a bizarre turn of events some of Wall Streets biggest names, like Warren Buffett and George Soros have come out in support of the Occupy Wall street movement. Finian Cunningham of Global Research chronicles this development here  and remark on the possible danger of the movement being co-opted. Part of the strength of the Occupy Wall Street protests lie in the recognition, from diverse sources, that there is something wrong about  the system. If the financiers themselves become involved the narrative could change to one between the good and bad financiers, thus losing the most powerful part of their analysis. Cunningham goes on to name the current state of the capitalist economy a "parasitic aristocracy". And just note the boasting tone in the Buffett quote above, although I don't actually know the context. Is he just throwing a bone to the masses? From the vantage point of his class Buffett is actually making an astute decision in supporting populist sentiment, it takes the edge off any possible threat that the movement posed. The reality is, though, that from the perspective of class struggle Buffett's position is one of saboteur regardless of his intentions.