It’s not about representing how good or bad a worker has it on the spectrum of working class. It’s about recognizing a class of lifeway that two extreme ends share.
Put it this way, you have housecats who are pampered and treated to the finest food and veterinary care, and housecats who are left to limp around pathetically getting barely enough food.
But they’re both pets.
It has nothing to do with how well they’re treated, it’s just what they are.
The point isn’t to erase the difference between the two, it’s to get those on the “good” end of the spectrum to realise they have more in common with those on the “bad” end, than their owners. “There but for the grace of god go I” kind of stuff.
It’s about class solidarity. If the two ends can recognise how similar in kind (if not in material comforts) they are, then those with more power can bargain to get those with less a better life.
But I can be both simultaneously? I can feel solidarity with someone while acknowledging we aren’t the same, I’m fantastically in a better position and my lived experience is nothing compared to theirs?
Telling someone who’s food insecure making $15k/yr and the dude who’s 1 week from bankruptcy making $80k/yr don’t have much in common life experience wise, and the dude making $15k would trade in a heartbeat. Because they’re actually starving.
I agree, except that I think the comparison is useful and does not belittle the the materially worse conditions of someone who is worse off.
I’m just going to resort to analogy: it’s like saying we have a shared humanity with someone on death row. Saying we share something is a connection between us. It’s not saying the differences between us are trivial.
But I can be both simultaneously? I can feel solidarity with someone while acknowledging we aren’t the same …
It’s not about representing how good or bad a worker has it on the spectrum of working class. It’s about recognizing a class of lifeway that two extreme ends share.
Put it this way, you have housecats who are pampered and treated to the finest food and veterinary care, and housecats who are left to limp around pathetically getting barely enough food.
But they’re both pets.
It has nothing to do with how well they’re treated, it’s just what they are.
I think if you asked the two cats they might tell you something else.
I know which one I’d prefer to be.
They might even tell you’re they’re not the same. And one cat would kill a bitch to be the other cat.
The point isn’t to erase the difference between the two, it’s to get those on the “good” end of the spectrum to realise they have more in common with those on the “bad” end, than their owners. “There but for the grace of god go I” kind of stuff.
It’s about class solidarity. If the two ends can recognise how similar in kind (if not in material comforts) they are, then those with more power can bargain to get those with less a better life.
But I can be both simultaneously? I can feel solidarity with someone while acknowledging we aren’t the same, I’m fantastically in a better position and my lived experience is nothing compared to theirs?
Telling someone who’s food insecure making $15k/yr and the dude who’s 1 week from bankruptcy making $80k/yr don’t have much in common life experience wise, and the dude making $15k would trade in a heartbeat. Because they’re actually starving.
I agree, except that I think the comparison is useful and does not belittle the the materially worse conditions of someone who is worse off.
I’m just going to resort to analogy: it’s like saying we have a shared humanity with someone on death row. Saying we share something is a connection between us. It’s not saying the differences between us are trivial.
I agree 100% with this
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