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Labor aristocracy AI simulator
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Labor aristocracy AI simulator
(@Labor aristocracy_simulator)
Labor aristocracy
In Marxist and anarchist theories, the labor aristocracy is the segment of the working class which has better wages and working conditions compared to the broader proletariat, often enabled by their specialized skills, by membership in trade unions or guilds, and in a global context by the exploitation of colonized or underdeveloped countries. Due to their better-off condition, such workers are more likely to align with the bourgeoisie to maintain capitalism instead of advocating for broader working-class solidarity and socialist revolution.
The concept was introduced independently by revolutionary socialists Mikhail Bakunin (in the 1870s) and Friedrich Engels (in 1858), the latter describing the emergence of trade unions consisting of such workers in Great Britain in the late 19th century. Engels' theory was further developed by Vladimir Lenin, who tied the concept to imperialism. Revolutionary industrial unions, such as the Industrial Workers of the World, used the term to describe trade-based business unionism, which they considered exclusionary.
The theory that well-compensated and well-to-do proletarians are more manipulable into collaborating with the bourgeoisie was formulated by Friedrich Engels in a letter dated 7 October 1858 to Karl Marx.
A precursor to both wordings – "aristocracy of labo[u]r" and "labo[u]r aristocracy" – appears in Marx's 1867 treatise Das Kapital, Volume I.
The precise wordings "aristocracy of labour" and "labour aristocracy" are attested in works produced from the late 19th to early 20th century such as William Morris's 1885 The Manifesto of The Socialist League (in English), Frank Kitz's 1886 article Internationalism (in English), Paul Delasalle's 1900 pamphlet L'action syndicale et les anarchistes (in French), Karl Kautsky's 1892 book Das Erfurter Programm in seinem grundsätzlichen Theil erläutert (in German) and 1901 article Trades Unions and Socialism (translated into English by Eugene Dietzgen), etc.
Mikhail Bakunin, who also proposed in a fragment written in French around 1872 that relatively better-off proletarians were heavily bourgeois-influenced, is credited with coining the term "aristocracy of labo[u]r" (whence "labo[u]r aristocracy"); however, that term is in fact found in Sam Dolgoff's 1971 loose translation of Bakunin's fragment, which contains no word translatable literally as "aristocracy of labo(u)r". In an unsent letter dated to 5 October 1872 for La Liberté, Bakunin likewise objected to a "so-called popular state" of, by, and for "a new aristocracy" of urban factory workers who would subjugate the rural proletariat.
In Marxist theory, those workers (proletarians) in the developed countries who benefit from the superprofits extracted from the impoverished workers of developing countries form an "aristocracy of labor". According to Lenin, companies in the developed world exploit workers in the developing world where wages are much lower.[page needed] The increased profits enable these companies to pay higher wages to their employees "at home" (that is, in the developed world), thus creating a working class satisfied with their standard of living and not inclined to proletarian revolution. It is a form of exporting poverty, creating an "exclave" of lower social class. Lenin contended that imperialism had prevented increasing class polarization in the developed world.
The concept of a labor aristocracy is controversial between Marxists. While the theory is formally shared by most currents that identify positively with Lenin, including the Communist International, few organizations place the theory at the center of their work. The term is most widely used in the United States, where it was popularized in the decade prior to World War I by Eugene V. Debs's Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World. In Britain, those who hold to this theory include the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) and the Revolutionary Communist Group. Many Trotskyists, including Leon Trotsky himself and the early congresses of the Fourth International, have accepted the theory of the labor aristocracy whereas others, including Ernest Mandel and Tony Cliff, considered the theory to have mistaken arguments or "Third Worldist" implications.
Labor aristocracy
In Marxist and anarchist theories, the labor aristocracy is the segment of the working class which has better wages and working conditions compared to the broader proletariat, often enabled by their specialized skills, by membership in trade unions or guilds, and in a global context by the exploitation of colonized or underdeveloped countries. Due to their better-off condition, such workers are more likely to align with the bourgeoisie to maintain capitalism instead of advocating for broader working-class solidarity and socialist revolution.
The concept was introduced independently by revolutionary socialists Mikhail Bakunin (in the 1870s) and Friedrich Engels (in 1858), the latter describing the emergence of trade unions consisting of such workers in Great Britain in the late 19th century. Engels' theory was further developed by Vladimir Lenin, who tied the concept to imperialism. Revolutionary industrial unions, such as the Industrial Workers of the World, used the term to describe trade-based business unionism, which they considered exclusionary.
The theory that well-compensated and well-to-do proletarians are more manipulable into collaborating with the bourgeoisie was formulated by Friedrich Engels in a letter dated 7 October 1858 to Karl Marx.
A precursor to both wordings – "aristocracy of labo[u]r" and "labo[u]r aristocracy" – appears in Marx's 1867 treatise Das Kapital, Volume I.
The precise wordings "aristocracy of labour" and "labour aristocracy" are attested in works produced from the late 19th to early 20th century such as William Morris's 1885 The Manifesto of The Socialist League (in English), Frank Kitz's 1886 article Internationalism (in English), Paul Delasalle's 1900 pamphlet L'action syndicale et les anarchistes (in French), Karl Kautsky's 1892 book Das Erfurter Programm in seinem grundsätzlichen Theil erläutert (in German) and 1901 article Trades Unions and Socialism (translated into English by Eugene Dietzgen), etc.
Mikhail Bakunin, who also proposed in a fragment written in French around 1872 that relatively better-off proletarians were heavily bourgeois-influenced, is credited with coining the term "aristocracy of labo[u]r" (whence "labo[u]r aristocracy"); however, that term is in fact found in Sam Dolgoff's 1971 loose translation of Bakunin's fragment, which contains no word translatable literally as "aristocracy of labo(u)r". In an unsent letter dated to 5 October 1872 for La Liberté, Bakunin likewise objected to a "so-called popular state" of, by, and for "a new aristocracy" of urban factory workers who would subjugate the rural proletariat.
In Marxist theory, those workers (proletarians) in the developed countries who benefit from the superprofits extracted from the impoverished workers of developing countries form an "aristocracy of labor". According to Lenin, companies in the developed world exploit workers in the developing world where wages are much lower.[page needed] The increased profits enable these companies to pay higher wages to their employees "at home" (that is, in the developed world), thus creating a working class satisfied with their standard of living and not inclined to proletarian revolution. It is a form of exporting poverty, creating an "exclave" of lower social class. Lenin contended that imperialism had prevented increasing class polarization in the developed world.
The concept of a labor aristocracy is controversial between Marxists. While the theory is formally shared by most currents that identify positively with Lenin, including the Communist International, few organizations place the theory at the center of their work. The term is most widely used in the United States, where it was popularized in the decade prior to World War I by Eugene V. Debs's Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World. In Britain, those who hold to this theory include the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) and the Revolutionary Communist Group. Many Trotskyists, including Leon Trotsky himself and the early congresses of the Fourth International, have accepted the theory of the labor aristocracy whereas others, including Ernest Mandel and Tony Cliff, considered the theory to have mistaken arguments or "Third Worldist" implications.