webb on Nostr: I think I'm entering my post-leftist phase with my lumpenpopulism. Like it's really ...
I think I'm entering my post-leftist phase with my lumpenpopulism. Like it's really starting to hit how fucking ableist many socialists are and how little of a fuck they give to people who can't work. The proletariat are just as oppressive to us as the bourgeoisie are to them.
A similar tension exists, actually. The more lumpens are helped, the less workers as a collective class gets. I can't tell you how many times people heard I was on welfare and gave me some bad look or judged me. Many people face insults like being called lazy, or are coerced by proletariat into working when they physically or mentally can't. Why? Because to them non-workers having a higher standard of living (or even living at all) means higher taxes and less money for themselves. How exactly would this attitude change when workers own the means of production? What's stopping workers from hoarding the output from disabled people?
Everyone is temporarily able, and when a proletariat becomes disabled all their advocacy for health benefits, increased wages, etc will mean jack shit. Maybe they could have something like EI, but it's still predicated on being a worker. It's so fucking short-sighted. I honestly can't believe how hard I was advocating for something that would've hurt me and future workers.
I still would consider myself a leftist anarchist, but I'm not a self-hating worker populist anymore. Most proletariats and all bourgeoisie are against my interests, and as such I'm not going to advocate for the both of them anymore.
I still have respect for socialists who also advocate for people who are disabled in a way that isn't an afterthought, and who view it as an equally important cause to socialism. The kinds of people to identify as a disability advocate equally as much as a socialist.
I refuse to vote for any worker benefits or rights unless non-workers are included in the equation. Of course, we are the minority, so y'all can still trample all over us, but maybe some day socialists can evolve their ideology into something different that includes disabled people in the equation. As it stands we're always at best going to be an afterthought.
A similar tension exists, actually. The more lumpens are helped, the less workers as a collective class gets. I can't tell you how many times people heard I was on welfare and gave me some bad look or judged me. Many people face insults like being called lazy, or are coerced by proletariat into working when they physically or mentally can't. Why? Because to them non-workers having a higher standard of living (or even living at all) means higher taxes and less money for themselves. How exactly would this attitude change when workers own the means of production? What's stopping workers from hoarding the output from disabled people?
Everyone is temporarily able, and when a proletariat becomes disabled all their advocacy for health benefits, increased wages, etc will mean jack shit. Maybe they could have something like EI, but it's still predicated on being a worker. It's so fucking short-sighted. I honestly can't believe how hard I was advocating for something that would've hurt me and future workers.
I still would consider myself a leftist anarchist, but I'm not a self-hating worker populist anymore. Most proletariats and all bourgeoisie are against my interests, and as such I'm not going to advocate for the both of them anymore.
I still have respect for socialists who also advocate for people who are disabled in a way that isn't an afterthought, and who view it as an equally important cause to socialism. The kinds of people to identify as a disability advocate equally as much as a socialist.
I refuse to vote for any worker benefits or rights unless non-workers are included in the equation. Of course, we are the minority, so y'all can still trample all over us, but maybe some day socialists can evolve their ideology into something different that includes disabled people in the equation. As it stands we're always at best going to be an afterthought.