The Right wants the academic Left to forget one crucial oppression, and it does

Give the Middle Class a little privilege, and they will ignore the laborers

It works like a charm. Tell some of the Middle Class that they are above and beyond the workers, give them a little bit more money and benefits, and almost all of them will forget their humble and worthy beginnings.

The British Classes still know who they are. The US Working Class doesn’t. The Hilton’s doorman may think he is Owning Class due to the people he’s around. Most workers identify as poor, hard-working, barely making it, etc. They feel unfortunate. Most of them don’t realize that they have all the power and knowledge to change the world collectively for the better.

The intellectual Left, meanwhile, busies itself with furthering equality in terrible oppressions like racism, sexism, homophobia, child abuse, etc. This is vital, but don’t forget the basic subjugation, the mother of all privilege.

Sexism is that women are exploited, and women and men are set up against each other (divide and conquer). The women who do make money are constantly put down as not enough like men or not enough of a woman, or ‘admired’ as ‘special,’ an exception. Exploitation is classism.

Blacks, Asians, and other non-Whites, as a group, are kept down as a left-over of White slavery, the ultimate exploitation. The creation of an Underclass also helps to terrify the White Working Class that they could always fall lower. And so do the mental health system, police, prison system, capital punishment, job insecurity, and failing social security.

The oppression of the Jews is tricky to understand. They’re paraded by the rulers as the really rich and famous, while 80% of the Jews work for a living with their hands. Antisemitism in the Working Class keeps them unsafe, so they must rely on the owners and do their dirty work to save their lives, even when most of them are progressives. Some Jews take pride in being ‘close to power’ and fail to see they are powerless pawns. Israel is in a similar position. Too often faulted and abandoned by the democracies, it thinks it must flatter and rely on dictators and other shady regimes.

Not taking young people seriously is mainly to teach them that they are powerless unless they are willing to oppress others. The higher on the ladder, the more they’re hurt. It’s Class Society’s breeding ground.

Parents, men, and soldiers are not oppressed unless they are working-class. The Owning Class doesn’t have their jobs or struggles.

Small and even giant things like the Holocaust, school shootings, Black Lives Matter and slavery restitutions, world hunger, war, what Trump said now, and did your sports team win or lose are used to distract us from the main point that the rich want to keep and grow their money.

If you work hard, you can be a billionaire from scratch, says the American myth to pretend the system is fair. This is as unlikely as winning 1B in the lottery. Those who succeed may have grown up humbly but often had rich lineage. As the Sound of Music song goes: Nothing comes from nothing.

The West still dominates the former colonies: exploitation to the max.

It’s great you see and understand the ways you’re oppressed. Every liberation is important. But also learn how it’s part of a bigger picture. Every liberation movement is kind of silly until you understand the context.

Non-Whites, women, LGBTQs, parents, men, soldiers, young people, or anyone else won’t be free and equal unless the blue-collar workers are.

Besides, Working Class and Underclass people generally understand the urgency for liberation and are more down-to-earth and hands-on.

The most solid unity comes not from ignoring differences but rather by each group profiling themselves and each group accepting all the others for who they think they are. Exclude inherently violent, evil groups.

To diminish the chance the masses revolt, the Owning Class ‘ludicrously’ agreed to voting rights for workers and women and to give everyone a little money and say for the appearance of equality and fairness. But it also insisted on keeping the money and power by having the Right to defend its interests under false pretenses: small government, liberty, etc.

NB: The Owning Class will conspire to undo democracy, but that doesn’t mean they’re friends. They’d eat each other alive if they’d get a chance. And they’d even sell stuff that gets humanity to go extinct, just for profit.

Teach the Owning Class (and Middle Class) that they are more than their money, that comfort and prestige are merely consolidation prizes (when considering their rampant drug and painkiller abuse, sex addiction, depression, loss of purpose, loneliness, and powerlessness), and that they can become really worthy and happy by acknowledging we’re all born equal and working-class and humbly joining the blue-collar workers.

And that we as workers should stop doing things that divide us. (Sport and war games of ‘us’ against ‘them’ should get some scrutiny too.) There are no long-term conflicts of interest between us: what’s truly good for one is good for all. Every person is entitled to a good, useful life on their terms.

You need to know this in your bones as lies, stories, and theories to the contrary will constantly lead the ‘decent’ news and baseless fake news. You know something is off when someone built Rolls-Royces all his life but is too poor to own a bike—with a legal system to make it legal.

Anger, resentment, and revenge feel powerful but are no good in the long run. Our movement must be for the long-term good of literally everyone.

There is no alternative to Class Liberation. Wake up and unite.

I’m struck by the fact that many of the world’s richest families made their fortunes by selling nonsense as perfumes, high fashion, and sweets, and taking money from the common person. In other words, not contributing anything of real value to humanity. I would get depressed that way.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1