On Class Consciousness

 Dear Comrades,

The word "Class" has as hidden meanings as it has open meanings. A person who is not class conscious is often reminded his class via phrases like "Apni Auqaat mein raho" or "Auqaat bhool gaya madharchod". It is very interesting to think about how the upper-class elite of this country thinks and is so alike and so much hypocritical. Do not get me wrong. The middle class and the lower class have their contradictions as well. But nothing matches in front of the upper-class hypocrisy. One that has material resources will never like that those who do not possess it remind him that he has those resources. The upper class will always try to give a count on how his life has been miserable as well. But one thing we should keep in mind. What we talk about in our agenda of communist ideology is not that the one who has resources is good to go and those who do not are at loss. We are not wishing to create a society where there happens a role reversal between the proletariat and the bourgeoise. We wish to recreate an economic system in such a way that there is an equitable distribution of resources where capital does not dominate labor. Where people who already have capital do not get additional advantage. How we do it is a separate question. The first and foremost thing the communist party or any other group of people who expressly want revolution is that today like every other identity, Class has to fight for its existence. There was a time in India when Caste was highly undermined by none other than the communists. Nothing heinous can happen other than ignorance of an existing identity by virtue of which a majority of people of this country suffer on a daily basis. Caste has hidden uprooting and open consequences. Similarly, today, one section of the society, majorly the right-wing government along with the rich and the elite who hide their faces when they see poor people, they hide in the garb of charity, they hide in their garb of sympathy and if you nudge them more, they will give you an elite count on how their lives have been miserable. One rich person told me that calling yourself poor is actually a personal attack on your forefathers, your father and your grandfather and so on. It is hilarious to see the rich crying his way out of the mess. The rich want that the poor always remains down to earth and even if he achieves something, kneels down to the rich for giving him favors as if it was not the poor's right but just the rich's charity. She will say things like my family have had economic problems too, who doesn't, but this does not mean that I say that I am poor and publicly announce it, it is disrespectful to my hardworking father who worked hard to make me educated. Here, we as communists need to be careful not to discard the problem by saying it is false consciousness. No consciousness is false consciousness. or every consciousness is. Here, we will go with the former. The problem why class becomes a personal prestige issue and why people do not want to blame the system for their poverty and their economic problems lies in the very consciousness that the capitalist system serves them with. A system where every moment is a moment of judgement of your caliber, where what you earn and what you do becomes a part of your identity, where you are told that it is your fault if you do not have food tonight, what other than this could you possibly imagine be anyone's response. The matter becomes complex. 

How do we possibly create a class consciousness where people stop questioning their self-worth before asking questions to the rich and the powerful? It remains a practical question to solve. Till then, these contradictions and emotionally and mentally disturbing Reponses, we will need to develop ears to listen. They know not why they say this, they nevertheless do.  Our fights are long, So, patience is our only friends, comrades! Red salute!

Vibhat 

10-05-2023