solidarity is more than a slogan
(your interests are not always in your interests)
people oppressed on one axis but privileged on another have a tendency to be more concerned with improving their share of the privilege than being meaningfully opposed to oppression. a man oppressed on other axes tends to be more concerned with getting more of the benefits of patriarchy, a white person tends to be more concerned with getting more of the benefits of white supremacy, an impcorer tends to be more concerned with getting more of the benefits of imperialism, and so on.
this observation has been gaining traction, which is good because it is an accurate observation. however, what needs clarifying is that when people do this they are not actually acting in their own interests even though it seems they are and they might think they are.
fighting for liberation on only the axes which oppress you personally is a dead end. no matter how effectively your section fights for its own liberation, it cannot achieve victory. parts of your section oppressed on more axes than you will be frustrated and even disillusioned with your movement if you ignore their struggles are complicit in oppressing them. your narrower constituency will lack the allies a holistic approach would win you. your enemies will be able to draw on resources from the other people it oppresses if you don't pay attention to fighting in those arenas too.
therefore it is vital for people to struggle against oppressions which do not affect you and even privilege you not just because it is the right thing to do but because it is necessary for your own liberation. not metaphorically, but actually. it is in your interests to fight the structures you benefit from.
this is the difference between trade-union consciousness and class consciousness. trade-union consciousness is a natural, self-absorbed consciousness that arises intuitively from one's experiences. it is a narrow outlook that leads to social chauvinism and in the end liberates nobody. class consciousness is the advanced consciousness that frequently runs up against intuitive and vulgar 'self-interest' and so has to be actively cultivated among the masses so their understanding and actions are in their actual interests.
the social-chauvinists and third-worldists (for lack of a better and more universal term for referring to those who dismiss the revolutionary potential of more privileged workers) both make the same error of mistaking the vulgar 'self-interest' of the more privileged workers for their actual interests. of course, the former are more in error than the latter. the third-worldists at least do not narrow their struggle to privileged sections or contribute to the oppressions of others. however, they are still making this important error.
by writing off the more privileged workers entirely, you deny yourselves a key ally. the more privileged workers still have a shared enemy in capital, still have more interests in common with the less privileged workers than with the capitalists. by confusing their vulgar 'self-interest' with their actual interests you condemn a potential ally as a group to be struggled against rather than struggled for.
this does not mean we should accept social-chauvinism for the sake of alliance. quite the opposite: we must make every effort to combat social-chauvinism within the minds of the more privileged workers, to replace trade-union consciousness with class consciousness, to have them overcome their vulgar 'self-interest' for their actual interests. we must awaken the spirit of solidarity in every worker.
