In a recent video taken at a Minnesota Walmart, two white shoppers horrified shoppers by donning masks bearing the swastika symbol. For most forward-thinking people, the swastika is the symbolic equivalent of the “N-word” that carries a heavy legacy of pain that is only rivaled by the African Holocaust. As if they could not make matters worse, the female portion of this duo stoked the growing emotional embers into a full-blown inferno with obscene hand gestures that communicated her feelings regarding those taping her antics.

Although it is natural to jump to a snap judgement that this is yet another occurrence of racial bigotry, intolerance, and xenophobia. Experience has taught me to not rush to quick judgment. So, I listened to the alluded to duos explanation for why they wore the offensive symbol so prominently on their face. The explanation was in in a word, illuminating.

When confronted by other Walmart shoppers, the masked female stated that

I’m not a Nazi. If you vote for [Joe] Biden, you’re going to be in Nazi Germany. That’s what it’s going to be like. Socialism is going to happen here in America.

I resist every urge to make connections without sufficient evidence, hence, I have no comment regarding if this couple are members or mere sympathizers of the National Socialist Party (Nazi’s); it is in many ways none of my business. However, I think that the most interesting portion of this matter is found in the usual phrase-mongering against Socialism. Whenever I hear non-elites railing against Socialism, I recognize that they have undergone not only a serious misreading of history, but also are devoid of a serious understanding of American Capitalism.

I will tell you the truth that most educators fail to articulate, however, the most exhilarating aspect of being an educator is the opportunity to see students learn what are their best interests and how to balance several variables while seeking to make important decisions that are in their best interests. As a labor historian who spends much time researching and addressing racial matters, I will tell you that my students are similar to most Americans in the following way, they have no understanding of the exploitive nature of Capitalism as it is executed in this nation. This absence of understanding beautifully explains why American workers have yet to understand that they are steeped in a war for economic resources with elites. The fact that they do not understand such substantive issues is particularly shocking as the war between workers and owners is this nation’s longest running war.

The spoils of this Class struggle are life-sustaining economic resources. Yet, this matter is rarely, if ever, explained to American schoolchildren in a digestible manner. Hence, much-needed discussions over Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism denigrate to a celebration of socially irresponsible Capitalism and the dismissal of all other systems. Unfortunately, American schoolchildren are taught that Socialism is to be avoided at all costs; it is not even up for discussion.

A crucial portion of myself is saddened to report that not only have my students been instructed to avoid Socialism but that they cannot tell you from whence such emanate. To put it simply; my students have been indoctrinated about this and many other substantive matters.

The dimwitted, uneducated, and certainly poverty-stricken Walmart couple’s support of Capitalism is a classic case of “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Only in America does one witness economically marginalized citizens of every race/ethnicity taking a stand for their exploiters right to continue their exploitation. If non-elites who have been convinced that the best way to display their patriotism is to support an ownership class that exploits their labor for the amassing of unconscionable profit do not increase their understanding and change their ways, their economic position will continue to spiral downward.

In their rush to defend American economic philosophies that rest on thoughts of individualism and small government, non-elites are betraying their present and their children’s future. It is surprising that non-elites fail to recognize that during economic downturns the elites who claim that unfettered Capitalism is the most patriotic of all activities are quick to adopt Socialist principles of communalism and government assistance when necessary. If I knew no better, I would believe that American elites believe in cooperative Socialism for them and exploitive Capitalism for everyone else.

As the son of a now retired unionized U.S. Steelworker, I can attest to the essentialness of unionization and a non-biased worker solidarity. It is the only way that non-elites will not lose this centuries-long war with greedy avaricious owners devoid of loyalty to the workers who have enriched them beyond measure.

Unfortunately for workers, as long as they receive their “education” at the foot of American Capitalists they will continue to be “hoodwinked, led astray, run amuck, and bamboozled” by economic elites. We are witnessing a slick economic game where the victim of a brazen robbery has been convinced that if he plays his cards correctly that he could also reach a point where he could rob and exploit others. Until the brainwashing of American laborers and their children is eradicated, they will continue to not only lose in this epic battle between workers vs. owners, but also have nary a clue for whey they are losing battle after battle.

Ultimately it appears that America has devolved into a place where not only is it permissible to have Socialism for elites and exploitive Capitalism for non-elites, but also those being exploited by this rigged economic system have thrown their support behind its perpetuation. What a wicked trick that the elites have played on American workers.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.