Hey all,
I’m currently developing a Marxist-Leninist analysis of settler colonialism, especially in light of the situation in Palestine, and am going to read Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat by J. Sakai for the first time. Before I do I was just curious what other comrades think of the book and its analysis? It seems a pretty controversial text among many online Marxist groups, to whatever extent that matters, but as an Indigenous communist I feel having a clear and principled stance on the settler question is important for all serious communists. I’m not sure if I’ll agree with Sakai specifically, but since I generally agree with the opinions of y’all, I was curious as to your thoughts on the book.
With what numbers? With what resources? Why is now different than the last 500 years, when indigenous movements in better situations lost? The lack of answers to these questions is why writing off the majority of the U.S. population is interpreted as defeatist.
You’re right, we are in uncharted territory here with no clear historical precedent. Whatever you propose is just as theoretical as whatever I propose.
To me, it would be easier to destroy the imperial machine with more people on our side, not less. As material conditions continue to deteriorate the long-entrenched mass defenses of the machine (the settler ideology in white Americans) matter less and less.
There are more prisoners than people in the military. There are 40 million Africans in the US alone, and we have the historical impetus in national liberation, so do the indigenous nations who also outnumber the US military. The class structure of the military also places most of the colonially sourced soldiers as the majority of enlistees. The US military shipped disabled black men to Vietnam because they couldn’t field white middle class men. Settlers just won’t fight and if we use Indigenous examples against the US we can see many battles won by smaller indigenous armies than their European opposition. From this history we also see rapid class struggle and alliances within the indigenous peoples and the largest ones had defeated the settlers multiple times with the settlers resorting to ecocide and slaughtering camps of women and children. 40 million buffalo killed to defeat the Oceti Sakowin, this would blowback as the dust bow btw.
As we see in Palestine, settlers only feel powerful when they can shoot children, whether IDF soldier, a US cop, or someone like Zimmerman. Mass support from settlers is that variable we shall not seek “perfection” of. They will join us when they can see the writing on the wall. For now we move building our own communities up on the basis of trust and cooperation. Which btw, native nations are already providing services and jobs to settlers and the BP fed kids of any color. We focus on the most oppressed segments of society and the ones with historical impetus for fighting against Imperialism, something Labor Aristocracy doesn’t have until the conditions strip them of that title. We focus on youth of any background as well, as youth always have the opportunity to change the world for the better.
We just won’t make the mistakes of relying on settlers again. Even in the wars of the past there were settler allies who betrayed us, so we prepare our revolution for such events. Simple as.