The “Precariat” and the Danger of Fascism

An article from the National Catholic Reporter which I read recently, discusses the ideas British economist Guy Standing, a professor at the University of London. Standing has proposed an updated system of economic classification, which at least on the surface, seems an accurate (and scary) analysis of class structure in developed countries.

He identifies the following classes:

• The plutocracy (the 0.001%)
• The elite (multi-millionaires whose earnings come mostly from ownership of capital)
• The entrepreneurs (creative, highly paid individuals, mostly young, who aspire to join the elite)*
• The salariat (those with long term employment security and benefits)
• The old working class (middle class wage earners with some benefits, although their wages and benefits are constantly under attack; they have little or nothing to fall back on)*
• The precariat (unstable labor, temporary jobs, in and out of work, few or no benefits, no savings)
• The poor

*    Indicate my description, not Standing’s.

Standing notes that both the salariat and the old working class are shrinking everywhere as more and more people are forced down into the precariat. Although lacking precise data, he argues that between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population in most developed nations are currently part of this growing sector. (Note: The fact that the last three recessions in the US have seen minimal “recovery” for everyone but the very wealthy is undoubtedly a major factor in the growth of this class.)

Standing uses the term precariat because their lives are so precarious and sees this class as composed of three parts: workers and their families that have fallen out of the old working class; young, educated individuals with few job prospects and a mountain of debt; and migrants (I think this should include other minorities who may not be migrants, particularly in the US). These groups often see themselves as pitted against each other, blaming the “others” for their precarious status.

This economic and social class, although it is very diverse, shares a number of characteristics.

• The suffer from high levels of stress
• They lack meaningful work and have no occupational identity
• They have no access to benefits and no financial security
• Their level of education is frequently above the work they do
• They are both young and old (think of the Wal-Mart greeters and the McDonald’s workers)
• THEY ARE ALIENATED, ANOMIC AND VERY ANGRY

Why is this important, you might ask? Because the basic conditions of alienation found in the precariat are vary similar to life experiences of the lower middle class Germans who provided the mass support for the Nazis in the period leading up to WW II. Erich Fromm, in his classic 1941 work Escape from Freedom, provides an analysis which links the alienation resulting from the development of capitalism, exacerbated by the Great Depression and disenchantment with democracy to the willingness of members of this class to subjugate themselves to the authoritarianism of the Nazis.

The similarities between 1930s Germany and the US (and many other developed countries) today ought to be on the table in every discussion of where we go from here. Understanding the nature of the crisis that confronts us is the first step to finding solutions BEFORE it’s too late.

While the Republican Party has been captured by the forces of extreme reaction and is leading the charge to fascism, all too often the opposition party (yes, I mean the Democrats) have made a Faustian bargain with the plutocracy, securing minor benefits for a few, while ignoring the structural problems that have eviscerated the old working class and the salariat and generally ignoring the poor. Only a genuine political revolution, targeting the sources of the great and growing inequality, can get to the root of the problem.

It’s time to act, before it’s too late. If we fail to learn from history, we will be doomed to repeat it.