cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/3190259
To me they’re like mere servants of the State, like Lenin talked about in “2. What is to Replace the Smashed State Machine?” in his writing “The State and Revolution”
Under Capitalism, they are its privileged knights that try to deflect and control, if not defend directly its image as “the only option”, who have their incentive in doing so, with their class status stake being in their duty to shepherd the means of production and its resulting benefits
However, they don’t own the means of production, as they merely manage it for the landholding, industrialist, and financier capitalists
On the other hand, under Socialism, while its privileges will be probably be done away, the PM class on its own would innovated upon, for their new duty of overseeing, managing, and reporting the collectivized cooperatives and state-owned enterprises…
Until the final stage of Communism arrives, I think they’re pretty handy
I say this, because I hear such disgusted sentiment in Hexbear against them
Note: I know a bit about the bazingo techbro culture that the PMC is associated with, please don’t criticize them solely on those vibes…
Chicken and egg situation. It’s more likely that reactionaries are drawn to those positions if they lack capital to live passively off of but enough wealth, borrowed or inherited, to pursue professional training and education.
PMCs in politics are more likely to be reactionaries since they understand their social and class privileges stem from capitalist exploitation and status quo power relations rather than creating mass politics. e.g: Corbyn’s Labour camp undermine him to his own detriment, or Kyrsten Sinema being a social worker before being a US senator.
Ironically, it is these people that also make revolution possible and happen. These professionals are compensated so well because they are the very administrators of capital, of empire, of the machines of production, distribution, and consumption. If they lose faith in the system, not necessarily by a crisis of conscience, but by which means they no longer see a viable future for themselves and their kin/progeny/colleagues, then revolutionary moments gain the possibility of becoming realized and fulfilled.
Which is why the state also increases its own powers to monitor, spy, and repress when targeting dissidents and enforcing internal discipline.