“As for those anti-imperialists who don’t participate in this festival of xenophobia — and here I include myself — we have our own elitist consolation: we accept the tragedy of masses of gullible sheeple falling for cunning propaganda because having overcome it flatters our own intelligence. The more we condemn society’s stupidity, the smarter we feel in comparison.”
- Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of “Brainwashing” (2022)
Roderic Day, 2022-05-23
Indeed, this substratum of the proletariat is often correctly identified as the labor aristocracy, but their relations of production are ultimately proletarian and thus they are further immiserated by capitalist decay. It will take longer, but they are not a distinct class.