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Saturday 18 May 2019

AFL-CIO promotes Marxist video slamming capitalism while declaring 'We all need to seize the means of production'

The United States' largest labor union, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, has endorsed a Marxist explainer video while tellng its social media followers, "We all need to seize the means of production."

What are the details?

In a Twitter post on Tuesday, the AFL-CIO reposted the clip from self-proclaimed anti-capitalist platform Means TV, complete with a bread loaf emoji to educate Americans on "why the middle class is fictional and how it's used to divide the working class."

Marxist roofer Dan Whelan begins the short film by explaining, "When people today think of class in the United States, they typically envision a division based on income levels. Lower class, middle class, and upper class. However, this analysis is largely incorrect.

"Class is actually determined by a person's relationship to, or ownership of, the means of production. The means of production being a factory, a plantation, a skyscraper."

Whelan goes on to argue that, "Viewing class in its proper context allows us to present the argument that the middle class — frequently alluded to in conventional media and politics — is a fiction that deliberately obscures the relationship and conflict between workers and the owners of society."

He concludes, "The fiction of the middle class has outlived its usefulness in American political discourse as workers around the country begin to realize the collective power they can wield as a unified working class."

Anything else?

This is the second time in recent days that the AFL-CIO has raised eyebrows with a social media post.

Last week, Fox News reported the labor giant tweeted out an image suggesting "a guillotine only costs $1200 to build" in reaction to a Delta Air Lines ad criticizing the cost of union dues.

AFL-CIO took down the post following backlash, with spokeswoman Carolyn Bobb explaining to CNN, "We came across and shared this Internet meme. We realize it was in poor taste that doesn't reflect the values of the AFL-CIO and it has been taken down."

As of this writing, the anti-capitalism video remains present on the union's feed.

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