ABSTRACT
The basis of our society – in fact of our civilization – is the production and exchange of commodities for profit. One of the key commodities in society is human intelligence and skill and the great majority of adults in all capitalist societies must exchange this commodity or at least depend directly on this exchange (for example, children and unpaid domestic workers) for survival. All these people constitute the working class since they act directly under the economic compulsion to sell their skill. Excluded from this class are those people who can accumulate capital and live off the interest. There are many differences between groups within the working class and it is this stratification which makes working class unity the central objective of working class education.
