how many global class struggles?

Quantification, I know, is a bad word for many on the left; sort of like a
red cloth for a bull in a bullfight. However, quantification has its
discrete charms -- for example in the following question: How many class
struggles are there in the world(-)system at the present time?

Here are some pre-fabricated multiple-choice answers, the kind of test
questions used in "new learning technologies":

Q: How many global class struggles are there at the
present time?

Answers: CIRCLE ONE
(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 2
(d) 30-40
(e) 185
(f)  1000 or more
(g) all of the above
(h) none of the above
(i) other, please specify and explain

Here are some possible arguments for each of the pre-fabricated answers:

(a) zero -- there is no world revolution, therefore there is no global class
struggle

(b) one -- the world's underdogs struggle against the world's topdogs,
therefore there is one gargantuan global class struggle

(c) two -- there is the struggle of global labour against global capital and
there is the struggle of periphery countries against center countries,
therefore there are two global class struggles

(d) 30 - 40 -- there are about thirty to forty armed revolutionary struggles
going on right now, therefore there are 30-40 class struggles in the world
right now

(e) 185 -- there are 185 countries in the world; each of them has its own
class struggle, therefore there are 185 class struggles worldwide

(f) 1000 or more -- each country has more than two classes, many countries
have multiple ethnic groups with different class standing. If we multiply
185 times 6 (for six or more class fractions per country), we obtain 1000 or
more, therefore there are over 1000 class struggles worldwide

(g) all of the above -- if we think that all of the above arguments have
merit

(h) none of the above -- we must first examine whether our subjectivity
allows us to make such judgments or, alternatively, whether our cultural
context has brainwashed us so much that we cannot be sure about the meaning
of our categories

(i) other -- class struggle means a pillow fight between members of the
class. However, we have no information whether the class of 1999 of Johns
Hopkins University will have a pillow fight



-gk