Johnson chap3 "matrix domination"

Thesis: Capitalism creates classism, racism, and sexism and you can never have one “privilege” without getting put down in another category. Johnson’s main points are how capitalism affects our economy, and how it creates class conflicts. This chapter also describes how you can not be defined by one single social category.
In this chapter Johnson starts off with how capitalism is what makes the economy go round. He describes how it affects everyday life and more importantly the people. It is a system to make as much money as you can and being able to pay workers the lowest wages possible (leads to more money). It creates a huge gap between the classes now. The middle class is not the most populated anymore. You are either on one end of the spectrum (rich) or on the opposite end (poor). The middle class is losing value because they are either being replaced by technology or companies are finding people to work for less money that the average white person would accept (minorities). The capitalist want the white male to adopt this idea of “whiteness” so that they still feel more privileged than that of a colored because they are white. The idea of whiteness only goes so far because when they see that their jobs are being taken away by minorities who will work for less they begin to build up hate. Instead of hating the capitalist who created this, they blame the people of color. Thus this leads to fewer unions or organizations that are created in companies because the owners will just bring in colored people who will not object to the wages or conditions and just work. Johnson explains how this pushed idea of whiteness hurts the white man because it discourages them from working and just be happy they are white, so that the companies can pay lower wages to and make a bigger profit. Then this idea of other classes comes into play where a person can be white but then looked down upon because he or she is gay. This kind of example happens very often and there is usually something about a person that would maybe make them appear less superior to someone else. In other words it can also be described as a “matrix of domination.”
1. Why does this idea of profit create social class conflicts?
2. Will there soon not be a middle class if the current situation continues?
I thought this article to very interesting. I never really thought about the different categories of what people can be placed in. It helped me realize that a person may not get a job because they are gay or of color. I mean yah some people would assume that a white person would get a job over a colored person, but that could go out the door when the white person and colored are of equality but the white male or female is gay. Then the employer decides to go with the colored based on sexuality. I mean the types of situations can go on and on but the fact is that competition is so fierce every little detail about you counts.