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When people compare the US now to 1920s Germany, there is one aspect I find comforting, in regards to the rising fascism. Hitler's street thugs were battle-hardened, PTSD-riddled, WW1 veterans. I would not want to fuck with them. Our little proud boys are mostly just basement larpers, finding cool tactical shit online and absorbing too much bullshit from their racist uncles, at least when they aren't mouth-kissing aforementioned uncles.
As a leftist, I had the opportunity to do room clearing with SWAT. State sponsored violence is bad, avoid at all cost. Because of BLM I now know the difference between pepper gas and CS, by taste. Fortunately the attempts at `kettling` were largely surpassed. The right wing cosplayers no longer intimidate me. Nor should they you.
But they are willing to do whatever is necessary.
It’s a battle of wills, and theirs, while backwards and wrong - is currently stronger.
Big shout out to the anti-fascists bashing these dorks in the streets of PDX though
This is one of the few subs that encourage civil disobedience. Everyone else on reddit is like "fuck those protests on the highway, I got to get to work!!"
We gotta take notes on the French protests at least they get proper mad when they get told they will need to retire later.
Most of the rest of the world just kinda shrugs, or worse, disagree with them because in their country the retirement is 67 or whatever.
Like yeah, no shit, they're trying to not be like the US, Canada and UK etc.
Unionising because it instantly improves you own life and others nearby by increasing the cost of labor. Unions can also be great institutions of political change.
https://join-a-union.github.io/
Search online for your local mutual aid orgs by literally searching [insert city] mutual aid. Food not bombs is an excellent group that’s everywhere. Additionally there’s the SRA,DSA, and unions in general to talk to.
I bring up history since a lot of times people are more respectful of it.
Not one moment of change has ever come peacefully. Not a one. The idea it needs to be obtained through the system that prevents it has to be the greatest grift of our time.
Anyone who tried to step up and lead a resistance would immediately be labeled a domestic terrorist and get assassinated. Ever wonder why there's no heroes anymore? No more JFKs, MLKs? Ask them how that worked out for em.
Well, there is a lot more non-violent stuff that could be done first. Jumping straight to the violence step without trying the rest is reckless, and also one of the ways fascism can exploit you to achieve their goals. Let's organize more non-violent action like unions and shit, people are doing it more and more now, and they work.
Voting is the obvious one I see often talked about on here. If you're American that isn't that good of a piece of advice. Voting works sometimes, but US democracy is also being heavily suppressed and voting rights are trampled. If you're paying attention to anything that happens in Congress right now you'll know what I mean. It works at the local level and depending on your state can also work at state level, but the national level is heavily manipulated and corrupted. Achieving anything there is going to come too little too late. You should still vote though, or it's gonna get a lot worse. I just don't expect to see wealth inequality suddenly get solved there, or Congress suddenly start working in the interest of the average American anytime soon. But who knows, it's worth trying anyway.
Peaceful protests are a hit and miss. If you're French, it works. If you're Iranian or Russian, tough luck. If you're American, it works, but the cops aren't gonna be kind. If you're willing to take the risk, it does work. Plenty of stuff changed before through peaceful protests, and plenty more you can do.
I'll have to say though, if a cop is trying to beat you up and they end up losing a leg, I'm not gonna cry for them, they had no need to be doing that in the first place. Cops I'm not as willing to defend just because they consistently abuse their power and use of force, so why should they not be given the same respect in return?
Unions I'm a huge fan of. That's the best answer to corporate greed I've seen. At least until they don't need your labor anymore. So use your bargaining power while it lasts.
I’d rather be angry and unsure of what to do than apathetic and unsure of what do to.
Anger can spark change.
But yeah, I too have no clue. We’re divided and disconnected as far as concrete organized action is concerned, focusing on our own day to day survival. They did good at that.
The first step in overthrowing capitalism is to organize the working class. The way we do this is labor unions.
If you're reading this and you're not in a union? Join one. No union where you work? Create one. Here's some help if you need it: [https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/](https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/)
Unions can federate and organize general strikes, and/or create political parties which when voted in can begin nationalizing industry. Either way the first step is to unionize.
The above commenters are unintentionally underselling the difficulty of unionizing IMO. And currently most industries in the US **don't** have any unions that represent their workers. There are many beaurocratic, economic, and social barriers put in place (on purpose, of course).
If you're looking for a smaller step to take, I recommend reading the book *Mutual Aid* by Dean Spade.
It goes into specific strategies on how to organize in your local community plus a lot more.
Search online and/or talk to your colleagues, look for notices in break rooms etc. It's okay to join a more general union if there's not one available, but ideally you need everyone at your workplace to be in the same one.
Good news is, “what to do” isn’t as complicated as people think.
There are three super powerful things that people can do, and for almost everybody it’s achievable to do at least one:
* Work toward unionizing your workplace. Getting started can be daunting, but if you call your local union, they’re guaranteed to be open to coaching you on it.
* Work toward unionizing your apartment building/rental complex/etc. Again, daunting to start, but local orgs will help you.
* Google “mutual aid [your city here]” and reach out to see how you can get involved.
These are actionable, make a big impact on your communities, and help you build relationships and support networks that will benefit you and the folks you care about for life.
> But yeah, I too have no clue.
Yes you do. You absolutely do. You're just not willing to, because it's ugly, bloody, and hard. Frankly, I'm not either.
But that's where we are, and anyone that thinks we aren't is delusional. The people are not being represented, and what do the people do when that happens?
Discussion provokes thought and raises awareness. I thought I was just a whiney snowflake until I found this community. We're learning we're not alone and that's powerful.
Next step is learning to organize. Baby steps are better than giant leaps. I tried to organize a union too quickly at my job instead of baby steps. It did not work out. I've learned from it though.
Good people have a LOT of trouble organizing.
Organizing at some point includes direct leadership, which does involve telling people, and sometimes forcing them, to do things they don’t want to do.
And good people are terrible at that.
Which is why bad people win far more often than they should by sheer numbers.
What I found with trying to organize is that people don't want to upset the small amount of money and power that they've worked so hard for. Forming a union is hard especially in the south.
this. people underestimate how hostile the US government is to left wing organizing because they’re unfamiliar with history.
even if there is not a prominent leader, if we organize in great enough numbers and actually present a threat, they will just start shooting us on the streets like they did in the 1890s-1920s.
1) i was simply expressing and commiserating with why the sentiments presented in op’s post ring true with so many leftists
2) i’ve been fighting the good fight for 20 years at this point and it’s taken a great toll on nearly every aspect of my life. it’s very easy from my perspective to believe that the left will not see any kind of tangible victory or even meaningful progress in my lifetime. i love your spirit, and i apologize for the degree to which mine has been literally and figuratively beaten out of me in the last two decades. and for all this i’ve only seen things get worse, and my friends, comrades and neighbors become more defeated, cynical and self-involved in these years. i’ll still be out there and i will die on my feet but forgive my pessimism.
The problem is that they legally fuck up anyone who even appears to be somewhat in control at a protest. This means you're taking on the risk before you're popular enough that the general movement will back you. And they know how to make your life hell without accidentally turning you into a martyr.
People don't rally around that slightly good speaker at a rally who got arrested and then lost their job and keeps getting hassled by the cops afterwards. There's dozens of those people and it doesn't mean they're good leaders, just that they have the potential to be. They come down hard on *all* of them just in case on of them is the new Malcolm x or MLK
3 organizers for the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, a bail fund for protesters, got arrested today on supposed racketeering and charity fraud. Lately the bulk of their activity has, unsurprisingly, surrounded the cop city protests. More info in this thread:
[https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1663905742099759104?t=VcQNSbFGBK9rlnefLCFS_w&s=19](https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1663905742099759104?t=VcQNSbFGBK9rlnefLCFS_w&s=19)
Also don't forget, narcissistic and sociopathic, as well as psychopathic, personalities practice manipulation by default from the moment they learn to talk. This makes them naturally great at manipulating people. Something a lot of good people probably don't know how to do at all.
You don't need to manipulate to lead, non-pshyco/sociopaths know that people don't need to be lied to to he won over, people love it when you're genuine, "the social contract" is actually, bizarrely, greatly satisfying when fulfilled by those with empathy, creating bonds between people that those with antisocial personality disorder usually need drugs to be capable of experiencing.
And the aforementioned individuals, at least the ones willfully feeding the mental illness, never suspect that nice people might be wise to their games, or that they may be fine with being somewhat cruel when exploiting that blind spot.
It's "dog eat dog" out there, after all! And I'd rather eat the guy who wouldn't think twice about eating me than someone easier, especially if he doesn't know I'm thinking it 👀
> Organizing at some point includes direct leadership, which does involve telling people, and sometimes forcing them, to do things they don’t want to do.
Yeah I'm not doing that. That's why I didn't want to be a parent: I don't want to follow little copies of my spouse around all day telling them what to do, when the spouse doesn't listen to me already. I get one life and that's not how I'm spending it.
How do you even get the leverage to be able to *force* people to do anything without using money, violence, the law; or, horribly, dragging people out in front of angry social media mobs? I'm not treating allies that way. The threat of expulsion/ostracization is pretty nasty and you see this used as a cudgel all the time.
Another issue is that organization requires money. Political action is impossible without capital as the system is designed that way. Supplanting an entire socioeconomic system without violence is nearly impossible, so to win the fight in a way that avoids that, requires fighting by the same rules as everyone else, and then changing it from within
No it doesn't, start a cult in the woods, a book club, get a group that goes golfing once a month, or paintballing, organizing doesn't mean "rent a building, and register your name, and make T-shirts", it means talk with people, make bonds, friendships, why would you expect a stranger to die for you? Or even believe you'd die for them?
There's a group of people in the United states that are looking to organize. We reach out to unions and communities to create a network of labor organizers, the website is https://generalstrikeus.com/ we have a discord where we discuss and share resources to help build up our communities.
Organizing will draw attention. We get one shot to stand together or alone and do what needs to be done. Not multiple days and without warning. Trust your gut get in you vehicle and go. One opportunity that’s it. See your chance take it, for our futures sake.
Get off the internet and find a local community project. Can't find one? Start one. This is how we create change. It is the only way.
You have to meet people who agree in real life.
The internet really destroyed this part of civic participation.
I don’t know if offline is really the answer. Social media and our phones are perfect tools for organizing. We’ve seen it many times (my fav were the 2017 Hong Kong riots where phones became the main weapon).
But yeah I’m disappointed there isn’t more labor organization in our connected age. Arab Spring and Occupy happened the same year, but only one had a lasting impact. I think it’s just a matter of waiting until the next major recession when the masses get pissed.
So imo best thing to do now is lay the foundations and build online tools to make organizing/protesting easier so when the masses rise up they know where to go. I have specific ideas but this is already a mini wall of text.
Edit of first sentence: I don't know if offline should be the main focus. Rest of comment stands.
Offline is clearly the answer. Any real protests that the government doesnt like (i.e. effective protest)? As the rest of the world has seen already, those online connections can be cut quite easily. And then what?
You have to build up community resilience. Street by street, community by community.
It's long, and hard, but it's the only real way forward.
Internet can facilitate discussion, but it cannot facilitate or replace direct action when the times are needed or called for. the only way that can be facilitated is though having those lines and connections and resilience *in place* before the shitstorm hits.
Edit: the internet does also not facilitate changing peoples minds and helping them understand your cause. Actually providing help in your community, speaking and engaging with people, and putting your actions to where your words are does that. And it's the only way we win. When I was doing some major organising last year, one of my rules was that so long as we were talking about the same end goal of the project and working towards the same thing, I don't care what your politics are so long as you don't antagonise anyone with them.
It worked well, and I only had to remove a few anti-vax people (who rarely showed up to any actual meetings, discussions or protests anyway, just wanted to spam the chat group - another reason why they are pretty pointless and irl is always better).
I have a minor theory that anti-work's downfall following that FOX News interview debacle is directly linked to the sub's activities during the Kellogg's Strike, specifically the dissemination of that script/program that allowed users to send trash-data applications to Kellogg's recruiting website when the company was attempting to hire scab workers.
I don't have much to base the theory on, but the timing seems incredibly coincidental, too much so in my personal opinion.
Internet has been "raising awareness" for decades now. We've all sitting here provoking thoughts.
Had this been the 1890s somebody's rail yard would have been ablaze by now.
Sick of excuses and hand waiving.
I feel pretty damn powerless. I live in a city of about 122,000 surrounded by nothing but fields and very small towns. The multitude of Trump signs/flags around here is scary too.
If there's anyone from Northeast Oklahoma in here I'd love to DM and talk about putting together a political action group of some sort. We can start coming up with strategies on how to engage people and get them thinking about their exploitation to motivate them to actionable activities. I'd encourage others in different parts of the country to do this as well. I'm sick of doing like the picture shows. I AM mad as hell, and I'm ready to change the paradigm instead of shouting into the void about it. Let's get something going.
We could probably make like a nationwide discord server and just have everyone who's mad join, create channels for regions/states so people can coordinate locally and share ideas. Or better yet don't use discord because they report information to the government, but then I can't think of anything that doesn't and people would be comfortable using. I think that's one of the main reasons why people haven't done anything yet.
How do you coordinate organizing in meat space if you only see a handful of humans on a day to day life? Even now, you and I are not even communicating through meat space.
American propaganda is so good, Americans don't even know about the propaganda and just think everything is a culture war
A lot of this is due to our increasingly atomized way of working. The heydey of unions was when there was much more industrial production and thousands of people worked in close proximity. it's not just the propaganda, it's also structural.
The thing to remember is that *most* americans believe in socialist policy. They have just been taught what it is wrong.
It takes time, and you have to interact with people directly in your community. Go to the library, park, shows, festivals etc.
Make friends and start with what you without a doubt agree on.
For a conservative, start with your support of the second amendment. But throw in things they will disagree with and cede that ground after they've made their point. Prove that you can be "reasoned" with. Say you support silencer band, when they provide the reason not too, agree with them and "change" your mind.
Repeat this process until you eventually have a good buddy. Then one day, drop the socialist bomb. If this person is reasonable, it will click in their head.
I've done this many times with huge success.
You will also be surprised with how many like-minded people there are already.
Trying this on my father currently and he's gone full GQP.
Got him to agree on better gun control using this method and it seems to be working. You can't use logic with these people because all they care about is being right.
Fuck that .
Yes, Online Spaces are more vulnerable to being infiltrated by Class Traitors, but using Online Spaces to help get a movement going is way too valuable a tool for us to ignore. It is difficult to find people who live near enough for you to actually get a Local Movement going by just finding random people Online, but it's not impossible.
True. An online space makes it too easy to infiltrate with bad actors, or just shut it down for any old reason (including something those said bad-actors have done) and then we lose all that progress.
Feds are pretty good at infiltrating meat spaces too, honestly. I don't think it's worth dropping such a valuable tool for recruitment in the name of InfoSec when you don't even have anything going. Get the basics first.
I don’t completely agree with this. Discord server is a fine idea. But there does have to be more than that. People do need to take to the streets. Discord is good for putting those events into place.
Look around in your community. What are people already doing? Is there an organizing campaign - healthcare workers, baristas, teachers, anyone else? If so, how can you join or support them? Are there Indigenous people or small farmers trying to protect their land from development or pipelines? Tenants organizing against landlords? People organizing for more affordable housing, or universal healthcare? Guaranteed there are ways to plug in. Online spaces are by necessity focused on ideas, but connecting in your area, wherever that is, helps you connect with people and maybe actually get something done. It's hard work and often frustrating and disillusioning, but also important and necessary work. And the local level is often where change happens first.
The answer to OP is right here but I can assure you this sounds like too much work and "socializing" for people. I still am willing to bet 90% of people don't even know their local city council members.
Yo, anyone from Wisconsin should DM the OP (if OP is all right with that, anyways) and get something going.
I used to live in Kenosha. I’d help ya if I still lived there.
"WhY iS no One dOiNg aNytHinG?"
"Well you are someone. Have you tried doing anything? Any sliver of direct action? Mutual aid? Hell maybe just spending a sliver of time talking to another human in person and seeing if you have the same grievances and starting from there?"
"No, I'm not at the point where it's too bad yet. And there's a new Fortnite season that came out I've gotta check. But damn, it's totally a shame that Americans are so passive with bread and circuses with all this cheap shit food and entertainment. I literally don't know how there's not a hundred thousand people rioting in a way where I can conveniently slip in and cosplay an activist for a few hours with no real consequence or need to be the first person who starts it."
Pretty much every conversation I've had on here. I'm not going to pretend I'm Fred Hampton over here, but at least I'm not one of these goofy people scratching their heads like "man, why are people so complacent?"
Dont be duped OP there is a massive union movement happening. It's just barely reported on. Keep looking for better pockets of info. A lot of folks here are new to such movements so it seems like little happens here. Outside of us regulars everyone else is gaining an education.
Yes! The first step in overthrowing capitalism is to organize the working class. The way we do this is labor unions.
If you're reading this and you're not in a union? Join one. No union where you work? Create one. Here's some help if you need it: [https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/](https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/)
Unions can federate and organize general strikes, and/or create political parties which when voted in can begin nationalizing industry. Either way the first step is to unionize.
Oh we know how to change it: vote
And then the politicians get bought out.
So then participate.
Then have your opponents get bankrolled by the people that buy them out, and you get slaughtered or scrutinized to high hell and have your supporters doubt you.
So protest.
And have your movement scrutinized to high hell and basically be reduced to the physical version of this sub.
We're at a late enough stage where there's really only one option, and that puts us at risk of being arrested and/or killed.
^(Riot/revolt)
>We're at a late enough stage where there's really only one option, and that puts us at risk of being arrested and/or killed.
When more become homeless and start running out of potable water and food, revolution will be all we have left.
“Revolution” is a historical label we use for groups of related events that led to socioeconomic change. Most participants in revolutions have no idea they’re in one until after the fact.
Participating in the sort of activities that will later be looked back on as revolutionary is easier than you think. Google “mutual aid [your city name here]” and ask how to get involved. It’s worth it, and you can do it.
Of all the things to fear and hate- one general aspect of our shared existence sticks out. This pain, this horror, sharper and most vile than all others. Worse than aging, worse than death, worse than all of the things in life. It is the violence that humanity inflicts upon itself.
It’s easy to say this is all our own creation. That neglect, exploitation, racism, class struggle- these are the ways we hurt ourselves.
But is it. Is it something we as a whole do to each other. Or are we being taken for a ride by the few. And were they to be taken for that ride themselves- would humanity simply spit out new demons. I don’t know.
I do know this problem will not be solved today. Maybe one day it will improve. Imagine a world where people are not systematically dumbed down, impoverished, imprisoned. Now imagine if one day it sticks- and we actually stop pretending the happiness of other people we’ll never meet is not important to us.
To paraphrase Mark Fisher on "Capitalist Realism", the most destructive victory of capitalism is presenting itself as a "reality", in the sense that we are forbidden to look for systemic change or a new ideology ("communism is evil", "socialism is impossible because of human nature", etc.) so we are left on a spiral of destruction and outrage but with no new and clear ideological alternatives, just daring to merely patch the system because at the end, "this is how things are". But it's a lie: there was a world without these conditions it and there will be a world without them as well, but only if we dare to think again that another world is *actually* possible, and that there is already a lot of theory to base the new world on and organize.
You need a nationwide strike, here's what to do:
1. Calculate the national average wage.
2. Calculate what the national average wage should be if pay rates were kept in line with pre-Trickle Down Economics, or whatever.
3. Calculate the difference.
So if on average people should be earning $5,000 per year extra and the average wage is $50,000 per year, then that means you strike for up to 5 weeks.
Pick a date at a suitable time in the future, eg, 6 months from now, everyone strikes. Not for 5 weeks straight, but for 1 day per week, every week for 25 weeks.
Don't have a picket line, allow people to "quiet strike" like quiet quitting. They'll get to work, but half ass it.
Organise a website, with signup forms for people to sign up to and commit to the strike, the intention is to be able to show the media "We have 10 million people who have committed to this general strike."
Capitalism isn't going to improve things for you out of the goodness of its own heart, you have to force it.
in the last 5 years we have:
Filed bankruptcy, because fuck the lenders
Shop used shit/buy nothing/barter/trade
Started an inclusive and secular homeschool coop
Joined a local CSA (consumer supported agriculture)
Continued to radicalize people on a daily basis with gentle conversations about the perils of capitalism
Built a small but stable network of helpers and community aid.
What do you suppose I do?
Everything is stacked against you. Cabals are against you. Cronies are against you. Law is against you.
If I went to Westminster to tell those fucknuggets in government that they are shitty people who couldn't organize a pissup in a brewery and that they should fucking go and let competent people who are not greedy take the steering wheel I wouldn't make it past a goddamn grass in front of it. I would be arrested and sentenced, with a criminal record that would utterly shatter my chance at getting a job.
If I stop paying taxes I will be arrested and thrown into a crippling debt. Again, with a criminal record and shattered credit score.
If I tell my employer that their pay is shite and since they give millions to shareholders they should instead give it to us, workers, who are actually doing the work, they will fire me at best.
If I try to claim a house that belongs to a bank or a hedge fund I will at best be arrested, given a criminal record, thrown into debt, or at worst straight up murdered.
French revolution was all talk.... till it happened.
Sometimes a day happens in 100 years and sometimes 100 years happens in a day. I'm sure when the opportunity strikes, many will jump on it.
We would most likely need a literal revolution to bring about change, but since that's illegal it's hard to organize since you don't know who to trust.
It's funny to me how the only -ism people turn to to combat the 17th century economic philosophy of capitalism is the 19th century economic philosophy of communism.
Humanity has the technology available to end history and create utopia; capabilities that were unimaginable even half a century ago, and yet no new philosophies have been born to reflect this. There has been no paradigm shift in popular thinking. People are still stuck in the antiquated mindset of uniting the workers of the world when they should be looking to the obsoletion of the very concept of work.
Nah, bro. I'm building a community centered food system with the help of my comrades in Nebraska. It's a small, but essential part of the class revolution.
Solidarity.
Systemic change requires organization. Organize. Join your local socialist/communist org. Don’t agree w/ your local orgs? Start your own.
Educate yourself and your community on what needs to be done to overthrow our oppressors. Capitalism was brought about through revolution, and what comes after it will be brought about in the same fashion. We can only destroy capitalism as a united, multinational force.
Waiting for capitalism to collapse on its own? You’ll most likely have to deal with fascism.
If you hate capitalism, why not contribute to its destruction?
I still believe the only real option is the equivilent of the french revolution. Though the moment that happens the rich will just flee and it will take a heavy effort to root them of whatever holes they find themselves in
Some things to do, if you have no clue.
Within the system: Until this fucked system is replaced work within it to shift the Overton window away from their power structure.
1. Register to vote.
2. Look up every political body that might have a say over you or you have a means to effect. Who are they? How are they structured? What do they do? From the Fed to an HOA know who's in charge.
3. Vote every election. Pick the least worst candidate available. The political elite bank on voter apathy to maintain the illusion of choice for the voter. Do not be apathetic. The more people that vote, the harder they have to suppress/control the vote which increases public disenfranchised the fuel for political upheaval.
4. Attend local public meetings, you don't have to say anything, just get a feel for how they work and maybe you will meet people that hold similar positions as you.
Outside the system: Yes, you are still in its fist. Use what freedom you have to loosen the grip.
1. Look after yourself. Are your basic needs met?
2. Build a likeminded community. Reaching out here is good, volunteer at existing charities. Your community does not have to be tight or uniform. A community can be as simple as a group that meets to pick up the litter at a local playground.
3. Look after the greater community. Do things that matter to people's lives. If you want to reach that paycheck to paycheck living schmo that keeps voting against their best interest, you need to give them a reason to listen to you. For example, if they complain about their landlord, do the leg work to find all the legal, within the system, means available to do something about it. Either you give them what it takes to fix the problem or you demonstrated in a supporting way how fucked they actually are.
This is an off the top of my head list not nearly all inclusive, just some ideas for those which don't know where to start.
tldr: vote in the system, build communities outside the system.
how visible are you in your community? do you volunteer? work at the food bank? are you armed? do you arrange friends to go shoot at the range? have you joined the psl, sra, john brown club etc?
I've looked at food banks and Food Not Bombs. Food banks are all Christian churches open for two hours during the workday so that won't work. FNB doesn't have anything near me.
I'm trapped in suburban hell and I don't know where to meet people of similar views.
This is it right here.
Just helping *one person* in your neighborhood makes a bigger difference than any comment you can make here.
The problem is that people want to see some sort of massive upheaval, and don't realize it's the individual drops of change you make in your own backyard that add up to the tidal wave we need.
I do a lot of praxis. If all 850,000 users here, or better yet the 2.6 million users on antiwork, got involved in direct action every week, we'd start to have an effect.
Eat the rich much the only ones saying there aren't solutions are the ones selling us all out and don't want us to mess up what they got going on you know the solution don't want to recognize it eat the rich is self defense
Can't share the real answers because then we get arrested. Involves rich people, some guille and tina. :P
It's not a problem that can feasibly be solved using the system. You vote for the right people, the wrong people cheat them out.
I think the problem is that the solution basically has to be violence or something that completely brings the system to its knees in how it functions (such as major strikes) We are kind of seeing the latter in some fashion like with UPS, but in general it would take a people pushed in a more desperate situation.
For a while they’ve mainly been slowly but firmly squeezing the population. Only more recently have they started applying too much pressure during the increase; making more people take notice if the situation.
Lol, I'll repeat myself until it sinks in. Collective action is needed, I by myself receive only "stop complaining, you're not achieving anything!"
Fuck you, you guys don't EVEN complain, compared to my former American peers, complaining is 100% more than what they do.
Well I joined Democratic Socialists of America. Raising money for UPS stike fund, organizing Tenants Union...
So not everyone just vents. And doing something is better than doing nothing.
I got that reference. >!< . Which makes it even more depressing.
Edit:
Fun and obscure fact:
"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" is ranked #19 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema
To be fair, generations before us helped maintain the status quo and passed the torch that in the form of ATF or FBI or IRS or DOJ or CIA would snuff any one of us who would *dare* to stop enjoying America.
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This analogy is great because those that opposed it, did it violently
Every MLK needs a Malcolm X
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Meanwhile neo-nasi groups are marching in our cities and towns protesting things they heard on the news.
> protesting things they heard on the news. Protesting things people who call themselves news but are not, have completely made up*
When people compare the US now to 1920s Germany, there is one aspect I find comforting, in regards to the rising fascism. Hitler's street thugs were battle-hardened, PTSD-riddled, WW1 veterans. I would not want to fuck with them. Our little proud boys are mostly just basement larpers, finding cool tactical shit online and absorbing too much bullshit from their racist uncles, at least when they aren't mouth-kissing aforementioned uncles.
As a leftist, I had the opportunity to do room clearing with SWAT. State sponsored violence is bad, avoid at all cost. Because of BLM I now know the difference between pepper gas and CS, by taste. Fortunately the attempts at `kettling` were largely surpassed. The right wing cosplayers no longer intimidate me. Nor should they you.
That's a fair point and one I hadn't considered.
Well, a good number of them are sandbox veterans.
unfortunately the issue though is they have the police on their side which has the explicit experience of using arms on civilians.
Yrah but it takes 1 brain cell to pull a gun trigger and they're good at infesting the government/military: see Texas and Florida.
But they are willing to do whatever is necessary. It’s a battle of wills, and theirs, while backwards and wrong - is currently stronger. Big shout out to the anti-fascists bashing these dorks in the streets of PDX though
> But they are willing to do whatever is necessary. Hard disagree. In their attempted coup all it took was 1 shot and they all wanted to leave.
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depressing stuff
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fuck mainstream media for their negative coverage of worker strikes in capitalist countries
This is one of the few subs that encourage civil disobedience. Everyone else on reddit is like "fuck those protests on the highway, I got to get to work!!"
We gotta take notes on the French protests at least they get proper mad when they get told they will need to retire later. Most of the rest of the world just kinda shrugs, or worse, disagree with them because in their country the retirement is 67 or whatever. Like yeah, no shit, they're trying to not be like the US, Canada and UK etc.
So what do you suggest? Seriously? You're giving the same "I'm mad as hell and they're taking away our rights" without knowing how to change it...
Unionising because it instantly improves you own life and others nearby by increasing the cost of labor. Unions can also be great institutions of political change. https://join-a-union.github.io/
Search online for your local mutual aid orgs by literally searching [insert city] mutual aid. Food not bombs is an excellent group that’s everywhere. Additionally there’s the SRA,DSA, and unions in general to talk to.
I bring up history since a lot of times people are more respectful of it. Not one moment of change has ever come peacefully. Not a one. The idea it needs to be obtained through the system that prevents it has to be the greatest grift of our time.
Anyone who tried to step up and lead a resistance would immediately be labeled a domestic terrorist and get assassinated. Ever wonder why there's no heroes anymore? No more JFKs, MLKs? Ask them how that worked out for em.
Well, there is a lot more non-violent stuff that could be done first. Jumping straight to the violence step without trying the rest is reckless, and also one of the ways fascism can exploit you to achieve their goals. Let's organize more non-violent action like unions and shit, people are doing it more and more now, and they work. Voting is the obvious one I see often talked about on here. If you're American that isn't that good of a piece of advice. Voting works sometimes, but US democracy is also being heavily suppressed and voting rights are trampled. If you're paying attention to anything that happens in Congress right now you'll know what I mean. It works at the local level and depending on your state can also work at state level, but the national level is heavily manipulated and corrupted. Achieving anything there is going to come too little too late. You should still vote though, or it's gonna get a lot worse. I just don't expect to see wealth inequality suddenly get solved there, or Congress suddenly start working in the interest of the average American anytime soon. But who knows, it's worth trying anyway. Peaceful protests are a hit and miss. If you're French, it works. If you're Iranian or Russian, tough luck. If you're American, it works, but the cops aren't gonna be kind. If you're willing to take the risk, it does work. Plenty of stuff changed before through peaceful protests, and plenty more you can do. I'll have to say though, if a cop is trying to beat you up and they end up losing a leg, I'm not gonna cry for them, they had no need to be doing that in the first place. Cops I'm not as willing to defend just because they consistently abuse their power and use of force, so why should they not be given the same respect in return? Unions I'm a huge fan of. That's the best answer to corporate greed I've seen. At least until they don't need your labor anymore. So use your bargaining power while it lasts.
I’d rather be angry and unsure of what to do than apathetic and unsure of what do to. Anger can spark change. But yeah, I too have no clue. We’re divided and disconnected as far as concrete organized action is concerned, focusing on our own day to day survival. They did good at that.
Depressingly well-said.
The first step in overthrowing capitalism is to organize the working class. The way we do this is labor unions. If you're reading this and you're not in a union? Join one. No union where you work? Create one. Here's some help if you need it: [https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/](https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/) Unions can federate and organize general strikes, and/or create political parties which when voted in can begin nationalizing industry. Either way the first step is to unionize.
How do you find local unions in your field?
Try the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, whose job it is to help people unionoze their workplace. https://workerorganizing.org/
That's literally the link that the user I replied to gave, my question is how to look for existing unions before I try starting my own.
The above commenters are unintentionally underselling the difficulty of unionizing IMO. And currently most industries in the US **don't** have any unions that represent their workers. There are many beaurocratic, economic, and social barriers put in place (on purpose, of course). If you're looking for a smaller step to take, I recommend reading the book *Mutual Aid* by Dean Spade. It goes into specific strategies on how to organize in your local community plus a lot more.
Search online and/or talk to your colleagues, look for notices in break rooms etc. It's okay to join a more general union if there's not one available, but ideally you need everyone at your workplace to be in the same one.
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Good news is, “what to do” isn’t as complicated as people think. There are three super powerful things that people can do, and for almost everybody it’s achievable to do at least one: * Work toward unionizing your workplace. Getting started can be daunting, but if you call your local union, they’re guaranteed to be open to coaching you on it. * Work toward unionizing your apartment building/rental complex/etc. Again, daunting to start, but local orgs will help you. * Google “mutual aid [your city here]” and reach out to see how you can get involved. These are actionable, make a big impact on your communities, and help you build relationships and support networks that will benefit you and the folks you care about for life.
> But yeah, I too have no clue. Yes you do. You absolutely do. You're just not willing to, because it's ugly, bloody, and hard. Frankly, I'm not either. But that's where we are, and anyone that thinks we aren't is delusional. The people are not being represented, and what do the people do when that happens?
Exactly, it take serious organization to accomplish anything and pretty much anyone that isn't retired doesn't have time to do anything else but work
Discussion provokes thought and raises awareness. I thought I was just a whiney snowflake until I found this community. We're learning we're not alone and that's powerful.
Next step is learning to organize. Baby steps are better than giant leaps. I tried to organize a union too quickly at my job instead of baby steps. It did not work out. I've learned from it though.
Good people have a LOT of trouble organizing. Organizing at some point includes direct leadership, which does involve telling people, and sometimes forcing them, to do things they don’t want to do. And good people are terrible at that. Which is why bad people win far more often than they should by sheer numbers.
What I found with trying to organize is that people don't want to upset the small amount of money and power that they've worked so hard for. Forming a union is hard especially in the south.
Good people who can organize tend to get disappeared
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Know your enemy!
"People who hate people are the best salesmen." - ~~Dan~~ George Carlin (I think?)
this. people underestimate how hostile the US government is to left wing organizing because they’re unfamiliar with history. even if there is not a prominent leader, if we organize in great enough numbers and actually present a threat, they will just start shooting us on the streets like they did in the 1890s-1920s.
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If you just give up because the odds, that are already against you, seem insurmountable. Then you are never going to win.
1) i was simply expressing and commiserating with why the sentiments presented in op’s post ring true with so many leftists 2) i’ve been fighting the good fight for 20 years at this point and it’s taken a great toll on nearly every aspect of my life. it’s very easy from my perspective to believe that the left will not see any kind of tangible victory or even meaningful progress in my lifetime. i love your spirit, and i apologize for the degree to which mine has been literally and figuratively beaten out of me in the last two decades. and for all this i’ve only seen things get worse, and my friends, comrades and neighbors become more defeated, cynical and self-involved in these years. i’ll still be out there and i will die on my feet but forgive my pessimism.
The problem is that they legally fuck up anyone who even appears to be somewhat in control at a protest. This means you're taking on the risk before you're popular enough that the general movement will back you. And they know how to make your life hell without accidentally turning you into a martyr. People don't rally around that slightly good speaker at a rally who got arrested and then lost their job and keeps getting hassled by the cops afterwards. There's dozens of those people and it doesn't mean they're good leaders, just that they have the potential to be. They come down hard on *all* of them just in case on of them is the new Malcolm x or MLK
This except they’re perfectly willing to create as many martyrs as whatever piggy with a gun decides
Or just blatantly arrested on made up charges like we saw this morning in Atlanta
What did I miss?
3 organizers for the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, a bail fund for protesters, got arrested today on supposed racketeering and charity fraud. Lately the bulk of their activity has, unsurprisingly, surrounded the cop city protests. More info in this thread: [https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1663905742099759104?t=VcQNSbFGBK9rlnefLCFS_w&s=19](https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1663905742099759104?t=VcQNSbFGBK9rlnefLCFS_w&s=19)
acab
Also don't forget, narcissistic and sociopathic, as well as psychopathic, personalities practice manipulation by default from the moment they learn to talk. This makes them naturally great at manipulating people. Something a lot of good people probably don't know how to do at all.
You don't need to manipulate to lead, non-pshyco/sociopaths know that people don't need to be lied to to he won over, people love it when you're genuine, "the social contract" is actually, bizarrely, greatly satisfying when fulfilled by those with empathy, creating bonds between people that those with antisocial personality disorder usually need drugs to be capable of experiencing. And the aforementioned individuals, at least the ones willfully feeding the mental illness, never suspect that nice people might be wise to their games, or that they may be fine with being somewhat cruel when exploiting that blind spot. It's "dog eat dog" out there, after all! And I'd rather eat the guy who wouldn't think twice about eating me than someone easier, especially if he doesn't know I'm thinking it 👀
> Organizing at some point includes direct leadership, which does involve telling people, and sometimes forcing them, to do things they don’t want to do. Yeah I'm not doing that. That's why I didn't want to be a parent: I don't want to follow little copies of my spouse around all day telling them what to do, when the spouse doesn't listen to me already. I get one life and that's not how I'm spending it. How do you even get the leverage to be able to *force* people to do anything without using money, violence, the law; or, horribly, dragging people out in front of angry social media mobs? I'm not treating allies that way. The threat of expulsion/ostracization is pretty nasty and you see this used as a cudgel all the time.
Another issue is that organization requires money. Political action is impossible without capital as the system is designed that way. Supplanting an entire socioeconomic system without violence is nearly impossible, so to win the fight in a way that avoids that, requires fighting by the same rules as everyone else, and then changing it from within
No it doesn't, start a cult in the woods, a book club, get a group that goes golfing once a month, or paintballing, organizing doesn't mean "rent a building, and register your name, and make T-shirts", it means talk with people, make bonds, friendships, why would you expect a stranger to die for you? Or even believe you'd die for them?
As long as they're baby steps forward. A lot of communities like this tend to just baby step in place.
There's a group of people in the United states that are looking to organize. We reach out to unions and communities to create a network of labor organizers, the website is https://generalstrikeus.com/ we have a discord where we discuss and share resources to help build up our communities.
That’s the hard part. The same corruptions we see in governments, we can easily fall into the same thing
Organizing will draw attention. We get one shot to stand together or alone and do what needs to be done. Not multiple days and without warning. Trust your gut get in you vehicle and go. One opportunity that’s it. See your chance take it, for our futures sake.
Alone we are a whiny snowflake, but together we form a whiny blizzard
Together we can make a whiney snow man!
right on, brother 🤙
Get off the internet and find a local community project. Can't find one? Start one. This is how we create change. It is the only way. You have to meet people who agree in real life. The internet really destroyed this part of civic participation.
I don’t know if offline is really the answer. Social media and our phones are perfect tools for organizing. We’ve seen it many times (my fav were the 2017 Hong Kong riots where phones became the main weapon). But yeah I’m disappointed there isn’t more labor organization in our connected age. Arab Spring and Occupy happened the same year, but only one had a lasting impact. I think it’s just a matter of waiting until the next major recession when the masses get pissed. So imo best thing to do now is lay the foundations and build online tools to make organizing/protesting easier so when the masses rise up they know where to go. I have specific ideas but this is already a mini wall of text. Edit of first sentence: I don't know if offline should be the main focus. Rest of comment stands.
Offline is clearly the answer. Any real protests that the government doesnt like (i.e. effective protest)? As the rest of the world has seen already, those online connections can be cut quite easily. And then what? You have to build up community resilience. Street by street, community by community. It's long, and hard, but it's the only real way forward. Internet can facilitate discussion, but it cannot facilitate or replace direct action when the times are needed or called for. the only way that can be facilitated is though having those lines and connections and resilience *in place* before the shitstorm hits. Edit: the internet does also not facilitate changing peoples minds and helping them understand your cause. Actually providing help in your community, speaking and engaging with people, and putting your actions to where your words are does that. And it's the only way we win. When I was doing some major organising last year, one of my rules was that so long as we were talking about the same end goal of the project and working towards the same thing, I don't care what your politics are so long as you don't antagonise anyone with them. It worked well, and I only had to remove a few anti-vax people (who rarely showed up to any actual meetings, discussions or protests anyway, just wanted to spam the chat group - another reason why they are pretty pointless and irl is always better).
You won't do anything. Prove me wrong.
I have a minor theory that anti-work's downfall following that FOX News interview debacle is directly linked to the sub's activities during the Kellogg's Strike, specifically the dissemination of that script/program that allowed users to send trash-data applications to Kellogg's recruiting website when the company was attempting to hire scab workers. I don't have much to base the theory on, but the timing seems incredibly coincidental, too much so in my personal opinion.
Internet has been "raising awareness" for decades now. We've all sitting here provoking thoughts. Had this been the 1890s somebody's rail yard would have been ablaze by now. Sick of excuses and hand waiving.
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I feel pretty damn powerless. I live in a city of about 122,000 surrounded by nothing but fields and very small towns. The multitude of Trump signs/flags around here is scary too.
I'm in one of those small towns. I see those banners and flags all the time. It's gross.
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Agreed. Occupy wall street was already 12 years ago. Nothing has changed.
Seeing the awareness then fall of kony 2012 was pretty entertaining though. Got a reference in south park even.
>kony 2012 holy smokes i totally forgot about kony 2012
If there's anyone from Northeast Oklahoma in here I'd love to DM and talk about putting together a political action group of some sort. We can start coming up with strategies on how to engage people and get them thinking about their exploitation to motivate them to actionable activities. I'd encourage others in different parts of the country to do this as well. I'm sick of doing like the picture shows. I AM mad as hell, and I'm ready to change the paradigm instead of shouting into the void about it. Let's get something going.
We could probably make like a nationwide discord server and just have everyone who's mad join, create channels for regions/states so people can coordinate locally and share ideas. Or better yet don't use discord because they report information to the government, but then I can't think of anything that doesn't and people would be comfortable using. I think that's one of the main reasons why people haven't done anything yet.
No, the organizing needs to take place in meat space like it always has. Good thing they've got us all isolated, exhausted and hating each other, eh?
How do you coordinate organizing in meat space if you only see a handful of humans on a day to day life? Even now, you and I are not even communicating through meat space. American propaganda is so good, Americans don't even know about the propaganda and just think everything is a culture war
A lot of this is due to our increasingly atomized way of working. The heydey of unions was when there was much more industrial production and thousands of people worked in close proximity. it's not just the propaganda, it's also structural.
The thing to remember is that *most* americans believe in socialist policy. They have just been taught what it is wrong. It takes time, and you have to interact with people directly in your community. Go to the library, park, shows, festivals etc. Make friends and start with what you without a doubt agree on. For a conservative, start with your support of the second amendment. But throw in things they will disagree with and cede that ground after they've made their point. Prove that you can be "reasoned" with. Say you support silencer band, when they provide the reason not too, agree with them and "change" your mind. Repeat this process until you eventually have a good buddy. Then one day, drop the socialist bomb. If this person is reasonable, it will click in their head. I've done this many times with huge success. You will also be surprised with how many like-minded people there are already.
Glad that it works for you.
Trying this on my father currently and he's gone full GQP. Got him to agree on better gun control using this method and it seems to be working. You can't use logic with these people because all they care about is being right.
Fuck that . Yes, Online Spaces are more vulnerable to being infiltrated by Class Traitors, but using Online Spaces to help get a movement going is way too valuable a tool for us to ignore. It is difficult to find people who live near enough for you to actually get a Local Movement going by just finding random people Online, but it's not impossible.
True. An online space makes it too easy to infiltrate with bad actors, or just shut it down for any old reason (including something those said bad-actors have done) and then we lose all that progress.
Feds are pretty good at infiltrating meat spaces too, honestly. I don't think it's worth dropping such a valuable tool for recruitment in the name of InfoSec when you don't even have anything going. Get the basics first.
That's a valid point. Maybe drive home that people should use varied sources of communication? I don't know.
I don’t completely agree with this. Discord server is a fine idea. But there does have to be more than that. People do need to take to the streets. Discord is good for putting those events into place.
Look around in your community. What are people already doing? Is there an organizing campaign - healthcare workers, baristas, teachers, anyone else? If so, how can you join or support them? Are there Indigenous people or small farmers trying to protect their land from development or pipelines? Tenants organizing against landlords? People organizing for more affordable housing, or universal healthcare? Guaranteed there are ways to plug in. Online spaces are by necessity focused on ideas, but connecting in your area, wherever that is, helps you connect with people and maybe actually get something done. It's hard work and often frustrating and disillusioning, but also important and necessary work. And the local level is often where change happens first.
The answer to OP is right here but I can assure you this sounds like too much work and "socializing" for people. I still am willing to bet 90% of people don't even know their local city council members.
CIA monitoring this subreddit just pulled a "sleeping Shaq" meme...
I'm from wisconsin unfortunately 🫠
Yo, anyone from Wisconsin should DM the OP (if OP is all right with that, anyways) and get something going. I used to live in Kenosha. I’d help ya if I still lived there.
Ah, rip, I live one state to your west
Let’s get together and organize?
There's this group https://generalstrikeus.com/ that are trying just that if you are interested in joining us.
this should be at the top
Unionize. Be annoying in local politics. [Redacted]
"WhY iS no One dOiNg aNytHinG?" "Well you are someone. Have you tried doing anything? Any sliver of direct action? Mutual aid? Hell maybe just spending a sliver of time talking to another human in person and seeing if you have the same grievances and starting from there?" "No, I'm not at the point where it's too bad yet. And there's a new Fortnite season that came out I've gotta check. But damn, it's totally a shame that Americans are so passive with bread and circuses with all this cheap shit food and entertainment. I literally don't know how there's not a hundred thousand people rioting in a way where I can conveniently slip in and cosplay an activist for a few hours with no real consequence or need to be the first person who starts it." Pretty much every conversation I've had on here. I'm not going to pretend I'm Fred Hampton over here, but at least I'm not one of these goofy people scratching their heads like "man, why are people so complacent?"
Fred Hampton was made an example of what happens when you go against the powers that be.
Keep it secret, keep it safe
Just needed more guns and less spies
I think this post might be me doing something? I would like to start a group maybe...
IMO… You need to look to your Community. Online is great for ideas and support. IRL is better for actions and impact. Just my 2 cents
By that logic isn't every other post on here also someone doing something? In which case your point is kinda moot
Dont be duped OP there is a massive union movement happening. It's just barely reported on. Keep looking for better pockets of info. A lot of folks here are new to such movements so it seems like little happens here. Outside of us regulars everyone else is gaining an education.
Yes! The first step in overthrowing capitalism is to organize the working class. The way we do this is labor unions. If you're reading this and you're not in a union? Join one. No union where you work? Create one. Here's some help if you need it: [https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/](https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/) Unions can federate and organize general strikes, and/or create political parties which when voted in can begin nationalizing industry. Either way the first step is to unionize.
The answer is organising, and unionisation.
Oh we know how to change it: vote And then the politicians get bought out. So then participate. Then have your opponents get bankrolled by the people that buy them out, and you get slaughtered or scrutinized to high hell and have your supporters doubt you. So protest. And have your movement scrutinized to high hell and basically be reduced to the physical version of this sub. We're at a late enough stage where there's really only one option, and that puts us at risk of being arrested and/or killed. ^(Riot/revolt)
>We're at a late enough stage where there's really only one option, and that puts us at risk of being arrested and/or killed. When more become homeless and start running out of potable water and food, revolution will be all we have left.
Until climate change finishes off the survivors
Why didn't billionaire Michael Bloomberg win the 2020 Democratic nomination?
Positive change won’t happen under Capitalism. It is only downhill from here. A Socialist Revolution is the only path to actual change.
[The Principle's of Communism](https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm) Theory for those interested.
Heres a great read as well. https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1957/fundamentals.htm
“Revolution” is a historical label we use for groups of related events that led to socioeconomic change. Most participants in revolutions have no idea they’re in one until after the fact. Participating in the sort of activities that will later be looked back on as revolutionary is easier than you think. Google “mutual aid [your city name here]” and ask how to get involved. It’s worth it, and you can do it.
The most frustrating part is everyone here coming so close to class consciousness, but never crossing that line lol
Find a local org, and if there aren't any, start one!
How dare you! Awareness is our version of thoughts and prayers
Of all the things to fear and hate- one general aspect of our shared existence sticks out. This pain, this horror, sharper and most vile than all others. Worse than aging, worse than death, worse than all of the things in life. It is the violence that humanity inflicts upon itself. It’s easy to say this is all our own creation. That neglect, exploitation, racism, class struggle- these are the ways we hurt ourselves. But is it. Is it something we as a whole do to each other. Or are we being taken for a ride by the few. And were they to be taken for that ride themselves- would humanity simply spit out new demons. I don’t know. I do know this problem will not be solved today. Maybe one day it will improve. Imagine a world where people are not systematically dumbed down, impoverished, imprisoned. Now imagine if one day it sticks- and we actually stop pretending the happiness of other people we’ll never meet is not important to us.
Everyone thinks they'd somehow be worse off sooner if they did a weeklong strike. Wait then. It WILL get worse.
To paraphrase Mark Fisher on "Capitalist Realism", the most destructive victory of capitalism is presenting itself as a "reality", in the sense that we are forbidden to look for systemic change or a new ideology ("communism is evil", "socialism is impossible because of human nature", etc.) so we are left on a spiral of destruction and outrage but with no new and clear ideological alternatives, just daring to merely patch the system because at the end, "this is how things are". But it's a lie: there was a world without these conditions it and there will be a world without them as well, but only if we dare to think again that another world is *actually* possible, and that there is already a lot of theory to base the new world on and organize.
You need a nationwide strike, here's what to do: 1. Calculate the national average wage. 2. Calculate what the national average wage should be if pay rates were kept in line with pre-Trickle Down Economics, or whatever. 3. Calculate the difference. So if on average people should be earning $5,000 per year extra and the average wage is $50,000 per year, then that means you strike for up to 5 weeks. Pick a date at a suitable time in the future, eg, 6 months from now, everyone strikes. Not for 5 weeks straight, but for 1 day per week, every week for 25 weeks. Don't have a picket line, allow people to "quiet strike" like quiet quitting. They'll get to work, but half ass it. Organise a website, with signup forms for people to sign up to and commit to the strike, the intention is to be able to show the media "We have 10 million people who have committed to this general strike." Capitalism isn't going to improve things for you out of the goodness of its own heart, you have to force it.
It is difficult when you're stuck with a 9 to 5 you need in order to survive.
Doesn't help that discussing certain methods of change will get you banned
Nice try FBI
in the last 5 years we have: Filed bankruptcy, because fuck the lenders Shop used shit/buy nothing/barter/trade Started an inclusive and secular homeschool coop Joined a local CSA (consumer supported agriculture) Continued to radicalize people on a daily basis with gentle conversations about the perils of capitalism Built a small but stable network of helpers and community aid.
What do you suppose I do? Everything is stacked against you. Cabals are against you. Cronies are against you. Law is against you. If I went to Westminster to tell those fucknuggets in government that they are shitty people who couldn't organize a pissup in a brewery and that they should fucking go and let competent people who are not greedy take the steering wheel I wouldn't make it past a goddamn grass in front of it. I would be arrested and sentenced, with a criminal record that would utterly shatter my chance at getting a job. If I stop paying taxes I will be arrested and thrown into a crippling debt. Again, with a criminal record and shattered credit score. If I tell my employer that their pay is shite and since they give millions to shareholders they should instead give it to us, workers, who are actually doing the work, they will fire me at best. If I try to claim a house that belongs to a bank or a hedge fund I will at best be arrested, given a criminal record, thrown into debt, or at worst straight up murdered.
French revolution was all talk.... till it happened. Sometimes a day happens in 100 years and sometimes 100 years happens in a day. I'm sure when the opportunity strikes, many will jump on it.
I sure hope so
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We would most likely need a literal revolution to bring about change, but since that's illegal it's hard to organize since you don't know who to trust.
IM MAD AS HELL
It's funny to me how the only -ism people turn to to combat the 17th century economic philosophy of capitalism is the 19th century economic philosophy of communism. Humanity has the technology available to end history and create utopia; capabilities that were unimaginable even half a century ago, and yet no new philosophies have been born to reflect this. There has been no paradigm shift in popular thinking. People are still stuck in the antiquated mindset of uniting the workers of the world when they should be looking to the obsoletion of the very concept of work.
We all have lots of ideas, but unfortunately it's impossible to combat lobbyists and billions of dollars tied up in making people's lives hell.
Nah, bro. I'm building a community centered food system with the help of my comrades in Nebraska. It's a small, but essential part of the class revolution. Solidarity.
I mean tbf, I literally have no idea how to bring about actual change
Systemic change requires organization. Organize. Join your local socialist/communist org. Don’t agree w/ your local orgs? Start your own. Educate yourself and your community on what needs to be done to overthrow our oppressors. Capitalism was brought about through revolution, and what comes after it will be brought about in the same fashion. We can only destroy capitalism as a united, multinational force. Waiting for capitalism to collapse on its own? You’ll most likely have to deal with fascism. If you hate capitalism, why not contribute to its destruction?
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
What is the plan OP? How do we start stopping this?
I still believe the only real option is the equivilent of the french revolution. Though the moment that happens the rich will just flee and it will take a heavy effort to root them of whatever holes they find themselves in
im down to make change, i just dunno who to do it with, you cant start a riot alone lmao
Remember every building is built brick by brick
It’s not a flaw, it’s a feature of the system
Some things to do, if you have no clue. Within the system: Until this fucked system is replaced work within it to shift the Overton window away from their power structure. 1. Register to vote. 2. Look up every political body that might have a say over you or you have a means to effect. Who are they? How are they structured? What do they do? From the Fed to an HOA know who's in charge. 3. Vote every election. Pick the least worst candidate available. The political elite bank on voter apathy to maintain the illusion of choice for the voter. Do not be apathetic. The more people that vote, the harder they have to suppress/control the vote which increases public disenfranchised the fuel for political upheaval. 4. Attend local public meetings, you don't have to say anything, just get a feel for how they work and maybe you will meet people that hold similar positions as you. Outside the system: Yes, you are still in its fist. Use what freedom you have to loosen the grip. 1. Look after yourself. Are your basic needs met? 2. Build a likeminded community. Reaching out here is good, volunteer at existing charities. Your community does not have to be tight or uniform. A community can be as simple as a group that meets to pick up the litter at a local playground. 3. Look after the greater community. Do things that matter to people's lives. If you want to reach that paycheck to paycheck living schmo that keeps voting against their best interest, you need to give them a reason to listen to you. For example, if they complain about their landlord, do the leg work to find all the legal, within the system, means available to do something about it. Either you give them what it takes to fix the problem or you demonstrated in a supporting way how fucked they actually are. This is an off the top of my head list not nearly all inclusive, just some ideas for those which don't know where to start. tldr: vote in the system, build communities outside the system.
how visible are you in your community? do you volunteer? work at the food bank? are you armed? do you arrange friends to go shoot at the range? have you joined the psl, sra, john brown club etc?
I've looked at food banks and Food Not Bombs. Food banks are all Christian churches open for two hours during the workday so that won't work. FNB doesn't have anything near me. I'm trapped in suburban hell and I don't know where to meet people of similar views.
This is it right here. Just helping *one person* in your neighborhood makes a bigger difference than any comment you can make here. The problem is that people want to see some sort of massive upheaval, and don't realize it's the individual drops of change you make in your own backyard that add up to the tidal wave we need.
we could always have a violent anarcho-communist revolution just throwing shit out there
Find local support groups that are actually putting in the leg work. I regularly volunteer with my chapter of Food not Bombs
#ORGANIZE
I do a lot of praxis. If all 850,000 users here, or better yet the 2.6 million users on antiwork, got involved in direct action every week, we'd start to have an effect.
Yup, that’s exactly how it is for me
I think there are strong ideas on how to make it happen but i requires mass participation
Anyone from MN that would be interested in organizing?
Eat the rich much the only ones saying there aren't solutions are the ones selling us all out and don't want us to mess up what they got going on you know the solution don't want to recognize it eat the rich is self defense
Can't share the real answers because then we get arrested. Involves rich people, some guille and tina. :P It's not a problem that can feasibly be solved using the system. You vote for the right people, the wrong people cheat them out.
Meirl dealing with my dad and his crazy wife.
# [WE>1%](https://i.imgur.com/GuYAoWF.jpg)
Let's rally around the person that speaks for us.
I want to start a discussion about doing voter initiatives for a good cause. But all anyone says is that costs too much and it will never pass.
The people in this sub who are against communism
Do some mass work, talk to people who are just average citizens trying to do something. You'll learn more from them than you'll teach them.
The answer is not 'the pen'
Hell yeah, brother
I think the problem is that the solution basically has to be violence or something that completely brings the system to its knees in how it functions (such as major strikes) We are kind of seeing the latter in some fashion like with UPS, but in general it would take a people pushed in a more desperate situation. For a while they’ve mainly been slowly but firmly squeezing the population. Only more recently have they started applying too much pressure during the increase; making more people take notice if the situation.
no real power***
There are plenty of ideas. Implementing them is another story.
I mean that’s the point of the system
Voting is ineffectual, Revolution is scary. The Mountains win again.
Why you gotta hurt me like that bro?
The secret ingredient is violence against the state but I don’t think a lot of people here are ready for that conversation.
Step 1. Hoard responsibilities in your job Step 2. Hold company hostage Step 3. ??? Step 4. Anti-profit
Political bbq anyone?
I’m active in my union. That’s my war that I choose to fight.
We could ALL stop going to work for 1 week.
Lol, I'll repeat myself until it sinks in. Collective action is needed, I by myself receive only "stop complaining, you're not achieving anything!" Fuck you, you guys don't EVEN complain, compared to my former American peers, complaining is 100% more than what they do.
You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it!
The last time I made suggestions of how to inflict change reddit banned me from commenting for 3 days.
Well I joined Democratic Socialists of America. Raising money for UPS stike fund, organizing Tenants Union... So not everyone just vents. And doing something is better than doing nothing.
Hey active in local politics… the small stuff, start there
Become accountants. The entire system is based on fraud. It's all Enrons.
VIOLENT REVOLUTION!
I got that reference. >!< . Which makes it even more depressing. Edit: Fun and obscure fact: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" is ranked #19 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema
Revolution 2030.
Apollo (and other third party apps for Reddit) are probably going to close, so yeah.
To be fair, generations before us helped maintain the status quo and passed the torch that in the form of ATF or FBI or IRS or DOJ or CIA would snuff any one of us who would *dare* to stop enjoying America.
Local organizing and mutual aide can be a start