Hey y'all, I know things are pretty fucked right now, just wanted to share an optimistic perspective. (Copied from a comment here).
I have honestly never been more bloomer in my life.
EVERYONE is thinks things suck.
EVERYONE is pissed.
EVERYONE is trying to do something about it.
The only problem is that people don't know why things suck, or how to make it better.
Fascists think things suck because of [minority], and so they want to get rid of [minority].
Liberals think things suck because of the fascists, and so would like everyone to just play nice and we can work this all out, please.
But WE know.
WE know the problem! IT'S CAPITALISM!!!
WE know the solution! KILL CAPITALISM!!!
If everyone in the world woke up tomorrow and knew what we know, the suffering would stop.
The collective rage that we see in society would be directed at the true enemy instead of each other, and nothing in the world is more powerful than people working together to make things better.
The only thing we must do to win, the only thing that truly matters, is to get everyone to understand.
History has blessed us with the ultimate weapon.
A material power that Marx and Lenin and Sankara and Newton could not dream of wielding in their wildest fantasies.
NOW is the moment in history for revolution.
Capitalism WILL fall in our lifetimes.
I'll be surprised if it lasts twenty years.
The contradictions have become undeniable.
The people want change, they just need direction.
And for the first time in history, we have a direct line to every single one of them.
Don't you DARE quit on us.
We need everyone we can get.
Now get back to posting, soldier.
As someone who studied Information Science, this is cap. Swathes of people lack internet access or have such poor computer literacy they may as well lack access to the internet. I literally know people in both categories as well.
How will you contact the worker who works 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week, with a 6-hour day most weekends then goes home, turns on cable tv for a few hours, then goes to sleep and wakes up to repeat the cycle?
What about the workers that do use the internet but in an extremely limited capacity: they watch Netflix and other streaming services, and message people they know IRL on WhatsApp, that is about it. How are you going to communicate with them?
These are examples that are pulled from people I actually know, let alone some of the examples of tech illiteracy I've had to study. How will the internet act as a direct line to them in this case?
I'm glad you're optimistic but that line is a certified lib moment.
Also, education alone is not organized, it doesn't create supply lines for mass strikes (people are far less willing to strike and fight the system if it means their children starve to death), it doesn't set up community self-defense, and it does not create a bail fund. Organizing requires education, yes, but it also requires actually being able to act in an organized capacity which requires things like logistical capacity which theory alone does not give you. If we implanted the specter of communism in everyone unhappy with the status quo today, supply lines still need building, money, and resources still need allocating, and skillsets need reviewing for divisions of labor.
You mention that material action outside of education is already done, but is that material action comprehensive enough and solidified enough to support a mass movement and the struggle it shall entail? I would say no.
They are organized in protests, they do not have widespread community gardens set up to feed people when the capitalist system shuts the spigot off.
So I will second what another Cowbee said: Join an org
This if anything, is proof of the need for organization beyond just education. These are all propaganda and organization use of the internet as a tool. But also, if it is that simple the revolution should have already occurred as all of these have modern equivalence. What Is To Be Done is published online, and all parts of the movement have YouTube channels. Modern organizations do use video calls to discuss strategy. The revolution has yet to occur.
I am not saying the internet is not an indispensable tool: I was exposed to theory via it. But more must be done outside of it, there are still people to be reached who lack internet access, unless you want capital to be able to cut off resources for the movement you need secondary structures built up outside established systems.
I will say though, despite disagreeing on a lot of the points, I do generally agree with the fact that we are at a fulcrum point where education is one of the foremost things that need to be done to capture the rising class consciousness and discontent.
I know this might have been rhetorical, but I have a plausible answer: by working at the liquor store or dispensary, and getting really good at being an empathy source that gets people to open up. A large fraction of the working class is self-medicating, often pounding 10+ drinks a night (or the psychoactive equivalent in weed or pills or other drugs) to chase away the nagging thoughts of perceiving their personal context in the world.
If I don't have the right hyper-gregarious personality type to play that role, I'll team up with a comrade who does, and I'll work a bunch of jobs with the explicit intention of finding people with compatible value-sets or life philosophies, and bring them in via more focused one-on-ones.
Additionally, people ache for free shared spaces. If you have one of these, you can attract and bring in lots and lots of people. It's nice to be able to hang out at someone's house but ultimately it's still someone's house. Having access to socialization that doesn't cost money upfront is a game changer.
No I agree, my point was moreso against the internet is a direct line comment. All of those require in person interaction and intervention. It's rhetorical in the sense that any solution requires a direct connection via in person interaction