United States | News & Politics

Lack of worker solidarity

In theory, the problem of "two paychecks" is solved (at least in part) by working people seizing certain critical means of production for the purposes of mutual aid. So, grocers strike not by closing the front doors but by shutting down the cash registers and handing out food for free. Landlord admins strike by refusing to collect rents. Teachers strike not by refusing to teach but by refusing to grade. Etc.

And if everyone knows this arrangement will be in effect, they can act together as a bargaining unit to threaten the control of the landlord class.

But if they aren't in close communication, because the public forms of media are censored and strictly controlled, then individuals can't express solidarity prior to the strike. And if they aren't in alignment, then you end up with the same "haves" and "have-nots" reproduced across the striking cohort, creating contradictions that landlords can exploit. And if they can't repeat this experiment of communication, trust building, strike, reap concessions, then they can't build momentum of numbers or expand the demands.

Hopefully that is beginning to change

I haven't seen much to suggest it has. Perhaps the soul is willing, but the body public remains weak and emaciated. We still don't have avenues of communication independent of the capitalist class. We haven't built trust between industrial sectors. There's little we can point to that's been successful, much less reproducible.

I just hope its not too late.

It's never "too late". All that changes is the players and the stakes at play.

But whatever comes next, you'd be foolish to believe you'll see both the beginning of it and the end. You'll be lucky to know what you're in the middle of.