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this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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askchapo
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One circle I'm trying to square (square I'm trying to circle? Concept I'm trying to reconcile) is that every revolution in history has been comprised of largely uneducated, illiterate masses. But the forms of illiteracy and ignorance we see in the US at least seem insurmountably backward/reactionary.
In the past my efforts have mostly been about turning everyday people into ardent, well-read revolutionaries, which for most people is probably wasted effort. Especially since revolution within the imperial core is so far in the future. Although if revolution is so far off, perhaps creation of ardent revolutionaries should be the primary goal anyway, regardless of a low success rate. People to start organizing and building dual power structures that later can be used to enact a strategic mass line as the US nation state shrinks and leaves larger and larger demographics without representation (thus ripe for organizing). Don't remember if it was deprogram or trueanon, but a recent episode talked about the already-existing state structures that the Chinese communists set up before the revolution even succeeded, entire territories that were under communist control, which were able to function as industrial and strategic bases for revolutionary development, and actually take and maintain power as the revolution advanced.
Idk if it's so far off. Life expectancy dropping is a big indicator
One of the first things the Soviets did under the Tsars was unionize and start up electrical and telecom companies, since they control so much industry and police communications it's a no brainer for agitation, and it came in handy later (after the tsar and republic ordered strikers and protesters be killed) when they did operations like robbing banks because they could cut communications lines. dual power had a pretty literal meaning
essentially if you are a communist you should pursue becoming an electrician if you have no idea what job you want
Hmm from what I've heard the IBEW is pretty reactionary, but I wonder if it's possible to focus on specific chapters and start shifting them leftward. Trade union entryism lol. The reactionary nature of the trades and "skilled" work is a difficult hurdle. Although that definitely seems to be shifting.
I think this will be a decade of retraction for the US nation state, both internally and externally, and by the '30s the federal retraction will leave significant voids that a party can work with and from. "Voids" as in demographics of people no longer served or protected by the state, as in places where the reach of the domestic control apparatus no longer effectively extends.
depends on the chapter for sure, met plenty of IBEW that were fine. i think CWA also does some work in that area
There is a difference between being uneducated and miseducated. People in the US are much more miseducated than the semi-feudal peasantries that were the popular basis of revolutions in the past.
Good point. I wonder if the breakdown of trust in institutions will change this dynamic, or if it will just be a constant churn of faux "counter" information sources arising to fill the void. A party with resources and local presence could become a key source of counternarratives and agitprop.
i think the historical context of the US as a settler-colonial state is important to include into this reconciliation. whitened people are conditioned to act in ways that propagate the white supremacist project. "the resistance" in the us is former slaves, targets of ethnic cleansing, and low-class immigrants. the US is currently majority white and they're terrified of losing that status around 2070. the closer we get to that line the more interesting things will be imo.
I failed to mention it but yeah the racial component is key from what I've seen and read.
As an aside I like the use of "whitened" here, it connotes a process of racialization rather than static, essential characteristics.