Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them, Janus Rose writes.
On this server we are often victim of this stuff, i hope we can all improve
We still have, right now, un-used tools at our disposal, such as unionizing en masse and deploying a general strike, which is insanely powerful (capable of bringing a nation to its knees if done widely enough), while being far less dangerous and more appealing to the general populace than any other means.
I didn’t mean to imply I support violence as a first strategy.
I actually wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. Partially because the violence against us is coming anyway. It is clearly planned. They are telegraphing what they intend to do, which is criminalize half the country so they can put us to death under the guise of “why couldn’t they just follow the law.”
That being said, just because the violence is coming doesn’t mean inviting it right away is the best solution. The best solutions are the kind you suggest but also using Mutual Aid to develop Parallel Systems.
Parallel systems are simply systems outside of the capitalist mode of production and integration. Providing water, food, medical care, housing, support, and so on. The efforts of the Black Panthers were an exercise in developing parallel systems. The Black Panthers also knew violence was coming which is why a contingent of them were armed. Having such systems in place makes it easier for individuals to survive a long-term General Strike.
The testimony and cross examination of undercover officers by Afeni Shakur stands the test of time when she showed that the people pushing violence in the Panthers were undercover police officers:
Shakur got White to admit under oath that he and two other agents had organized most of the unlawful activities. “She asked him if he’d ever seen her carry a gun or kill anyone or bomb anything and he answered no, no, no. Then she asked if he’d seen her doing Panther organizing in a school and a hospital and on the streets and he answered, yes, yes, yes.”
We must be prepared to resist the violence that is coming, but to do so without organizing and planning is a fools errand.
i don’t know a lot about the history of the black panther movement (not surprising nothing about it was taught to me in school). Infiltration by the government/antagonists is a real concern. As is being murdered like fred hampton. I don’t really know how to guard against that. The “They pull a knife you pull a gun. They put one of us in the hospital, you put them in the morque” attitude has bravado, but isn’t really safe or sustainable. But on the same time, just being casually murdered isn’t either.
Apologies, I accidentally replied to your comment when I’d meant to respond to the commenter you had also responded to. Though I’m somewhat glad I did, as your response here was also excellent :)
The Troubles 2.0 are indeed here.
Not necessarily. There have been some successful non-violent revolutions in history, and there’s a strong case to be made that not exhausting those options could be a huge mistake.
We still have, right now, un-used tools at our disposal, such as unionizing en masse and deploying a general strike, which is insanely powerful (capable of bringing a nation to its knees if done widely enough), while being far less dangerous and more appealing to the general populace than any other means.
I didn’t mean to imply I support violence as a first strategy.
I actually wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. Partially because the violence against us is coming anyway. It is clearly planned. They are telegraphing what they intend to do, which is criminalize half the country so they can put us to death under the guise of “why couldn’t they just follow the law.”
That being said, just because the violence is coming doesn’t mean inviting it right away is the best solution. The best solutions are the kind you suggest but also using Mutual Aid to develop Parallel Systems.
Parallel systems are simply systems outside of the capitalist mode of production and integration. Providing water, food, medical care, housing, support, and so on. The efforts of the Black Panthers were an exercise in developing parallel systems. The Black Panthers also knew violence was coming which is why a contingent of them were armed. Having such systems in place makes it easier for individuals to survive a long-term General Strike.
The testimony and cross examination of undercover officers by Afeni Shakur stands the test of time when she showed that the people pushing violence in the Panthers were undercover police officers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afeni_Shakur#The_Panther_21
We must be prepared to resist the violence that is coming, but to do so without organizing and planning is a fools errand.
i don’t know a lot about the history of the black panther movement (not surprising nothing about it was taught to me in school). Infiltration by the government/antagonists is a real concern. As is being murdered like fred hampton. I don’t really know how to guard against that. The “They pull a knife you pull a gun. They put one of us in the hospital, you put them in the morque” attitude has bravado, but isn’t really safe or sustainable. But on the same time, just being casually murdered isn’t either.
Apologies, I accidentally replied to your comment when I’d meant to respond to the commenter you had also responded to. Though I’m somewhat glad I did, as your response here was also excellent :)
No problem, you still raised important points either way.