Go out. Join the chorus. Channel bartleby the scrivener. Where im at people are regular hanging around ice centers and ready to film what they can. Tell them they are not wanted here. Chant with them. Play with them. I bring cards and have considered a frisbee. Be out and occupy your space. This is where you live. Its yours and your neighbors. Make that clear.
It’s simple. As soon as you see any Democrat that might beat a Republican, look up something they said one time that will make others angry. Try to make it something that will make it look like you’re taking the moral high ground and allow no room for nuance or common sense. Keep as many people from voting as possible so that the most fascist candidate wins.
That’s how .ml got more Gazan children to starve to death than have to! Err, I mean stopped Israel by helping Trump get elected. Mission accomplished!
Lemmy.ml had zero impact on the election. The Dems ran a horrible campaign and lost because of it.
Genuinely disgusting how you fucking nazis who literally started the genocide and PLUGGED YOUR EARS when the subject was brought up suddenly bleed for the Palestinian people. Do you think we don’t remember what you were doing a year ago?
Go fuck yourself behaving as if these people are nothing but political pawns for your nazi fucking party of preference. You would be just as happy watching them be exterminated now as you were watching concentration camps on the southern border. We already have examples of you doing this from both directions.
You must honestly think we’re fucking stupid if to fall for your sudden act. You just wanted to be the one giving them the bombs.
That’s how .ml got more Gazan children to starve to death than have to!
Is there an acceptable amount of Gazan children to starve?
No, but less is better than more
Joe Biden during his presidency could have at any moment rang the phone of Netenyahu and said “stop the genocide” and not a single Palestinian child would’ve died from hunger or bombs or fire.
I’d say its more complicated than that but yeah absolutely that administration didn’t try to stop it, it clearly wasn’t their goal in the slightest. They did very little (though even that very little was more than the trump administration has ever done or tried to) but I’m not gonna act like Kamala Harris would have been like the fuckin savior of Gaza cause that’s just false.
However, if Harris had won the election, we would:
- not have people sent to concentration camps in El Salvador
- not have a concentration camp in the Everglades
- not have the mass militarization of ICE
- not hace the total loss of due process for immigration cases and people being kidnapped by federal officers off the street
- not have millions of people losing Medicaid
- not have the national guard marching on the streets of DC
- not have Texas gerrymandering 5 seats in the middle of the term at the president’s request
- not have the CDC, HHS, and millions of dollars in funding for research gutted
- not have environmental programs and research gutted
- not have a convicted rapist in the oval office
- not have students deported for protesting
- there’s like dozens more things that I could list tbh
- still have a genocide in gaza
I totally understand why people were really upset about that last point. I was/am too. But I have a few thoughts:
- If you thought Trump would have been better for gazans than Harris, you’re a fucking idiot.
- If you think those two were equally bad because of that single issue, then you’re a fucking idiot.
- If you didn’t vote to make a point about how we need something better than those two options, you contributed far more towards Trump’s victory than you did to making that point, especially since the democratic party is full of imbeciles who will see your missing vote and interpret it as meaning they need to become more “moderate.”
Do you honestly think lemmy.ml had any sort of impact on the US elections lol
Server provincialism is so weird to me.
It really is. Mods should be moderators not tyrants.
You’re not allowed to build a community around shared values
YOU MUST SUFFER ME
If you’re in the US, please come help expand [ https://consumerrights.wiki ]!
Right now there isn’t really one (assuming USA which is where I’m located). IMO the best thing you can do right now is first find likeminded people IRL and do stuff that’s interesting to yourselves and other like minded people, then use those shared interests/bonds as a foundation for motivated community outreach.
Where I live I feel like the sense of community is almost nonexistent despite having a large population. IDK how much of that is from me being autistic, but a lot of things that stem from capitalism like car culture, addictive social media platforms, anything AI, shitty work-life balance, and horrible safety net are also strong contributors to society being super isolating, which then causes anger and self centeredness which results in a lot of what else is wrong with society.
One of the reasons Republicans are as successful as they are is that they provide community through stuff like religion and church, which tests people’s commitment through rules and tithes but also results in tighter bonds where people are more open and trust each other more and do a lot of (mentally) uplifting things together. Then politicians use that to create a unified vision of an ideal society and wield that to their advantage to gain political power, and those communities are super motivated to uphold it.
Meanwhile there are tons of churches everywhere, but as for a left-wing equivalent there’s next to nothing and I’m not even fully sure that it’s possible to replicate something like this with left-wing values. Probably the most important things to take from this is being based on an agreed upon set of values, having a shared vision, expecting some level of commitment (including financially), meeting IRL, having regular activities that are enjoyable and based on the shared values/vision, and the most visible outreach being centered around the interests of those being immediately talked to and also around helping the local population which contributes to a positive image of the organization among less informed people and helps boost its popularity (it’s also less difficult to make changes locally than nationally). Once there is enough popular support, then there’s actually a chance of gaining political power and overthrowing capitalists through next step actions, but without popular support or some other form of power the chances of that succeeding is basically none.
As far as organizations that exist right now go, for ones like PSL I’m not sure how other chapters work or how it works on a national level. The problems I have with my local chapter is that it mainly focuses on peaceful controlled protests (has no chance at making meaningful change, sucks for community building, and is ultimately a waste of time) and it rarely focuses on local issues on social media (not good for building local support, and I want to actually do stuff, not just read and yell things). The best organization I’ve found so far which I’m volunteering with is one that stemmed from Food Not Bombs, which is run by leftists and focuses on raising awareness of local issues (specifically related to homelessness), using temporary aid as a way to protest unjust laws and promote a vision for an ideal society that fixes systemic issues that cause homelessness. Outside of the main distribution efforts, the main organizers in the group know some homeless people by name and where they’re located and will help them as well. They’ve also gotten media attention in local mainstream news outlets (not exactly good attention but it’s something). Some other Food Not Bombs chapters have gotten national media attention for breaking laws that hurt homeless people. A more broad organization that still prioritizes local issues (until more can be done outside of that) would be a lot better IMO, but that doesn’t really exist where I live so this is what I’ve been involved with for now.
Your number one step is privacy. Privacy is the foundation of freedom; it “protects the right to be left alone”.
If you’re a beginner, Naomi Brockwell’s videos have very good tips. If you’re not a beginner, read Michael Bazzell’s book Extreme Privacy. Read it in full and decide the level of privacy you want (you likely will not need every single one of his tips).
lol, there’s no privacy in a fascist State because the state doesn’t feel compelled to respect the law and doesn’t recognize fundamental rights. Nobody is going to leave you alone. Get real.
Encryption requires no respect from the State
yeah, that’s a microscopic element of privacy in a situation where the state can come and kill you with no accountability. You still have a body, you still need to inhabit a space, eat food and exist in the world. Encryption won’t help you with that.
No, the state can’t just do that. They could do it to any one person, but not to everyone. Consider this hypothetical: the state wants to kill 100 people. If everyone is outside, this job becomes easy. If everyone is in their homes, this job becomes harder. Why? Because breaking down doors, moving equipment, etc. costs money. And government agencies don’t have all the money in the world! They can’t:
- Go after every single person who uses cash
- Go after everyone who uses a vpn
- Go after everyone who uses encrypted messaging
- Go after everyone who attends a protest and who wears a mask and puts their phone in a faraday bag.
Privacy works best in a larger group. Telling people privacy is dead actually hurts you more than telling people that there are indeed effective steps you can take to protect yourself.
This is exactly what happens under fascism way before digitalization. Do you think they care if they make mistakes? They round up and jail random people if they are not sure. You really should read how fascism played out in Italy, Germany or Chile because you seem dangerously misguided
Start contacting local socialist orgs, PSL, DSA, CPUSA, etc., go to their meetings and start talking to people. Look for groups that offer education, seem to have good internal democratic processes, good comradely vibes, and who are actively engaging in campaigns to struggle against injustice, and doing stuff that you want to participate in.
Groups that have lots of political discussion, rather than being obsessed with internal processes, groups that don’t work with cops, and don’t just follow the dems on everything, is another thing to look for.
Your local conditions are the most important thing to consider. I wish I could tell you what group to join, but it varies quite a lot. A small and very active group is probably better than a large group with mostly inactive members. I’m in DSA, because I want to build a alternative workers political party, and I like DSA, but I also know that not every chapter is the same, there’s def some chapters I would not recommend, although my local is very good.
Once you find your political home, you can branch out, keep working with other groups help build coalitions in your city. The most important thing is, you can’t affect change by yourself. We need to combine our efforts to be effective. Always speak up, speak your mind and rep your personal perspective, and groups that don’t handle good well considered perspectives can be toxic. Then again, we can bring toxic perspectives with us, so always be open to hearing criticism and always be trying to improve yourself. Be patient and assume good intent but find a group you can work well with. Develop your cadres.
Virtually every group needs people who can take good notes and/or can begin meetings on time. Like that bar is so incredibly low, but the people who do it for their own groups are some of the only people who will do that reliably, and they’re also often people who are the most committed and experienced. Taking those simple functions off peoples workload or even providing support in those areas can be invaluable to the whole group. Other things, like doing phone/text banking or tabling for like a few hours per month is incredibly valuable work, that helps with turn out to events and allows recruiters to make and build contacts. Very low bar, very high impact. One of the groups I’m involved with actually pays people to make calls so volunteering for that work on your spare time, and being reliable and consistent is another invaluable quality in a new member.
One final tip, it is better to do one thing consistently then it is to try and take on everything that you see needs done. Make room in your life for organizing, and don’t take on extra unless you’re sure you have time/energy for it. Tell people in your life like “I have a commitment every Thursday from 7-9 pm” and then stick to that for a while. Burn out will fucking destroy you. So check in with your self, and check in with others.
Check out generalstrikeus.com. Also the peoples Union
What resistance? It seems to me that there is not one big organised resistance that is taking members.
Find a local event and network but be careful about it. The US had that “no kings” thing early in the summer (or before?). That was just a bunch of people against tyranny. No real organisation to it. So you’d go to something like that and just talk to people.
It helps if you have an anonymous way to chat. Something like Signal or Matrix or one of the others. Even Telegram would be better than using something public or corporate-backed, like SMS for the former or WhatsApp for the latter. But be careful with Telegram, read up on it, it’s not a solid recommendation but it’s better than nothing. Fortunately there are alternatives. Even if the other person isn’t tech savvy — you probably are by being on Lemmy. So, show them the way.
Occasionally contact them through anonymous chat, just see how they’re doing, and discuss future plans.
Also, aside from demonstrations, places where like minded people meet. For the authoritarians and conservatives, that’s church, the local BBQ spot, and other, more obvious groups. I feel like they feel they can operate more openly since the US president is one of them. Used to be, these guys wore masks and were hidden, joining them wasn’t about finding them, they’d find you, that kind of thing. Nowadays it’s all out in the open. But I think liberals and progressives have meeting places, too. In response to church, for example, you should know that The Satanic Temple is not about devil worship, they’re about resisting Christian imperialism. They’re the ones fighting churches trying to get the Ten Commandments posted in every classroom. I’m religiously neutral, so they do not interest me, but they’re certainly an option. For the anti-theist/“hard atheist,” they’re a good option.
No, don’t use Telegram. Chats aren’t end to end encrypted by default, you have to specifically request a secret conversation. It’s also not possible to encrypt group chats on telegram. Matrix, signal, session, simplex, and many others are much better.
Yeah, I know about Telegram’s limitations. Been using it for ages, just to chat with my wife since she uses Android and I’m on an iPhone, and I don’t do social media. It was the best way for us to message back and forth and we haven’t moved off of it.
I have Matrix, Signal, and Session as well. Nobody chats me up on them but I keep them as options because why not? My phone has 512GB. Most is music and video. Apps are nothing to me.
there is not one big organised resistance that is taking members
The biggest is DSA
Join an org, if you’re a fed the good ones will filter you out. I recommend either the Party for Socialism and Liberation or Freedom Road Socialist Organization if you live in the US.
If you want a place to start with theory, I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, feel free to check it out!
<3
<3
Nice try, fed.
Or mossad
Close enough, but I suspect Mossad has TV’s upper hand.
Pee on your shoes.
We will contact you.
A member of the resistance has contacted me, thank you !
Done. Am now resisting arrest in the Wendy’s diner.
serious answer: start by reading theory and knowing how “the resistance” works at all.
“I want to help”
“Read several books first”.
Are you aware of how disgusting and classist it sounds?
how is reading a book classist for you? you can read. (and its free). the introductory stuff is mostly easy to read too.
you can join a leftist org directly and they will teach you if you prefer it that way. that’s probably how most people start.
most working class people cannot read well, let alone theory, have no material time to read, or if, they do, they don’t have the mental energy or continuity to get to the end of it, grapple alone on how to turn that into action and find a path for themselves. It’s very individualistic, good for the privileged who organize out of aspiration rather than out of necessity. Any serious org, to the people coming to offer help, should answer: “this is John, he will teach you how to do X and Y, and why this is important. Get to work”. Anything else is designed for an intellectual, individualistic minority that never gets shit done.
You need both theory and practice together. Practice sharpens theory, theory guides practice. You don’t have to be a grandmaster Marxist-Leninist with decades of theory under your belt to do good work. A large part of organizing involves training and educating comrades, for example, you even hint at it. Many orgs require a protracted training period before even being a full member, such as PSL or FRSO.
What’s classist would be shutting out the working class from theory, keeping it purely for the vanguard. Many existing communist orgs have run into this problem, and resolved it in various ways. Theory is for the working class, not for a privledged few, so the good vanguards have managed to make theory approachable and digestible.
No problem with that. My problem is with people who expect to start from theory as if that it’s a relatable and normal thing to do.
I’d say it’s definitely a “normal” thing to do. A lot of people don’t understand the importance of organizing until they’ve read a bit of theory, and saying they were wrong to do so, or framing them as privledged, isn’t the right path. There are two “wrong” camps, those who only read theory, and those who only do practice, though the practice camp is less incorrect. The correct group is the group that tries to balance both.
once you get a grip of ohm’s law, resistance is a breeze
I groaned, but that’s a good one lol
Stop touching the plug, Cowbee. I fear this is above your pay grade.
Here’s my Marxist-Leninist reading list if you want a place to start (I’m aware of the joke, haha)!
Thank you!
That’s exactly what I wanted.
No problem! Feel free to give me any feedback you may have if you decide to follow it!
For anyone wanting a good place to start, I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list! Under a bit of revision right now, but still fully usable!
oooo you even got jones manoel’s scolding of western marxists for orientalism in there
What’s that?
Yep! Western Marxism needs to be correctly addressed right off the rip, or else the chance of those going through the list ending up as social chauvanists increases. Manoel says it best!
start resisting, you will find the others quickly
That’s the cool part… There is no “resistance” …that’s just something made up to profit off terrorizing people.
Want to help Terrence and Philip?
Sneak out after you get tucked into bed tonight and meet at Carl’s Warehouse.
Punch and pie.
