this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026
135 points (75.1% liked)

Memes

56838 readers
519 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] rsky@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Same applies to modern protest. A big rule of thumb for this shit is: Can the evil leaders ignore what you're doing? If so, they will. If you cry about how there should be "no kings;" you're essentially hoping that the worst people on earth suddenly develop a conscience, hear your plea, and correct all of the bad things they've done. No, they'll just ignore it. Here are some disruptions to the status quo that they can't ignore:

  • The economy (go on strike, protest on weekdays, don't be orderly, in-fact, be a total nuisance to the day-to-day operations in a city - preferably a "high value" location)
  • The panopticon (ruin the surveillance state - protest the cameras, protest the data centers (also helps the last point), protest the infrastructure that these things rely on)
  • Their livelyhood (protest where they live. And there's plenty to choose from; the shear number of people whose decisions actively fuck your life is astounding)

Just remember: don't harm anyone or anything. Protest them. Got it? Good.

[–] Johnny_Arson@hexbear.net 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

don't harm anyone or anything

Okay and when they just decide you are enough of a nuisance that they decide to start killing and disappearing your organizers (which is the stage we have been at for like a century in the US) then what?

Pure nonviolence is a great way to get yourself killed.

[–] rsky@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Read between the lines man, this is a public forum and the surveillance state is real. There's obvious sarcasm and word stand-ins. I'm not gonna spell it out for you.

[–] Johnny_Arson@hexbear.net 14 points 1 week ago

Okay but that last sentence is unnecessary in that case. Just what you posted is enough to have you labeled a terrorist agitator.

[–] distal@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Joining a union or creating one is one of the most subversive things one can do in this day and age. Propaganda for unions is very effective at leveraging the class schism in favour of workers/socialism.

Just don't a union that advocates creating large weaponry or represents law enforcement/servants of the state.

Proper unionising makes capitalists piss their pants. I have read a ton about politics (to my detriment – rip mental health) and it seems to really give you the most bang for your buck.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Unions are good, but you also need a political party that can go beyond trade unionism into an all-sided class struggle.

[–] distal@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I would tend to agree on the class party aspect, but as with anything there is an outward motion. The most effective struggle doesn't start at the higher levels of abstraction. Egoism comes first, not in the Stirnerian sense, where people make sure they are not deported by ice, where military service is eschewed, where when arrested the fifth amendment is kept in mind. The next stage would be tenant unions, trade unions, more organised forms of struggle. Then education, reading circles, discussions, talks and so on. I see the party as the capstone of all of these working class interests. Ultimately it becomes the expression of our species' interest towards the end of class struggle.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ultimately, without a party, unions retain their present level of struggle. This means they are highly localized around their own interests, and not the interests of the working class as a whole. This is why a party is necessary to begin with, so that unions can be more militant, connected, and disciplined from the beginning. No time is too early for a party.

[–] distal@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Where I am from there are like 8 different leftists parties laying claim to the same chunk of people. There will be one big and relevant party in the end, but getting there has the danger of a bajillion parties competing and creating noise rather than directed struggle. XKCD standards meme

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sure, that's why having a clear and correct party line is important.

[–] distal@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago
[–] Edie@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's how it's always been, look at pre-revolutionary russia same there.

[–] distal@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I get what you are saying, the Russian revolution was a success despite sharing a feature that was a great hindrance. I think though that saying "X has always been like this" has a somewhat ahistorical quality to it. There is simply no good knowledge of the future.