GenZedong

Americans will fight if they have their livelihoods threatened.

Another war in the Middle East does not threaten their livelihoods, because they are not conscious of the imperial boomerang.

George Floyd’s execution was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, against the decades of systemic injustice the black community has suffered. Further policing threatened the livelihoods of the black community, so it was the black community that mostly fought back.

Alex Pretti / Rene Good was a sign of the threat the Minnesotan community faced. And so it was them who mostly fought back.

Without a vanguard, the proletariat cannot preemptively mobilize against reaction.

It makes sense: additionally, I think that there's a level of paralysis for left- liberal Americans, especially those that took part in the mid 20th century progressive protests like the chicano movement, who had faith in institutions like the Democratic party to give a level of progressive reform at home and fight against the frothing at the mouth rightists that populate the gop now (even if those reforms never seemed to materialise outwith the imperial core, and even as fascists populated electorates in the US). The kayfabe of institutional opposition is collapsing in front of their eyes, and as their worldview implodes they either fall into a deep despair, or dig their heels in in an obstinate rejection of the reality in front of them. They want to believe they can still vote this out and go back to sleep, and many will hold that view until all avenues for reform have broken down

The atrophy of the American public mirrors the ossification of its administrative state. As the EPA, the CDC, the USPS, and other institutions representing bourgeois concessions to the proletariat are systematically eroded, the American working class has no longer any means to realise its own interests through administrative means, and it loses the ability to meaningfully shape its environment. The space of potential futures within the system is considerably narrowed, and the narrower it becomes, the less people find a future in it worth fighting for by legal means. Expect protests to die down, and instead more assassins and armed groups to emerge.

Another thing to keep in mind is people in the US are really goddamn tired. Everyone is worked to the bone here. Especially folks working hourly don't have time to get sick or take care of their kids let alone go to protests or attend meetings. We are all living on the edge.

Then you layer on to this the surveillance state and mass incarceration. If you do something to piss off the government who takes care of your kids? Society is atomized it's not like your family is around, and even if they are, they don't have the time or resources to help you.

So best to lay low and hope someone else moves first