For the past several months, I've spent an obsessive amount of time thinking and discussing with people the idea regarding a long term goal. Studying the writings is well and good, as the Iskra newsletter and Mao's thoughts have helped significantly with guiding things along.
In my thought experimentation, I thought to myself, "This money thing kinda sucks a little bit, what if we just stopped using that and instead just... got the stuff that we need?"
Of course, I thought that knowing full well that for example the Soviet Union still used money, and I understand the purpose that money serves in trade and society. But I wanted to toy with the idea anyway, just for the sake of exploring something different from what we have today. What would work be for if not for a wage? Would people be incentivized to work? This latter question had me think, "Obviously, people have existed for longer than the concept of money has, and in order for communities to thrive work needed to be done. People needed to eat, just the same as they do today, to stay warm during the cold, to drink water, and people needed comforts and stimulation." In a wider sense, however, it's foolish to think that the rest of the world would immediately comply. Money would still need to be held and used somewhere, if only for the purpose of trade with other countries. But all of that is kind of me getting carried away here.
More to the point, it got me thinking about what exactly it is that we strive for in the long term for revolution. That is, after all, incredibly important for a revolution to work at all. With no long term goal, there is no strategy. With no strategy, there can be no working tactics. And without all of that, or the unity required for it all to be possible beyond the realm of a person's mind, we have no revolution.
I guess in the end it has me wondering what other people have thought about with regards to what that long term goal is (beyond the abolishment of capitalism, as we must think much more specifically than that). What do you believe that is? Every worker and organizer that's serious about this must have clear views and intents on this sort of thing, after all, and I want to hear what those are. I have my own, but this post has gone on long enough and if I started typing more about that thought project I would have enough material to host an "Iskra" of my own! That's not to say that I don't, but that's besides the point! The point is, I want to hear what YOU (yes, YOU, the reader of this post!) want to see in the world that you would call it a better tomorrow!
Focus on your immediate surroundings and use your knowledge of theory to subtly drop hints to people around you. Take advantage of the spaces you are forced to cohabitate with people to get the discussions going. Get people thinking and asking questions themselves. "What is all of this for?" in the break room at work. "I don't feel like this is really giving me much helpful information for later in life, shouldn't we be thinking and learning about this other thing instead?" in the school lunch room. "It would be kind of nice to be able to take a bus if my car breaks down, don't you agree?" Talking to people on their level is key, and anyone can learn how to do this.
When I was working as a volunteer with Standards Not Force, something we were encouraged to do was something called "Gift Giving Mondays". Where people were meant to do something small, the example Dr. Dillard gave was a gift card for neighbors that basically said something along the lines of "Hello neighbor, I hope this finds you well and I hope you have a great week. You are loved, you are seen, please remember that". And the idea behind this gesture was to start cultivating a community back into neighborhoods be it suburban, rural or urban. I have since stopped working with them, but the practice I carry on into my own org as it stuck with me enough. It does work. This in itself may seem silly and small, but in fact nurturing your community into an interconnected health instead of the hyper-individualistic nature so many are in is in fact one the most important first steps to a revolution. This works in tandem with my previous paragraph to start unlearning the capitalist programming in people, without the use of the scary buzzwords that set people off. These two notes are key to any successful movement, and they are so easy that you can do these things from your very own living room.
When you focus on the area you can immediately influence, you may find yourself more powerful than you think. From there, once you get enough support, you can start talking about how you as a community can host a community center if your community lacks one. It's all about seeing to people's needs in your area. Giving a safety net where people obviously are truly lacking. Giving relief from the parasitic system that oppresses us now is how we give people the energy to start working together for a better tomorrow.
Edit: I know this is long, I kind of just got carried away! Hopefully this is helpful to anyone that wants to start making a difference in more than just posts on the internet. :) I'm of the belief that the sooner we abandon the internet for our cause, the better. We are surveilled here, after all, and the first rule of security culture is to be wary of any and all electronic communications. The internet is full of a lot of noise and pollution, trying to organize on it is like trying to set up a meetup in a mosh pit. Sure, you can probably do it, but most of the time there's so much noise and bumping around that you're more likely to drop your phone! Hence my focus on the local and in-person stuff a person can do!