sunbleachedfly

joined 11 months ago

I got my name changed last week as some of you know & tomorrow is my bay! Big year for me tbh. Big moves in the career dept & i feel much better about the direction my life is going. Happy new year's y'all!

[–] sunbleachedfly@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I got my name officially changed this week. Very big news for me.

 

After the pathetic move by the Democrats just days after an incredibly positive election for them, I am wondering what people think about the next shift in consciousness among the working class in the US.

Just anecdotally, I have found that most people are not afraid to talk about politics in places where its usually prohibited (mostly work, school, etc). The anger among the more liberal people I've seen is palpable.

As the American economy is showing trends of generational decay, the US government is also taking actions that will immediately impact tens of millions of people. The economy is in turmoil while ICE kidnaps people off the streets. Universal healthcare, food assistance, etc, seem like sound policies to many people simply because it would stabilize the economy more at this point.

The Dems are still the vehicle through which the majority of people think that the "resistance" will come from, but after this latest government reopening vote I'm seeing some very existential reactions.

I'm curious what people think will happen next in terms of the consciousness of the masses. I dont think the masses are anywhere close to accepting a vanguard party, but I do think that a massive shift away from the two current parties in power is possible within the next few years. I could see a shift toward democratic socialism as a party emerges with all the new contradictions that will arise with that.

What do y'all think?

[–] sunbleachedfly@lemmygrad.ml 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Been saying this. The next shift that needs to happen as it pertains to consciousness in the US is the realization that the Dems don't disagree with what he's doing, they just think he's taking it too far.

I think what's most harmful in popular discourse currently is the assumption that the Dems are on the people's side. It frames the conversation as Dems failing to react & "save" marginalized populations, not that they also represent the capitalist class & march to the same orders.

[–] sunbleachedfly@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 2 months ago

In my mind, accelerationism comes from the same thread of thought that adventurism comes from. It comes from an alienation from the masses & a certain amount of nihilism that leads us to believe the only way is for us to accelerate. Being isolated from people who think the way you do, especially about the way out, will also produce these feelings.

When I first understood communism as the solution, I tried to convince everyone around me. While I did convince people, it required a long & concerted effort over time. People in the US grew up their whole lives learning that communism was literally the fucking devil, even if logically it is the correct solution it is still going to be resisted. But when things get bad, those same people I tried to convince over time start to see it for themselves & they reach back out for answers. Your ability to convince people will not just be a quick conversation - establishing socialism in the US will be a generational project. The Soviet Union developed their project for arguably 20-30 years before the October revolution. China had a 30 year civil war before they won.

There is a fascist regime currently consolidating power wherever it can. There is more open defiance of the regime in power than we've ever seen before. There is plenty of energy to be redirected into organizing the masses & radicalizing people. This will continue - the degradation of material conditions will continue with or without you. The collapse will also come. But now is the time to put in the ground work so that people will look to you in the future.

Accelerationism increases the degradation of material conditions with no alternative. This simply leads to nihilism & creates a breeding ground for fascism. When the collapse comes, the means of production aka the way this society produces the things we need, will be degraded without an organized working force that can take control of it. These are the times when the masses can fight & take control, not react to & say "i told you so". The qualitative change, aka the "collapse", is the time for revolution - don't you want to be ready?

[–] sunbleachedfly@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 2 months ago

Agreed, I think bsky has been small enough to be able to play both sides without much criticism so far - on one hand, they can say the platform isn't as toxic as the other (the other being owned by an actual nazi) & then on the other whenever there is legitimate criticism of their own moderation, they say they're just system architects. One user said it's like operating public transit & if a user criticizes, they replied with "well you can just get a car" & I tend to agree.

I think this is really just about the diminishing returns that we're seeing from the reverberations of tech culture believing that they could build a piece of software that would fix the world's problems. It doesn't quite work that way, & the contradiction between the owners of these social networks & their content creators is quite sharp at this point. Once they create a solution that reproduces the same exact problems, they react with apathy & resentment as if they did their part & the users just can't behave.

Ultimately for me it's frustrating because while I learn most from lemmygrad about why the world is the way it is, I do enjoy being able to see the regular people on the internet, especially in the US. Seeing shit like this, even though it's inevitable under a capitalist system, sucks.

[–] sunbleachedfly@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 2 months ago (4 children)

This crashout has been really something. She posted again. She just can't help herself

https://bsky.app/profile/jay.bsky.team/post/3m2c7ge42us2t