The Bolsheviks did it by having a large cadre of well-paid, professional revolutionaries, funded by party dues. That way the main activists could devote themselves to full time revolutionary work.
In fairness the RSDLP basically charged a full Tithe (so 10% of net income) as dues. Which almost certainly isn’t followed by most orgs today except the most culty ones. Also they did a lot of crime. not just bank heists but protection rackets
Problem there is that for it to become that, you gotta pay it to the proto party ahead of time. And that means nine times out of ten you’re pouring your money not into the future Vanguard but into some tiny Narodnik split that embraced Blanquism-Willichism and were too ridiculous for the Okhrana or the Cheka to bother shooting.
Join the action network or maybe even the party if you have time. We have a coalition thing going on with https://generalstrikeus.com/ if I’m remembering the page correctly. Your local comrades will train you up.
Making acquaintances out of neighbors is hard. I’m naturally a friendly and social person so I do have OK rapport with my neighbors, but I’m still working up to getting them into serious political engagement. It still remains to be seen if our work looks credible to their eyes.
That would be great and maybe when I get a better sense of the politics of folks that could happen.
But it probably won’t happen here. This isn’t labor aristocracy but the jobs are comfortable enough and pay living wages. Safety is a non-issue for 99% of this workforce. There’s no incentive here to “rock the boat”.
I’m afraid only blue-collar type shops can be organized in the first place. These people are numb or ignorant to what’s going on and they’re definitely paid off to be thos way. And I’m afraid if I stick my neck out too much I’ll just get fired.
I don’t think I’m the right person to be doing this 😬
I thought you posted at some point about long hours? That’s a common issue to organise around. Of course if you don’t feel safe organising, then don’t do it. But when people say organise, they mean organise labour. If labour is not organised, there is no way to do a general strike or any type of pressure on the government. Maybe if by some miracle unions are more popular in the US it would be easier for you to join one.
Idk man I’m just as lost as you, I just need a real form of resistance to support since it kind of feels like everyone around me is just going to watch this play out and I can’t live with that.
OK, I am a fed up yankee with a full-time job and obligations at home. I can’t lose this job.
What is that next step? I know you’re gonna say “organize”… ok but organize what? My fellow atomized neighbors are also busy and they don’t trust us.
How did the Bolshevicks do this?
The Bolsheviks did it by having a large cadre of well-paid, professional revolutionaries, funded by party dues. That way the main activists could devote themselves to full time revolutionary work.
Neat! …the largest left org in the U.S. had a budget crisis a couple years back? And they had to fire some people to stay solvent?
Fuck
In fairness the RSDLP basically charged a full Tithe (so 10% of net income) as dues. Which almost certainly isn’t followed by most orgs today except the most culty ones. Also they did a lot of crime. not just bank heists but protection rackets
I would sign up to pay that if a modern day bolshevik party appeared
Problem there is that for it to become that, you gotta pay it to the proto party ahead of time. And that means nine times out of ten you’re pouring your money not into the future Vanguard but into some tiny Narodnik split that embraced Blanquism-Willichism and were too ridiculous for the Okhrana or the Cheka to bother shooting.
Join the
action network or maybe even the party if you have time. We have a coalition thing going on with https://generalstrikeus.com/ if I’m remembering the page correctly. Your local comrades will train you up.
Making acquaintances out of neighbors is hard. I’m naturally a friendly and social person so I do have OK rapport with my neighbors, but I’m still working up to getting them into serious political engagement. It still remains to be seen if our work looks credible to their eyes.
a union at your workplace.
That would be great and maybe when I get a better sense of the politics of folks that could happen.
But it probably won’t happen here. This isn’t labor aristocracy but the jobs are comfortable enough and pay living wages. Safety is a non-issue for 99% of this workforce. There’s no incentive here to “rock the boat”.
I’m afraid only blue-collar type shops can be organized in the first place. These people are numb or ignorant to what’s going on and they’re definitely paid off to be thos way. And I’m afraid if I stick my neck out too much I’ll just get fired.
I don’t think I’m the right person to be doing this 😬
I thought you posted at some point about long hours? That’s a common issue to organise around. Of course if you don’t feel safe organising, then don’t do it. But when people say organise, they mean organise labour. If labour is not organised, there is no way to do a general strike or any type of pressure on the government. Maybe if by some miracle unions are more popular in the US it would be easier for you to join one.
Fortunately for us the long hours are temporary. I might be able to catch up on sleep!
But yeah I think the angle here might be more how we’re overworked and understaffed and how dysfunctional the place can be.
Idk man I’m just as lost as you, I just need a real form of resistance to support since it kind of feels like everyone around me is just going to watch this play out and I can’t live with that.