I’ve been wanting to do shit when it comes to mutual aid and protection of fellow comrades. But I’m in the middle of trumpian territory so no one I wanna associate with, and I’m a decent drive away from any city.
How can I organize/network with others? I get that you can’t be open about it and decentralized is the safest way to be, but how the fuck do I actually help and support others?
Yea I can see that, no way to build up trust plus defying any sort of opsec possible if attempted during direct action. Thanks for the ideas, I know some self professed libertarians. Idk how they’ll respond to libertarian socialism though lmao.
So I’m also in deep chud country and I talk to a lot of them and I had this epiphany the other day about debating political ideas with people. We make fun of west wing brain on here but I think we can all still give into this sorkin esque idea that when you have a political disagreement with someone then one side will make such a good point that the other party is just so owned it results in a clear W. Posting kinda perpetuates this idea too by dehumanizing each other and fundamentally changing the way in which parties exchange information. I realized the other day that the actual process of reprogramming and radicalizing someone who’s very far gone is slow and painstaking and is just as much about being someone they want to have a political discourse with as it is about knowing your theory and examples to cite. Americans love fighting With each other and we hate being wrong. It feels pointless to debate chuds and for many of them it is but the more you do it the better you get at finding those ways in, talking peoples experience with healthcare is a big one. And the most important thing to understand is that you just don’t fucking get those climactic west wing moments where someone is so owned by your knowledge of theory that they let go of all of their previously held convictions. And that’s ok! Changing peoples minds is about planting seeds that grow later after being watered by the lived experience of class conflict. And even if you planted your seeds in dead soil thats still worth it because you just got that much better at arguing with a real person who disagrees with you about the benefits and importance of socialism. And on top of this if you can somehow find a way to have them ENJOY fighting with you (which is easier than you’d think with these sickos) then you either have a person who you can keep working on to change their views or a person who will feel the pain of being socially ostracized from your own personal circle because you’ve deemed them a waste of time. Both are good. A lotta folks like to talk politics with those they disagree with because for many Americans it’s the closest approximation they can have to being worldly and well rounded. None of this is exactly organizing but I still think it’s important because if you want to get connected to people with similar ideas irl you’re either gonna have to talk to a lotta folks just to find them or find a way to change some minds. Both are crucial for organizing as far as I understand it. Practice on your family! It’s important to be openly on the left as much as we can and feel safe doing so and within your family is great place to get comfortable projecting that coherently and effectively.
Thanks for the input, I’m generally pretty open with my political views and discuss it when its prompted. I’ll try to be the one to engage more often. a lot of dead ends though cause theres fucking 3%ers in my area, and it makes me weary to talk about that stuff in certain places.(They’re not the only strapped ones though) Will try to spread the good word and have concise arguments on the ready.*
I think we can all still give into this sorkin esque idea that when you have a political disagreement with someone then one side will make such a good point that the other party is just so owned it results in a clear W. Posting kinda perpetuates this idea too
I’d say a lot of us post knowing that we’ll never have that Sorkin moment when rational debate leads to somone immediately changing their mind and that it’s more a gradual process of acclimating people to a different mode of thought, taking advantage of stuff like the mere-exposure effect, overtone window, boiling the frog, enforcing norms, etc. it’s just that sometimes that looks like a super well researched essay refuting every single point someone made and other times it’s a relentless onslaught of shitposting to drown out and shame liberals and make them look like pathetic losers worthy of contempt. At least, this is what I take to be the chapo style of trying to use posting as a low-grade praxis and vector for radicalisation.
Yeah and I don’t entirely disagree with this approach because one of the reasons to have political discourse with people is because you might not change their mind in the discourse but the people watching you debate can also be effected and that’s where posting excels. You’re less likely to directly change anyone’s mind online IMO But you do have a much broader reach for spectators and that’s helpful. It is important to recognize though that shaming and socially ostracizing only work to bring someone around to your side if they can be made to feel shame and like they’re social life is lesser for the beliefs they hold and this is where online falls flat on its face and is often counter revolutionary.
The first Marxists and anarchists I ever met were at a protest, so maybe I’m biased, but I’m gonna go against the grain and say it’s not a terrible idea to meet people at protests. If you live in an exurban or rural community that might be the only place other radicals congregate, especially nowadays. You should be at protests anyways too. Just understand that it is probably the one of the most likely place cops will be looking to infiltrate and remember that if anyone starts planning terrorism, gtfo. Entrapment or not, you shouldn’t be a part of that.
I think a lot of people in forums like this who are used to cities really have no clue what America is like outside of them. Where the nearest organization to the left of an incredibly right wing local Democratic party is over an hour’s drive away. Where church and PTA meetings are the height of town activity. Where your local library doesn’t have Marx. Where you saw 4 Sanders signs in your entire town and wondered if they might be comrades. This is vast swaths of America and there is no infrastructure for leftists, let alone communists, to coordinate. If that infrastructure is birthed from a protest, then I think it’s worth the risk of infiltration. Not to mention that if you manage to build an ideologically disciplined mass organization, infiltration is irrelevant,
go on a dating website and say youll only date commies. met lots of fun people that way and i doubt the feds have thought of catfishing leftists on plentyoffish lol
As far as finding people to organize with, find a few orgs in whatever city is closest, and you can either work with them (since most are zoom-based now anyway) or they can put you in contact with nearby people they may have met, people who were doing the same thing.
You’ll meet people over time, but it will just be slower and take more driving & more calling in to meetings instead of attending.
