Hear hear. When I look at the state of American democracy from outside, what I find really distressing is that it’s not just Bernie; no mainstream person or organization with national reach is giving concrete advice and/or instructions on how to depose the oligarchy, so you have people’s energy going to angry tweets and meaningless parades.
But how would they go about it? The system is so entrenched. Anything socialist is considered ‘commie’ and anti-american, a sentiment carefully cultivated since WWII. The two party system that relies on huge donations means the oligarchy has a huge input in politics no matter which party wins. The only thing that’s being decided is which oligarchs will rule.
There’s just no way to turn this around until things get bad enough that they can’t hold the floodgates anymore. America is (fortunately for the little man who would suffer the most) still far from that.
what I find really distressing is that it’s not just Bernie; no mainstream person or organization with national reach is giving concrete advice and/or instructions on how to depose the oligarchy
What instructions are you looking for, exactly? Like, what are the instructions that ‘should’ be handed out at this point?
There’s no simple, easy, or quick solution to this, and since the election, things have gotten considerably worse on the ‘possible solutions’ front. Calls to organize and seek alternatives to oligarch-controlled resources are the groundwork which orgs constantly call for but no one fucking heeds. So what’re the instructions that will provide the solution that those calls haven’t?
There’s no simple, easy, or quick solution to this, and since the election, things have gotten considerably worse on the ‘possible solutions’ front.
Yeah of course, which is why someone needs to be out there convincing people to do the things that aren’t simple, easy or quick.
Calls to organize and seek alternatives to oligarch-controlled resources are the groundwork which orgs constantly call for but no one fucking heeds.
That’s why I qualified my remark with “mainstream”. I’m talking Bernie-like figures who are widely known and respected by liberals. Unless I’m mistaken that segment of the population still thinks elections and phone calls to Congressmen are going to fix this.
So what’re the instructions that will provide the solution that those calls haven’t?
As I said above the problem is that the right people aren’t providing those instructions, but also: strike, strike, strike. I’m getting past the point where I can make authoritative-sounding statements, but I find it really weird that what is arguably the strongest weapon in the working class’s arsenal is barely being talked about. Yes I know groundwork is necessary for that (though I’d argue it’s not nearly as much as commonly thought), but still someone needs to get the conversation from “strike? But my job/insurance/whatever!” to “how do we make it possible,” and at least from my position outside America I haven’t heard of anything on this front.
Hear hear. When I look at the state of American democracy from outside, what I find really distressing is that it’s not just Bernie; no mainstream person or organization with national reach is giving concrete advice and/or instructions on how to depose the oligarchy, so you have people’s energy going to angry tweets and meaningless parades.
But how would they go about it? The system is so entrenched. Anything socialist is considered ‘commie’ and anti-american, a sentiment carefully cultivated since WWII. The two party system that relies on huge donations means the oligarchy has a huge input in politics no matter which party wins. The only thing that’s being decided is which oligarchs will rule.
There’s just no way to turn this around until things get bad enough that they can’t hold the floodgates anymore. America is (fortunately for the little man who would suffer the most) still far from that.
What instructions are you looking for, exactly? Like, what are the instructions that ‘should’ be handed out at this point?
There’s no simple, easy, or quick solution to this, and since the election, things have gotten considerably worse on the ‘possible solutions’ front. Calls to organize and seek alternatives to oligarch-controlled resources are the groundwork which orgs constantly call for but no one fucking heeds. So what’re the instructions that will provide the solution that those calls haven’t?
Yeah of course, which is why someone needs to be out there convincing people to do the things that aren’t simple, easy or quick.
That’s why I qualified my remark with “mainstream”. I’m talking Bernie-like figures who are widely known and respected by liberals. Unless I’m mistaken that segment of the population still thinks elections and phone calls to Congressmen are going to fix this.
As I said above the problem is that the right people aren’t providing those instructions, but also: strike, strike, strike. I’m getting past the point where I can make authoritative-sounding statements, but I find it really weird that what is arguably the strongest weapon in the working class’s arsenal is barely being talked about. Yes I know groundwork is necessary for that (though I’d argue it’s not nearly as much as commonly thought), but still someone needs to get the conversation from “strike? But my job/insurance/whatever!” to “how do we make it possible,” and at least from my position outside America I haven’t heard of anything on this front.