this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2026
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Chapotraphouse
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The assassination of CEO Brian Thompson accomplished quite a bit. It galvanized lots of people, showing everyone that not only are these billionaire CEOs not untouchable, but that there is widespread approval for using violence against them. It showed millions of people that they aren't alone in thinking "yeah, those capitalist fuckers who exploit us and profit off our misery really should die." I know several mostly apolitical people that before that would have said "violence is always wrong" but afterward started saying they think people like Thompson deserve what happened to him and never would have felt comfortable saying so before.
Yes, many radical leftists are no different than this other group we all agree are bad. Great argument.
What does it mean to have "worked"? Has it overthrown the bourgeoisie? No. But neither has all the organization efforts ever conducted in the imperial core. If that's what it means for a tactic to have "worked," then when you say "Yes let's keep trying the same thing that has literally never worked!" then you have to say the same thing about organizing, which we all agree is absurd. But if you change your definition of "worked" to "helping move things in the right direction," then individual acts HAVE worked many times and in different ways. They've failed and had a negative effect at times too, but so have organizations and attempted vanguard parties. Red Army Faction being an example.
Disingenuous to call them "random," because specific individuals being targeted is anything but random. And while these acts may not be able to "solve" systemic issues on their own, that doesn't mean they can't be powerful demonstrations or have any positive effect.
What are those real solutions, then? If they were complete solutions then either they would have solved things by now, or they haven't been tried yet. If they haven't been tried yet, then enlighten us all and tell us how to free ourselves from capitalism. If they HAVE been tried then obviously they aren't complete solutions and you aren't on any better footing than people who do advocate for adventurism. It takes all kinds.
Name a positive long term systemic change that happened as a result of this
Whenever positive systemic change happened in history, the events were rebranded as "fighting for freedom". Literally all positive systemic change happened this way throughout the history. French peasents beheaded soldiers, that's how they got democracy. If they had failed, the events would have been known as a "terrorist attack". But the important thing is, there has to be a social movement behind the actions. Individual attacks may spark the initial flame, but if there is no movement behind it the flame won't last for long. That's the thing you are right about. No matter how many times this happens, it will not result in any change unless there is also a social movement behind it.