this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
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We see it, there just isn’t a “resistance” to join that plans to do anything remotely close to those movies.
Yeah, that's the point. The resistance in movies is always a very professional, single-minded and effective operation with perfect logistics and a common goal. It's easy to imagine being a part of such an "activist power fantasy" where everything is smooth sailing until the world revolution while getting cheered on all the way.
While IRL activism and organizing is messy and tedious. It's hard to feel like a hero when the political landscape is a confusing mess, there is no clear strategy on what to do next and the group you joined can't agree on when to do the next coffee break.
Someone hasn't seen Andor nor Rogue One!
Or basically ANY movie with a resistance... They're either established by powers that seek change over decades and thetegore have had time to figure things out, or they're woefully under supplied.
Also real life examples of resistance movements being coordinated in short amounts of time are apparently irrelevant, too.
Incidentally, one of my favorite WW2 movies is Anthropoid about the Czech resistance... If any of this topic interests any readers at all, don't look up anything about it; go in blind! It's free to library card holders on Kanopy.
You are highlighting another point: the resistance in these movies is not professional at all but you believe it is because the heroes forcing their way into the enemy headquarters with all odds against them are professional, good looking, trained actors with a full movie studio working beside them.
yes there is lol. there are many of them, communists are everywhere.
I’ve never seen a communist on Lemmy.ml. Just a bunch or propaganda ;)
yup. and we are commenting under propaganda. ;)
True...we need a resistance.
Hear hear
Also here and here.
Sounds like you don't see shit and are too lazy to inform yourself on the "resistance"
Full of shit. Organizing parades is less than nothing.
Show me.
https://join-lemmy.org/
This is the most Lemmy response ever. 🤣
we are the resistance
we are fucked.
It's the funding. Toothpaste costs money. It's too risky to keep stealing large quantities of toothpaste, but you have to live off the grid for years to do what they do in the movies. You can't even expect to go back to a normal life after you accomplished your task. Could be they brand you a terrorist and you have to live in hiding forever. There are IRL examples for this.
Also keeping in mind that you can't guarantee that what comes after the revolution will be any better. For instance, how many revolutions did the French have until they got to where they are now? How many of those revolutions left the country worse off until the next one?
There's the saying "things will get worse before they get better"... that "worse" could be generations long.
The PSL’s mission is explicitly stated to create a vanguard party to lead a revolution in the US. Obviously they’re a long way off, but don’t say nobody is organizing resistance.
Vanguard parties always angle for dictatorships and put anarchists who aren't compliant up against a wall after a successful revolution, history has taught us this time and time again. The PSL are authoritarians and not to be trusted.
True. But the anarchists never have the organisational power to win the revolution. So how do we fix that?
History has shown Anarchists are very capable of organizational power. The Russian revolution itself likely would not have succeeded without the significant military contributions from the Ukrainian Anarchists, but after the Whites were mostly defeated, the Marxist-Leninists betrayed the Anarchists to consolidate power, depicting them as bandits and counter-revolutionary, executing or imprisoning any who did not successfully flee.
Anarchists also demonstrated their organizational abilities in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War (effectively organizing more than 3 million people). Once again, they were betrayed by Marxist-leninists (this time mid-war), which contributed to the defeat of the revolution, among other factors, such as particularly overwhelming logistical support for Franco from Mussolini and Hitler, while the Anarchists had no allies on the world stage.
Well, that's the thing, the MLs were able to successfully do this both times, by out-organising the anarchists in the area of being devious backstabbing assholes. Anarchists have to learn how to fight properly on that field, and win. They cannot rely entirely on their superior ability to feed the people and otherwise supply their needs in a crisis.
I think this is definitely something anarchists could be great at. Their recent success against ICE in Minneapolis is a prime example. However, winning a battle is one thing, winning the war requires a strategic approach, which can be very difficult for anarchist organisation.
I think we differ in how we define organizing. I see it as the ability to effectively organize large groups of people, logistics, supplies, or military responses. I would not consider 'Out backstabbing the backstabbers' as under the label 'organizing', that's more of a tactics thing. I also don't think anarchists should participate in backstabbing at all, as that reduces trust in the whole effort, IMHO, and it doesn't seem likely that a large anarchist collective would agree via consensus to do such a thing.
Anarchists in 1918 didn't automatically assume their anti-capitalist allies would betray them in that manner, it was up to that point unprecedented in history (though predicted by Mikhail Bakunin). Anarchists the world over supported the Russian revolution until they visited the USSR (such as Emma Goldman) and it became apparent that it was becoming a new state dictatorship. This was a learning event that showed MLs cannot be trusted despite their appeals of leftist unity.
The Anarchists were fully aware of this betrayal by 1936 in Catalonia, but the circumstances were dire enough to begrudgingly ally with them once more, as the USSR was the only country in the world with the already existing productive capacity and willingness to supply the revolution with needed logistics and heavier weaponry such as tanks and artillery.
It was no fault of Anarchist organizing that those logistics were needed, it was just circumstance that Catalonia did not have any tank manufacturing set up before-hand (something that can take years to do), and that their enemy was stronger than it would've been at a different point in time.
There is nothing they realistically could've done to 'out organize' the MLs, as organization was not the issue. The issue is that the MLs were an enemy, but they were the enemy of another enemy (the fascists), and the lack of logistical help from the outside world left them with the options of trying to fight both enemies at once, or hope that they can first defeat the fascists before needing to defend against the inevitable ML betrayal. The fact that the MLs ultimately chose to betray mid-fight with the fascists was likely pretty unexpected, since it didn't really make sense for them to do so in that moment in time (since it made the MLs lose too).
Thanks to those events, we know now it's probably best to never ally with ML's under almost any circumstances, even fire ones, and going forward to we can avoid those mistakes.
Let's put aside all the historical revisionism you're spewing, where's your alternative? What group are you suggesting we should join to build resistance? Oh right, you don't have any solutions.
Dude is definitely a CIA shill.
Links to Anarchist Library article (in an Anarchist community), gets called CIA shill
🤔
But for anyone else reading, here's a handy guide on other ways to get involved that not only materially help our situation, but also reduces the feeling of helplessness and despair dramatically, and you'll likely meet some friends along the way.
Part 1: The big picture
The protests are good ways of meeting like-minded people in your community to form connections, as well as spreading awareness of local mutual aid groups so more can join or form ICE resistance groups who can join an encrypted chat to coordinate, alert neighbors, and talk strategy. It also is a good place for unions or union members to encourage others to unionize their workplaces, which can also ultimately work toward a national general strike, which is our most tangible and powerful collective action.
The country would be brought to its knees if suddenly deprived of profit and labor, allowing us to directly demand real changes (such as ending the war in Iran, ceasing support for the genocide of Palestine, and Abolishing ICE).
The General Strike was extremely effective in Chile in 2019, and had they not fallen for the trick of liberal reform, they would've had a successful revolution on their hands with virtually no bloodshed.
Part 2: Learn First Aid
Violence is being used against those who resist and it will only continue. It extremely important to have the skills to be able to keep yourself and others alive if they get hurt.
Tacticool Girlfriend provides a great introduction to building a personal first aid kit, called an IFAK, which can deal with things like bullet wounds and other serious bleeding wounds. I also want to emphasize her recommendation of only buying medical gear from reputable sources (not Amazon!), such as North American Rescue to avoid fakes that could cost you your life.
But you'll need to learn how to use that equipment, too. The best resource for that is to take a local Stop The Bleed class, which are pretty widely available in most places. They may cost a small fee, but can also sometimes be free. Alternatively, if you cannot access a local class, this video by PrepMedic will give you a solid understanding of how to use Tourniquets and Gauze for wound packing.
Injuries are less harmful if they are tended to early. Learning first aid can help conserve resources when healthcare becomes unaffordable. Having several medics in case of harm by police is an extremely powerful morale booster during a protest that may become a police riot. When you become comfortable with the basics of first aid, riot medicine is the next suggested step.
Part 3: Establish or join local Mutual Aid networks
If you haven't already, get to know your neighbors. Mutual aid is a willingness to support and grow your community. This can include informal networks through friends, tenant/renter organizations, solidarity groups, and industrial unions.
These are groups using direct action to solve each other's problems. Building strong communities makes it difficult for fascism to take root. The actions of the government are going to hit every community hard, and the ones who build trust in each other and work together are most likely to survive. We've been building a list of resources in !inperson@slrpnk.net to help you on your way. Also check out this handy guide to find existing groups in your area.
This isn't only for your own community protection. Your ability to organize today will change the political landscape tomorrow. When revolution occurs, the social organizations that show the greatest resilience through the regime are the ones typically calling the shots when the dust settles. When it comes to elections, get out the vote drives are useless if most of the voters are fascists. At some point, you have to do grassroots political education if you don't want fascist candidates winning elections. Mutual aid networks are excellent forums not only for teaching each other good political ideas, but demonstrating them in practice.
There's also some projects you can do that help build community (and can be fun in themselves!), for more info, go here, and scroll down to the "Fun Projects to Build Community) section"
Part 4: Join a Union to help prepare for a General Strike
If you aren't in a union (or even if you are, it's worth dual-carding), consider joining the IWW to unionize your workplace (bonus: you'll get higher wages, better benefits, and more time off if you succeed!) to make a general strike possible.
Once you are in a union you and your coworkers will need to pressure your leadership to prepare for a general strike, as well as pressure them to organize with other unions to enact a general strike. This is especially true if you are in a more traditional union that isn't the IWW. Your local shop may need to organize directly with other unions if your union leaders are too cowardly to do so.
Most unions have a strike fund that can supplement your income during a general strike to make it more financially bearable (you should also save as much money as you can reasonably do, so it can also be used to keep yourself afloat during a strike). A General Strike is officially planned by the UAW for May 1st 2028, but it was planned before Trump was elected, and by then will be too late, so prepare now for one that may start sooner.
You can contact the IWW with the link below:
And for our international friends, you should join one as well, as fascism is gaining momentum globally. If your country isn't listed below, just contact the IWW directly in the link above, and they'll help you set up a new local branch.
Part 5: Adopt Security Culture and Digital Camouflage
Sometimes benign seeming efforts can turn into unexpected personal data collecting traps. Like an obscure website for exchanging contact info with other students turning into a global ad-tech surveillance network (Facebook), or innocent seeming online personality tests being use to harvest character profiles. Even Etsy, Reddit, Tinder, and Duolingo are feeding information to US Government Agencies like ICE.
Security culture is commonly used to describe the general awareness of such potential traps and how it can affect groups or entire communities. This goes beyond mere individual privacy efforts, as without joint efforts these often fail to work.
Especially in activist circles, security culture is paramount. For opsec reasons not everyone in the group might be aware of what clandestine efforts others are involved in, but with a general security culture many potential data leaks can be avoided.
Movements are made by the volume of their participants, and the easier and less dangerous it is to participate, the more people will get involved. As more people get involved, individual involvement becomes even less dangerous, creating a virtuous cycle.
We'll start it off with some General Advice:
For a full guide on what encrypted communications platforms to use, and how to stay off the radar, read the Digital Camouflage section within the Monthly Meta post here (you'll need to scroll down. I'd add it here, but it won't fit in this comment).
I'd also highly recommend Full Spectrum Resistance to anyone who wants further info on how to resist (audiobook version here).
To be fair, the article he posts contains many suggestions to answer your question.
They started in 2004. Let’s just declare it dead at this point.
What a pessimistic view. In 2008, the PSL's presidential candidate recieved 0.01% of the popular vote. In 2024, their candidate received 0.11%. That's a 1000%+ increase in their votership in less than 20 years, while operating in a country where communism is illegal and the forces of capital spend billions of dollars on pro-capitalist propaganda each year. If anything, they are thriving more than ever.
Or do you think revolution happens overnight and can just spontaneously happen without any mass class consciousness amongst the people?
Bro, when a 1000% increase still leaves you a fucking ROUNDING ERROR, that is not really the win you think it is.
Ok, but the context is fucking America. The fact that this growth occurred at all is miraculous.
Political equivalent of this tweet:
Wait, wtf is this electoral shit? What are they actually doing to cause the revolution?
Oh, their primary focus is building a vanguard party, but they engage with electoralism because Americans think that politics only exist during elections. They have to meet the people where they are at. You know, material conditions and all that.
It’s not a pessimistic view. It’s a realistic view. You sound like a pro-government shill sneaking their way into an anarchy group to calm everyone down.
We need something new. We also need fewer people who respond “well then you do it, har har har”
So an organization that is growing exponentially is dead. Right.
Honestly you are the one who sounds like a government shill, telling people to give up on existing organizations that are having great success.
Or maybe you are just expecting too much too soon. Which is not realism, but idealism.
I just know Americans aren’t going to do anything to help themselves. Go kill a billionaire. aFtEr yOu!
Enjoy the next century of right wing rulers in Merica. ✌️
Ok, so now you’re advocating for lone wolf terrorism? Get serious dude.
The RSDLP was founded in 1898, the Russian revolution happened 20 years after. The timescales aren't dissimilar
People are too cowardly to start it because they fear social ostracization more than tyranny.