So this is something I've been doing for years in my semi-personal/organizing type interactions. But after scrolling through Instagram, I saw a post that posits that this isn't common knowledge?
You want working class people to show up and listen to you for an event? The solution is food, more food, and better food. All working class community events are built around food. The ones that aren't are built around drugs, and well I don't know many good orgs that started off by giving people free drugs. I'm kind of a lone wolf organizer as of right now, I do the shit I do for the left at my own apartment. My friends, along with my friends' friends, know they can just call me and say they're hungry, and I'll start cooking literally whatever I have in the apartment at that moment. If y'all heard me talk about the med thing I used to do in the mega thread, that was also just word of mouth amongst friends and people pulling up to my residence.
If you want people to believe you believe everybody on this planet should have food, put your money where your mouth is. Every serious socialist org should do regular potlucks. Neurotypicals that go to events and say "oh I'm here for the people" are lying to themselves and everybody else because that's all the neurotypicals are capable of. Numbers say y'all came here for food and stayed because of what you heard. That's just numbers talking. Offer food, and you get more people, and by actually feeding those people, you're showing you do more for them than their government and all the filthy capitalists who say they care. I radicalize people because they see how little I have, but they also see how hard I go to make sure I'm able to feed every motherfucker that comes through this house, and I speak with conviction. They know I'm a smart person, and once I feed them despite the fact that I often go hungry, they see my dedication to my ideals and they're more likely to be moved
I'm just an individual doing this, I fucking wish orgs around me would pick up the same energy and realize that human organizing has been based around food for thousands of years. Convince your org to get into food, and I mean good food. These people see the food you serve as a representation of the future if you're doing it as an org. The beans and rice work at my place because people understand that I'm an individual well below the poverty line. But for a whole ass org? Yeah y'all can't serve mid food, there's too much collective resource there for potential converts to give it a pass. Orgs have to serve great food.
I cant fit food through my mask so its very awkward (and annoying, and depressing) to sit there while others eat. But unfortunately my org has given up (back in like 22) on covid precautions. So you'll be happy to know we're doing our part to infect everyone with covid bc treatlerites cant be bothered to come to shit without material incentives
That is to say, I agree with your analysis strategy in the modern day; i strongly disagree with your presentation of this as human nature. When I read about the actual old proletarian organisations in 48, 71, or 17, i dont see food mentioned (except as needed to fuel revolutionaries, or as aid to the poor (edit: i.e., as its own event, not a motivator to do political work). Its only among the petty bourgeois and upper classes i see mentions of banquets and social events predominate over education and action as the way to get people out
Also bold of you to assume we have funding for food; we spend most our money sending execs around the country bc god forbid people have a zoom meeting instead of exchange germs face to face.
Food Not Bombs exists and not only are my local chapter extremely effective with funding allocation it is always out doors and we distribute masks, sanitizer, and test kits.
People are free to take their food and go where is safe to unmask and all the volunteer staff wear masks.
Ye, those sorts of orgs distributing food is very different from food as an incentive for coming to meetings tho (as i mentioned in my edit)
Edit: Also, i'm glad your chapter masks and does stuff outdoors. Mine doesnt. Our experiences are very different it seems.
To be clear, i was not implying its only your chapter that masks. I am saying that, where i am, literally 0 (zero) orgs have masking policied and all of them are very enthusiastic to share food indoors with 50+ people with me being the only person wearing a mask. I am genuinely glad many other chapters are better on this.
Lol do you see how often I post on mutual aid? If people on this site don't help me out, I live off of $200 a week at best and that includes my bills. I still put money aside for feeding other people. Right now, all I have for food is restaurant quantity of beans and rice. I take out of my own mouth to feed working class people around me because if I don't nobody else will.
If orgs want to feed their people, they will.
I agree with you; unfortunately i've been outvoted. In my ideal world, all my orgs money would go towards distributing food and masks to people and printing agitprop instead of plane fares.
You will find a million bolshevik pamphlets talking about the workers need for bread and supporting workers mutual aid societies; you will be hard pressed to find any examples of the bolsheviks bringing food to meetings to encourage attendance.
First the Bolsheviks weren't the only proletarian organization in history. Most proletarian organizations aren't vanguard parties. Second, this still doesn't mean they didn't have food at their meeting. Having food at their meetings could've been as obvious as having a fire lit in the winter.