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this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2024
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the_dunk_tank
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It's the dunk tank.
This is where you come to post big-brained hot takes by chuds, libs, or even fellow leftists, and tear them to itty-bitty pieces with precision dunkstrikes.
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The revolution won't be televised. Direct action is largely toothless. Iirc somebody lit themselves on fire to protest climate change and it was barely reported on. But somebody puts paint on the Stonehenge or even mildly inconveniences the public and it draws attention via outrage for a while. Literally all a protest is trying to do is draw attention to an issue. And this is one of the only methods I've seen that still works. Srsly why bother with direct action when it won't achieve anything
That's because lighting yourself on fire is counterproductive and doesn't work. Direct action is fundamentally mass action and the action of groups, not individuals.
Strikes are a prime example of direct action. It's also important that workflow is disrupted. Other forms of protest are nil, really.
Strikes, sabotage, political assassination, anything is better than this kind of protest, which only succeeds in turning people against the cause and giving the protesters a self-indulgent sense that they have done their part.
But thats the thing, are strikes even effective anymore? I haven't seen one that succeeded in the way that the ones described in the 30s did.
Yes, workers organizing, forming unions, going on strikes, and making demands are effective. They're not enough by themselves, but they are effective.
Taft Hartley did a number on union activity
They are not as effective as they used to be because of the whole historical context (for starters, we no longer have a great socialist nation serving as a practical example of what can happen to the bourgeoisie if it decides to completely ignore the demands of the workers) and the fact that the working class has never been less ideologically organized than it is today. Still, strikes continue to be one of the most effective ways to force the machine of capital to listen to the demands of the working class. The problem is organizing these demands.
Is anything Actually working anymore? It seems like the Capitalist diaspora learned from earlier movements and now they can defeat any protest or direct action or strike easily. Sorry to be doomer here but IDK what we're supposed to do that isn't
It stops being
when you and a lot of friends are doing it
Some countries still have fairly effective strikes, France is one
What
That's a public display of total despair, not direct action against the responsible group.
I think that in large part direct action has become less effective as corporations have learned how to deal with them. And the way they deal with them is by ignoring the problem until people forget about it.
State your proposed alternative to direct action.
I dont know is the problem. For example I'm boycotting Nestle and i have been for years at this point. They're the worst they dont think water is a human right etc. I tell everyone about it it when it comes up. But at the end of the day i dont think its doing anything to Nestle.
I support protesting however you can i guess, but I'm also very pessimistic about odds of success
Well if your only form of action is consumer activism I'm not surprised you're pessimistic. That's literally never worked ever.
I disagree boycotts are absolutely effective. Montgomery bus boycott. Even the starbucks boycott going on right now. If you hurt a companys source of income they tend to act pretty quickly.and it doesnt just apply to consumerism it applys to celebrities and politicians through cancelling and or not voting.
I didn't say boycotts are worthless.
I said if your only form of action is a boycott its never going to work. Every effective boycott was accompanied by mass demonstration, public agitation, and organizing. Sometimes vandalism and even violence.
Fair enough I see your point