this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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chapotraphouse

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Hi, I'm here to announce that everyone pushing the standard Hexbear party line on the protest movement is a loser and wrong. I already know the weak-ass arguments you're gonna make and every single one of them reveals your disconnection from any actual organizing. Let's go through them one by one. If you have another that you think Marx Failed to Consider, please bring it up and I will explain how you are wrong in that way as well.

This was funded by the Waltons

No, one Walton bought an ad in the NYT. Who fucking cares? It has no material bearing on the movement whatsoever. There's no organization money is being funneled to other than the Democratic Party and Indivisble, which is not different in any way. The on-the-ground organizers in most cities and towns are not receiving a penny from the left's George Soros conspiracy. They're just normal people (and, to the next point, lots of leftists).

The Democrats are using this to steal the leftist energy of the masses

The Democrats certainly want to do that, but on the ground reports indicate they are losing all over the country. That's because leftists (especially PSL) are not leaving this space uncontested. I have spent an enormous amount of time putting in the work to earn the trust and legitimacy necessary to place a bunch of literal revolutionary communists in the leadership of the local movement. Not in some sneaky, behind the scenes way, but out in the open, succeeding specifically because we are literal revolutionary communists who never shut up about it. The Democrats, by my accounting, are losing the struggle in more places than not. If you refuse to engage because you're afraid the Dems will suck your leftist soul, you're just conceding the struggle and granting them victory. They don't co-opt by pressing a button, they co-opt because they have the resources to take leadership and then defuse. So far they have failed to do so specifically because the space is not empty and the communists are fighting harder to reach the masses (since we actually have an appealing program).

The attendees are all Kamala-loving liberals who just want to go back to brunch

If you had ever bothered to go to one of these events and talk politics to people, you'll discover a very broad array of political perspectives, including a strong trend towards explicit support for socialism. Yes, of course, the PMC bug-eating libs are there - who cares? They are by no means the only attendees. Maybe you're just Too Cool to be around someone who reminds you of your mom, but the rest of us are finding deep political discontent and activating it. When one of my comrades gets on the mic and says "we need to break from the democrats and do a literal socialist revolution", the crowd response, by and large, is incredibly positive. The retired dentists and accountants in the crowd grumble and whine, but they are a minority - and they don't leave. They stay and listen to the arguments we make. They say things like "you're right, I just don't think it's possible". They very, very rarely say "you're going too far".

This is a disorganized mess that's going to fizzle out

50501 and other decentralized spontaneous protest movements never last, but they do give an opportunity for dedicated political organizers to intervene on a stage where thousands of disaffected liberals and Democrat voters are asking "what is to be done?". If you decide not to show up and answer that question, the Democrat machine will coordinate the demobilization of this movement. If you do show up and you deliver the political argument you believe in. If you show up with the AV equipment, safety marshalls, march route, signs, and speaker list - the bare minimum for a halfway serious organizer - then you don't just hand out flyers and talk at a table but set the entire political line of the event. And in doing so, you demonstrate the leadership of the socialist movement and win a lot of those attendees to your side. If you can plug them into actual organizing work, you can bring them into permanent political motion. Does it matter if 95% of these people just go home and never bother to do anything besides another protest? If those 5% join the movement in a meaningful way, that's half a million new comrades.

Mao says: "All work done for the masses must start from their needs and not from the desire of any individual, however well-intentioned. It often happens that objectively the masses need a certain change, but subjectively they are not yet conscious of the need, not yet willing or determined to make the change. In such cases, we should wait patiently. We should not make the change until, through our work, most of the masses have become conscious of the need and are willing and determined to carry it out. Otherwise we shall isolate ourselves from the masses. Unless they are conscious and willing, any kind of work that requires their participation will turn out to be a mere formality and will fail."

Stop thinking about what you want to do and achieve and start thinking about the fact that we needs tens of millions of people to support revolutionary socialism in the US in order to get anything done. They are out in the streets begging for you to explain this to them.

These are just peaceful protests that won't achieve anything because they aren't revolutionary.

Lenin says: "What grounds are there for assuming that the “great, victorious, world” revolution can and must employ only revolutionary methods? There are none at all. The assumption is a pure fallacy; this can be proved by purely theoretical propositions if we stick to Marxism. The experience of our revolution also shows that it is a fallacy. From the theoretical point of view—foolish things are done in time of revolution just as at any other time, said Engels, and he was right. We must try to do as few foolish things as possible, and rectify those that are done as quickly as possible, and we must, as soberly as we can, estimate which problems can be solved by revolutionary methods at any given time and which cannot."

You're doing the ultra-leftism of conflating tactics with strategy. Our tactic in this moment is to intervene in these protests to convince people of the necessity of a revolutionary socialist political organization as the only solution to our sick society. Right now, mass revolutionary socialist consciousness and organization does not exist in the USA. Therefore, it is impossible to carry out open revolutionary militancy. If the current crop of people who are in some way directly involved in revolutionary socialist organizing (certainly a lower bar than revolutionary guerrilla warfare or sabotage) turned today to armed struggle, all ~100,000 of them would lose. The broader periphery of people who semi-passively support that objective through attendance at events and monetary contribution is probably a few million. The masses who would passively support probably number in the tens of millions, but that passive support is not particularly useful. And the number of people who would simply sit by and watch it happen is probably over 100 million. Every one of those groups needs to be elevated to the next stage - observer to passive supporter, passive supporter to semi-passive periphery, semi-passive periphery to revolutionary organizer, revolutionary organizer to doing the literal revolution. Each of these layers of the movement have a symbiotic relationship with the others that strengthen the entire struggle.

Here's the key lesson: WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO WIN VIOLENT STRUGGLE AND YOU NEED TO GO WHERE THE MASSES ARE TO RALLY THEM TO OUR CAUSE.

Amerikkkans will never do a revolution because they are labor aristokkkrauts

Ok, thank you for you contribution, you can resume sitting in a hole since your prescription is inactivity.

Please tell me your other weak-ass reasons why you're correct to sit on your ass.

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[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I handed out a ton of homeprinted newsletters at my protest no-tip

[–] SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I agree with this. As communists, we should be absolutely pleased with the opportunity to recruit new people and attempt to influence these protests in any way we can, whether it is in an individual or organized fashion with a party. Just sitting on the sidelines while mocking protestors for protesting incorrectly, isn't just counter-productive, but also ironically a seventh type of liberalism. Mao would like to have a word with those people.

[–] Chapo_is_Red@hexbear.net 17 points 2 days ago

I went to one and propagandized. It wasn't the most receptive audience, but made some connections.

[–] MizuTama@hexbear.net 20 points 2 days ago

Please tell me your other weak-ass reasons why you're correct to sit on your ass.

Have you considered I'm an actual infant with just enough motor skills to smash a keyboard but still can't organize? Checkmate tankie catgirl-smug

In all seriousness, good post!

[–] Erika3sis@hexbear.net 22 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Please tell me your other weak-ass reasons why you're correct to sit on your ass.

If I hadn't been sick that day, and had felt more comfortable with the idea of traveling that far for a protest, I would've liked to attend the local "No Dictators"^[Democrats Abroad renamed the local No Kings protest because Norway is a kingdom.] protest in Oslo — if for no other reason than to make my own first-hand assessment of current protests by local overseas Americans, and talk to the people there.

Alas, I must confess that despite only having second-hand information, that I too have sinned by pushing the "party line" on this issue, albeit still with the kernel of the right idea.

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[–] SuperNovaCouchGuy2@hexbear.net 17 points 2 days ago (8 children)

Amerikkkans will never do a revolution because they are labor aristokkkrauts

This is not a prescription, its a statement based on historical precedent that needs to be proven wrong.

Anyways, it seems that the real argument here is:

The "hexbear party line" about the No Kings protest is a cope to justify people sitting on their asses.

Brother whether it is cope or not the truth as you have admitted yourself is that "mass revolutionary socialist consciousness and organization does not exist in the USA" and that the No Kings protests are decentralized and will eventually fizzle out.

Its true however that these protests are a good opportunity to continue developing the necessary mass organization that may eventually lead to Something Happening.

But its unlikely that Something will actually Happen due to these protests. They are not effective in and of themselves.

inb4 "so this is why you need to organize etc. etc."

Yes so clarify that, its not about the party line being correct then its more about it being necessary to organize and prove the party line incorrect.

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[–] SevenSkalls@hexbear.net 18 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Preach!

I found an anti-ICE contingent in my local protest that also shouted about freeing Palestine, No War in Iran, and other stuff like that, and people actually clapped, cheered, and chanted to those, too. There are people to be reached out there.

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[–] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 17 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Looks like I need to take a hard look at myself and my recent cynicism.

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[–] Llituro@hexbear.net 17 points 2 days ago

Keep up the good work and the good posts jack.

[–] MF_COOM@hexbear.net 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Hell yeah comrade. Not a USian and I don't really have an opinion on the issue but a true comrade is one who cares enough to challenge the consensus and force it to at least be defended, even if it means opening yourself up to be pilloried.

sankara-salute Braver than the troops

[–] iie@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What is some of the rhetoric that has been effective in the field?

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[–] Chertstone@hexbear.net 15 points 2 days ago

I am not american but I did recommend to attend protests simply to be seen amongst the crowds and raise awareness of any vanguard party that exists. People in the west still believe a revolution is just shooting people and throwing bombs and magically everything is as one wishes.

[–] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 14 points 2 days ago

Great post, Jack dean-smile

Let's face it most people doing this don't even realize they're being ultras when doing this, it's a very common way of being an online leftist

[–] anarchoilluminati@hexbear.net 13 points 2 days ago (18 children)

I'm going to flip this and go back to my usual point which no one has answered.

How has PSL managed to grow for 10+ years and not sought and won a single local office? Is PSL actually running for local positions or state positions? At which point does PSL transition from talking to people on the streets and starts picking off as many offices in Dem-controlled areas as possible?

What you say and did is all well and good, but Lenin also urged us to participate in bourgeois parliamentary politics through a revolutionary party. Correct me if I'm wrong and PSL does do this but so far every PSL member I've spoken to doesn't seem to think this is happening in PSL beyond the Presidential campaign. Of course PSL is out at No Kings, this is the kind of thing PSL has done (and done well, granted) for about a decade, but this is obviously not sufficient. For a revolutionary party to be doing the same thing, funneling members to lib protests to siphon people, 10+ years later isn't a great look when unpaired with building local power. PSL seems to me like a party that likes to go to protests, which is cool and I'm not against, but doesn't seem to read one of the most important parts of "Left Wing" Communism. On the other hand, if people don't go to No Kings because they understand that, even as Communists, it isn't connected to a larger strategy then they aren't being "Left Wing" libs if they might just know there are better ways to get people involved at this stage than to go to these types of protests.

This is meant in good faith, by the way. I like PSL and I've been in contact with them longer than most here have but genuinely and frustratingly do not understand what the hell it's doing as a party.

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[–] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 14 points 2 days ago
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