this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
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Get organized. Join a Leftist org, find solidarity with fellow comrades, and protect each other. The Dems will not save you, it is up to the Workers to protect themselves. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and Freedom Road Socialist Organization both organize year round, every year, because the battle for progress is a constant struggle, not a single election. See if there is a chapter near you, or start one! Or, see if there's an org you like more near you and join it, the point is that organizing is the best thing any leftist can do.
Read theory. A good primer is Blackshirts and Reds. It will help contextualize what fascism is, what causes it, and how to stop it. I can offer a good introductory reading list for Marxism if you'd like, but this is a good starting point.
Aggressively combat white supremacy, misogyny, queerphobia, and other attacks on marginalized communities. Cede no ground.
Be more industrious, and self-sufficient. Take up gardening, home repair, tinkering. It is through practice that you elevate your problem-solving capabilities. Not only will you improve your skill at one subject, but your general problem-solving muscles get strengthened as well. Theory guides practice, which sharpens theory to be reapplied to better practice.
Learn self-defense. Get armed, if practical. Be ready to protect yourself and others. The Democrats will not save us, we must save each other.
Be persistent. If you feel like a single water driplet against a mountain, think of the Grand Canyon. Oh, how our efforts pile up! With consistency, every rock, boulder, even mountain, can be drilled through with nothing but steady and persistent water droplets.
Regarding point 1:
Sod off. Wasn't it the socialists who refused to cooperate with the democrats? Didn't they decide not to vote for the Democrats over i.e. the Palestine issue?
They sabotaged the Democrats. They are also responsible for this, in no small part.
And now they try to wash their hands?
Seriously, what is this bullshit?!
step 1: Help elect fascist president
step 2: blame everyone else for fascist president being elected
step 3: profit
From the "Freedom Road Socialist Organization" you linked to yourself: https://frso.org/statements/the-2024-elections-palestine-and-the-road-ahead/
You actively sabotaged the Democrats. You stopped them from winning. This is actively your fault, don't act like you didn't do everything in your power to help elect Trump
Marxists didn't sabotage the Democrats, the Democrats sabotaged themselves. Third party voters swayed 0 elections, especially not swing states. The truth is that the Democrats failed to rile up their base, Harris stopped doing what was effective like calling Republicans weird, then shifted to Liz Cheney endorsements to court the right.
The idea that the .1-.5% of votes that went to Stein or De La Crúz swayed an election where Harris handily lost 1-2% at minimum in nearly every swing state caused her loss is laughable. It was not the Leftists making any difference on the election, it was the failure of the Democratic Party and the Harris campaign.
Where was Medicare for All? Where was "Build Back Better?" Where were the solid, progressive policies that encouraged massive voter turnout in 2020 that evaporated in 2024? Gone, from both the campaign and the voterbase.
Whether you identify as a leftist or not, blaming a tiny group on swaying a massive election where non-voters would have beaten both Harris and Trump is silly. Look at the vote counts, the fact is that the Dems failed by their own lack of merit. This is the first time in several decades where a Republican has won the popular vote, the real, material numbers cannot be ignored. They are real, and need to be taken seriously.
I’m generally on your side of this argument but the number of non-voters is hard to quantify yet clearly had a major effect on the outcome, and a lot of the anti-Harris rhetoric from the left demotivated people into not voting at all (as opposed to voting third party). The third party vote counts are somewhat irrelevant to this line of reasoning.
It's important to note that there are 2 possibilities:
Leftists had little influence, and therefore did not impact the election. This is further reinforced by the fact that many leftists did vote for Harris, leftists are not a monolith. Therefore, the problem is with how the Harris campaign fared compared to Biden in 2020. I believe this is more likely.
Leftists had major influence, and the Democrats knowingly gambled on moving rightward. This is still a failure of the Democrats! If Leftists actually have the power claimed, then the minimum Harris could have done is run a similar campaign to Biden, not "Republican-lite."
I don’t disagree with that assessment.