this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2023
33 points (100.0% liked)
askchapo
22732 readers
275 users here now
Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.
Rules:
-
Posts must ask a question.
-
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
-
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
-
Try [email protected] if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I don't see any incentive for dems to act in our best interest though. As Rs become more and more fascist they can slide right and continue to be "better than republicans." I guess this argument is for harm reduction.
It feels like we're getting slow cooked fascism. Republicans are actively 1 upping each other on nazi dog whistles to try and let voters know what team they're on while dems do absolutely nothing - was it always like this? Is "delaying" the inevitable like not seeing the doctor for a strange lump on your neck?
Dems don't just do nothing, they actively support and give money to the most bigoted and extreme Republicans, on the basis that they think they'll be easier to beat because more people will be threatened by them. They are fascist enablers gambling with our lives and trying to win our votes through coercion, while enacting polices that fuck us.
What would "seeing the doctor" be though? Civil war? World wide war? I'm afraid that if that would happen now, the fascists would win. It seems to me that they're capable of standing together and ready to fight. People on the left don't have that. We splinter ourselves based on smaller differences instead of working together for small incremental progress. If republicans lose several elections in a row, they'll eventually figure out they have to change tactics to stay relevant and maybe things can start shifting left.
organizing people to vote as a block, so you can meaningfully hold candidates' feet to the fire. merely voting democrat because "they're not those guys" gives them carte blanche to move further and further right, as they've done for 40 years since unions basically got killed off. also read state and revolution.
Organizing takes time and we clearly haven't gotten the message out well enough yet. We need to be on the defensive until there is enough support to really change things. Most people outside of forums like this don't even understand what's happening.
so the problem won't be solved by telling random posters to vote blue. glad we're on the same page.
No but it's part of it. Idk what else I can do right now besides try to get people on the same page. I wish I had a better suggestion. Also, we aren't random posters. Being on this forum means we care more than the average person. We're more likely to actually talk about stuff like this to people in our lives.
it helps to have a real and material theory of political change before trying to get people on the same page. seconding my recommendation to read state and rev, before the brainworms become terminal.
I do plan on reading more. Out of curiosity though, what do you think an average person could do right now?
start locally - like neighborhood level, your workplace, etc.. organize the people who see you day to day and show them that it's possible to make positive change by banding together. a union drive at work, a tenants union in your apartment building, whatever. that gives you a basis on which to start pursuing real political education and to start building class consciousness. eventually, you can start politicizing the org. don't rush it, though, or you'll turn people against you.
(different person) Join or organize a labour union. If you are joining a union then you can argue for it to be more political and hostile to capital, if you need to form the union that is enough work to focus on.