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Why Won’t They Just Say “Capitalism?” (noncompetemedia.substack.com)
submitted 2 days ago by [M] to c/progressivepolitics@lemmy.world
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The progressive fixation on “oligarchy” is a diversion from class struggle.

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[–] 8 points 2 days ago (11 children)

The progressive fixation on “oligarchy” is a diversion from class struggle.

tis exactly why America will never revolt.
they will never be conscious enough to say: “Wait, elections are diversions! Jiminy crickets! We have been fooled sixty times over!”

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago (10 children)

    If voting didn't matter, conservatives wouldn't try nearly so god damn hard to keep you from doing it.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 days ago (4 children)

    And yet Democrats join Republicans in controlling the debates through their bi-partisan corporation, the CPD. They join the Republicans in opposing ranked choice voting at every opportunity. They join the Republicans in confirming socialism. The join the Republicans all the fucking time. And then they tell the narrative that they are better for democracy. They aren't. They're lying. You're falling for it

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  • [–] -1 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    And if all the people that agreed with you voted not just in the election but in the primaries, too, or better yet, helped build a new party from the local level up like the DSA is trying to do and voted for them, you might actually be able to do something about it.

    Or you could accept defeat before you even try so you can wallow in how right you were about those parties.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    If I am right about those parties, then voting wouldn't have changed anything anyway. That you think voting is resistance is exactly what I'm trying to disabuse people of. Voting does nothing except make everyone think we live in a democracy. It doesn't change anything. It never has changed anything. When the Ds were the racist fucks from the South they passed civil rights, with the Republicans necessary bipartian support because black people were rioting and threatening to raise class consciousness, not because people voted. The Ds also supported the Rs in creating the war on drugs to attack those very same black people, and they did it literally as part of the same administration that advanced civil rights, and they did that without voters.

    Voting doesn't do anything and the more you believe it does, the further away from actually changing anything you will be.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Primaries do far more to shape the party than the election, which is why I suggest participating in them, and even if you think that's a totally lost cause, I think a better party could have a chance under the right conditions, but that party is going to have to be built from the local level up, not just foisted on people suddenly at the election. If you want to boil everything down to a single binary choice on national election day, yeah, sure, you're not gonna accomplish much. But if you leverage the greater system, you can position yourself to be ready for people when they're ready to abandon one of the current parties. Or do you think the DSA winning a bunch of seats at the local level is a waste of time? Ask the people of New York if they feel like voting is worthless when they're watching Mamdani work.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago

    I don't really care what people believe about sewer socialists. We've had sewer socialists before in the US. They did a lot of good. And it all got rolled back by the red scares and the purges of communists. Because as it turns out, playing the game that was created by the power elite is not how you defeat the power elite.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago (4 children)

    Exhibit 61, AHemlocksLie rather play their demagoguery, than empower each other. When is outside the system thinking going to take place⸮

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    Why are they mutually exclusive? You can build new structures while simultaneously exercising your right to influence existing structures. If people who agreed with you would vote in both election and primary, or better yet, try to build a new party from the local level up like the DSA seems to be doing, you'd actually get somewhere.

    Or you can give up ahead of time and wallow in how right you are about how shit the options you refused to influence are.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    I'm finding it odd that now suddenly BlueMAGA is fine with third party voting. You're not the first I've been seeing suddenly say "actually voting third party is a good thing" (although hopefully you don't DM me telling me to jump in a woodchipper for saying this like the last person). I've been doing so in every election and primary at every level since I became voting age. However since I live in a deep red area it does squat other than give me a reason to get out of the house for a while. Personally I vastly prefer PSL over DSA. Mamdani is fine, but doesn't light the fire in me like Claudia De La Cruz did.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago*

    In my opinion, third party is viable if it's built from the local level up but not if just pushed in at the top in the national elections. That's why I would generally consider it not useful in the national election but would encourage it at local and maybe state level. As much as I'd love for the Democratic Party collapsed, I don't think that's really going to happen until people think they have a viable alternative, and that's most likely going to be built up from the local level. Once there's a more viable option established and widely known, then maybe it'll work out at the national level.

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