Read theory(preferably with a group), and slowly become smart enough to write theory, that can help develop the revolutionary environment. Even if the theory is bad, it can help future marxists figure out what is wrong to find the correct path. My belief is the key thing lacking in the western left is theoretical development (when considering the current context in which they are in).

But past that life just felt more fun when I wasn't constantly thinking about politics.

Ill be honest chief, this is why the west (as a whole) is not ready for revolutionary thought

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ehf9udAhng

We are fighting a war that has been ongoing for hundreds of years and it will continue after we are gone if it doesn't end in our lives.

Fight that war, but also live your life the way that works for you while you do it. If that means throwing yourself at the cause then do it, if it means giving only a piece of your week to the cause then do that.

Just be the best person you can be, and espouse leftist ideas without fear. Those who can actually be persuaded will notice your actions more than your ideals.

I personally don't worry too much about theory, I just try to make sure that my worldview is based on compassion for others

You are not the hero of the story.

You are not responsible for single-handedly fixing the world when there are legions organized around a project that continues to destroy it.

If all you can do is give a few bucks and pair of socks to somebody without a home, that's what you do.

If all you can do is work a soup kitchen a few times a year, that's what you do.

If all you can do is occasionally help a person bring in their groceries from their car, that's what you do.

If all you can do is the small things, do the small things.

A hundred years, a thousand years, we're marching on the road
The going isn't easy yet, we've got a heavy load, oh we've got a heavy load
The way is blind with blood and sweat, and death sings in our ears
But time is marching on our side, we will defeat the years, oh we will defeat the years
We men of bone of shrunken shank, our only treasure dearth
Women who carry at their breast heirs to the hungry earth, oh heirs to the hungry earth

Speak with one voice, we march, we rest, and march again upon the years
Sons of our sons are listening to hear the Chartist cheers
Oh, to hear the Chartists cheers

I can't see any way out except third world maoism, and that's a longshot

Socialist politics must necessarily adapt to the material conditions of where they are practiced. MTW was effective in pre-Revolutionary China, but we don't just copy/paste what happened previously, even if it was effective.

Don't take that as a direct denouncement of MTW, of course. It is important to study the successes and failures of our comrades of the past and learn from them. Understanding that most of the socialist successes have happened in largely agrarian countries certainly allows for some bleakness to residents of the imperial core. The wheels of history turn on, and the fight for a better future has barely even begun.

I think some of that was because my leftism was mostly online. I did what i could in person but had limited options.

It's super important to take this all offline. Get is as offline as possible, even.

This can be very difficult for many who are truly stuck in some really bleak political territory. I've lived on the US west coast my whole life, so it 's unfortunately (for my message) not some thing I'm familiar with. I hope that anyone in your situation finds the means and motivation to move to somewhere they can at least have some tenuous organization, even if it's with tha succ-dems (way better than nothing). I know many have moved to the US west coast from other parts of the country for the politics (I wish we could offer them better than bland liberalism, but I digress...). It's not to be taken lightly, but especially if you are young, it should be a serious consideration. Every US west coast city has an active DSA, at minimum.

But to be honest what can I do other than mutual aid? Americans are too stupid to ever see past capitalism, there's no local governance I can affect, and anything else is just adventurism.

Where are you at with education? That answer has a lot to do with what options you'll have available (whatever it may be).

Are you a vegan yet? If so:

spoiler

hell yeah, friend , but unironically

If not:

The answer is always to read theory and organize. But neither of these have to be massive endeavors you're doing all alone. Dip your toes in some local organizing. If there's only mutual aid, do mutual aid and start a reading group. Get practice in doing solidarity work for unions. Attend any local pro-Palestine events and talk to organizers about how you can help.

PS Americans are better-educated than most populations that have organized and participated in any socialist or national liberation revolution. Their frustrating psychology is that of imperialist propaganda and white settler colonialism. It is indeed a barrier but not insurmountable, and the more people we have doing any kind of organizing work, the greater we can tip the scales in our favor.

book club maybe? https://unity-struggle-unity.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Study-Group-Interior-Pocketbook.pdf

do what you can within the bounds of your material capabilities, and remember revolutions are formed by material conditions, the whole ?There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"

try doing what the black panthers did is what i was told, but community in real life is important to help keep morale up - even if they just spend time just loitering around, friends and gradually working towards a better world until it's time

gardening with friends, working out, book clubs, it might be quote mined but there are gramsci and lenin quotes online that talk about having discipline and excercise, so i guess just being fit, having discipline forged by hard work,

i mean i guess having a clean room unless your absolutely completely occupied like marx was

I can't see any way out except third world maoism, and that's a longshot

The ice cube melts from the outside in. Currently you're a single water molecule trapped in the center of the ice cube. You can't jiggle enough to melt the ice cube by yourself, all you can do is try to stay warm and slightly warm up your nearest neighbours.

As the contradictions sharpen in the periphery of the empire, the 'front line' will begin to retreat towards the core. Then the jiggling you've kept alive within yourself and maybe even spread to those around you might have a chance at forming the tiniest pocket of liquid. If enough other people are doing that, the pockets can eventually run together and start breaking the ice apart from the inside. If the water within and without can meet, work together and synchronize their movements, then the ice cube can finally be melted away into nothing.

Less metaphorically, there aren't enough people in the west who are in desperate enough conditions to be looking for an answer. Enough people are comfortable enough materially to be comfortable ideologically with the system's lies, so that a rigorously Marxist party cannot be built with broad support. This isn't going to change until the empire decays further and is handed some defeats by its external enemies. If you can do nothing else, keep reading theory and try to convince a handful of people around you. If you really want to prepare properly, you also need to become as strong and fit as you can. I'm offering this advice knowing I'm in the same situation as you and having just as much difficulty deciding on a course of action, but in the absence of a clear path forward all you can do is 1. improve yourself mentally and physically and 2. try to make more people communist.

The revolution is going to operate based on resources available to it. Those resources have to be collected in the first place.

There is a misery that stretches across all the West, and it includes the rich people who are consumed by anxiety of class threats and the emptiness of their lives. While less than 1% of people are socialists, a large chunk of people harbor the wish of escaping from neoliberal capitalism through self-sufficiency that does not come at the expense of other people. Shrinking the size of the economy while building up practical supplies and holdings may be one of the biggest things we can do in our positions. Keep in mind though that these will be useless if we don't find other like-minded people to coordinate our operations with.

Become a full Amerikkkan Maoist EngliSSh user.