I've been trying to figure out how to innoculate/poison the rhetoric in use that gets people to go along with whatever liberal/conservative talking heads set as an agenda for discourse.

Deconstructing rhetoric, analysis of media narratives - "media literacy" - more generally. I need a really fast way to read people into that frame such that they are immediately deonstructing narratives as soon as they feel empowered to do so.

I basically want to utterly snuff out the average person's credulity towards people who are seeking power or modelling behavior from a highly visible place.

In order for things to get better, people have to have the tools they need to distrust power. That needs to be paramount, over anything else. Once you have people going "oh wow that's kinda bullshit" rather than uncritically entering a receptive state and parroting what the guy on their screen told them to say and think, a lot of the work will just get done on its own

We really need to be poisoning the rhetorical space as much as possible. I need something that devalues propaganda the same way capital is trying to use AI to devalue art. I need something that poisons the dataset.

Ultimately the fault lies in Harris and democratic leadership who were in charge of the campaign. Harris got like 10 million fewer votes than Biden and you can't blame that on any one group. They made the conscious decisions that led them to have only a few million more votes than Hillary got almost a decade ago.

If someone is hell bent on a certain race/ethnicity let them know it can't purely be black or Latino voters fault if this is a majority white country. Are these people going to vote scold white people for sitting out or voting wrong? Democrats seem to lash out against their supposed allies more than the apathetic whites. They just write off the disengaged and target the apparently 20% of African American men that voted for Trump this time. Most of them still voted for Harris and if they went against voting for a black Democrat then she had to have a terrible campaign since that is one of the most loyal voting blocks in the United States.

Also, important to remember that Hispanics/Latinos aren't a coherent group within the United States. Some are fifth generation jet ski dealers that don't know Spanish and some are recent citizens who work as day laborers and need their ballot to be in Spanish. There's too much variety to tie them together like can be done with other groups.

The left really needs to emphasize how the dems utterly failed young people. Young people don't care about being " The most lethal fighting force in the world" they care about being able to live on a habitable planet. They care about not going in to debt just because they sought a higher education. They care about being able to afford a place to live without having to share a studio apartment with seven other people.

Umm, yes. Specifically for Leftists of the non revolutionary sort, or those tempted to hide and wait out the tide of reaction, or those in despair. This is off the cuff and a bit scattered, so any critique is probably justified. I guess Agitprop for communists is still Agitprop. Perhaps Inspirprop (god that's bad, surely I can think of something better)?

#On maintaining sanity.#

Mao once said "Everything is chaos under heaven, the situation is excellent." General Foch, while saving the French army from destruction in 1914 said "My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking."

Everything is not, quite, chaos yet. The only centre giving way is the libs and the right is definitely not retreating. What remains of the centre is, to the extent it functions anymore, focused on beating down the Left.

The situation is not excellent.

I have lost three comrades to despair since election night and one of them wasn't even in the USA. Three worlds dead. Three revolutions that will never happen. How can I possibly describe the sorrow? I have spent hours with many more leftists and fellow travellers, talking them through this time. I think, I hope, I have had some small effect on their mental state.

The situation is terrible.

Nevertheless we must attack. Defense is not enough. Apathy is not enough. Fleeing and hiding is not enough. It is not yet a time of chaos but it is a time of opportunity. There are a million things to do. We must (ha ha) Combat Liberalism, because in a few months we will surely be combating Fascism, or at least reaction.

For the Libs are bleeding. The reason they are attacking us is because this represents an incredible opportunity to Take Their Stuff. Their funding has collapsed, their "grassroots" institutions lead by lanyards but run by socialists and increasingly panicked progressives. Their policies clearly have no meaning. Union action continues to spike despite constant efforts by union leadership and state labour boards. As leftists, if we are in a liberal organisation now is the time to speak up, become insufferable, and turn it into a seed that the revolutionary orgs can use. If we have liberal friends or family now is the time to show them hope by the eternal light of our saviour, Karl Marx.

I understand, this is risky, but the Liberals are disheartened, and a voice of hope (with some critique) can be very powerful.

Every suggestion I have is simply that. Not everything I say is good for every person. I don't have every strategy. Use this as a launch pad. These are off the cuff notes. One thing I will say is don't just dismiss these. Saying "this is too hard" is a form of Liberalism.

In every revolution, leftists in businesses, bureaucracies and social orgs quickly decapitated the leadership and established socialist councils. Many of these were not members of formal orgs, or even activists. They were simply the people who were right, consistently, and who when things went crappy knew what to do. It is easy to become this person. Just be good at your job, help your fellow employees, especially mentor new workers, and don't hide your socialism as much as you can without getting fired. Don't put up with chud-lite bullshit, but also help them at their job. Often, a quick light hearted jab does wonders without embarrassing them. Show them Socialists are Better. Better Friends, Better Workers, Better Conversationalists, Better Politicians.

This is a lot of work, and will go against a lot of our anti-work prejudices. anti-work is for workers, not for Cadre. We don't work for the boss we work for our co-workers. And you do want to be Cadre, right? The result is not a Socialist workplace, but a workplace that when reaction comes to town will back you, and not the fascists.

There is also opportunity with individuals. I think, in the coming days, this is the most important thing. First we must help leftists and the oppressed, but we know how to do this, we are used to failure.

Next, Adopt a Liberal. Progressive ideally, but a lanyard type is fine too. They're having an even worse time than we are, and they could use the company. Listen, patiently, to their half-baked ideas about how Latinos are all nazis and should be sent over the border. I know, I know. Scratch a Liberal, but really, they are just acting out. Their belief system has collapsed and they haven't forgotten it yet. Talk to them, ask them questions. Give Standard Maoist English and strident analyses about how we are right all the time only as a last resort. Use data as a counter sparingly, use Pathos as much as possible, because Libs are Idealists. wring out catharsis using Socratic dialogue (the non insufferable kind) let them clarify their thoughts, and show them a path forward. This is something that will take days, weeks. And it will only be the beginning. But a Liberal who begins to see the possibility in Socialism is 98% there, they'll get themselves the rest of the way, eventually.

Finally, yes, join an org. This is much easier than you might think. Do you have rl friends? Are they Socialists or Anarchists of some stripe? Congratulations on your new Vanguard Party, General Secretary! This is how the first orgs started. Friends or co workers, bitching about how work sucks, swapping ideas and stories, reading newspapers. That's all you need to do. Find some friends, then find their friends. Merge if you want to, stay independent if you don't. Engage in praxis if you'd like, or stay theory-focused and just work on agit-prop techniques.

By now you are full of ideas, either shit I've not thought of or a thousand objections about how none of this will work because you have no friends, are unemployed, cannot speak to people, and live in a town entirely populated by Rhodesian expats who are also AIPAC members. Good, live with those thoughts and objections and think them through. Progress the contradiction in what must be done and what cannot be done. That in itself is a useful act. Do post if you find out the way through.

I'll stop by saying that phrase that we've all heard so many times it sounds naff. A Better World is Possible. Let's mull over what that means, because I feel it really encapsulates Socialism. All the stuff in Capital or Mutual Aid is simply extrapolation.

A Better World is Possible.

A Better World is Possible.

A Better World Is Possible.

A Better World Is Possible.

As communists, it is our job, our sacred duty, to be that possibility.

By the numbers, objectively, Dronebama, Killery, Sleepy Joe and Kambabla have individually caused death and mass human suffering on a wider scale than Trump did in his 4 years in office. Oh yeah and Dick Cheney holy fuck. But Joe Rogan endorses Bernie and we lose our fucking minds lol.

I'm so fucking tired of hearing liberals I know freak out over Trump as if the dems are not also terrifying demons. Someone started in on some Russia-gate shit and I'm just asking so Russia got Trump elected by posting on facebook. Not because the dems ran a demon lady war criminal?

Very important to note that all the motherfuckers playing the identity politics card about Bernie and his campaign in 2020 are the FIRST to throw trans people and latinos under the bus. First in line to blame Kamala's loss on her being a woman.

Need a video that's just Nancy Pelosi calling Republicans her friends, along with her calls for a strong Republican party. She got what she wanted.

If your state itemizes write-ins (like, all of them. Not many do), these things read like a message board lmao.

https://www.bergencountyclerk.gov/_Content/pdf/ElectionResult/write-ins%2011_7_24_signed.pdf

I made a similar post from some early successes I've had today. Most of it is functionally aftercare. Here's the gist:

Just a reminder to tell your fellow liberals that they didn't fail anyone. They were failed by DNC leadership

• Holy shit this worked REALLY REALLY WELL. STRIKE NOW COMRADES (shoutout to @Sickos)
• I also had good luck with this so far.

I've also had success with: "The disenchantment with the Democratic party will pave the way for a true 3rd party that represents regular folks instead of rich donors."

I'm Canadian and Trump hysteria is only gonna hurt the conservatives and helo the ndp, the lib party is dead in the water as far as public opinion goes. This is gonna make things easier for the NDP cause we can literally point to America and say 'look where it got them, we have a viable third party'

Was this the most important election of our lifetimes?

Is this really the last chance to stop fascism?

Will Trump make the Palestinian genocide 10x worse?

Is democracy itself over now?

Then where’s the rioting on the streets fucKKKing pussies

I think they’re right, tbh, at least in the vibes sense, but why aren’t they rioting?

I have none except that:

1. This country is going to get worse and worse. Neither party offers any way out (because they are beholden to capital) and the unviability of a third party means people will constantly bounce between the two, blaming the current signs of decline om the incumbent party. Incumbent disadvantage will be a thing. In the end, Harris lost because she was a member of Biden's administration and Biden himself only won because he wasn't a member of Trump's administration or a member of Trump's party.

2. The majority of people already recognize the sham election for what it is and opt out to not waste their time. Imagine wasting an entire workday standing in line with nothing to show for it in the end. And as the country further declines and third parties continue to be unviable, more people will check out. These people are fertile soil for radicalization. They are disillusioned with the status quo but don't know exactly why and are just begging for somebody to show them the way forward.

3. The people who still believe in the electoral process will be and ought to be treated like Jehovah's Witnesses: a bunch of evangelizing and obnoxious freaks. Believing in the electoral process should be treated like believing in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.

Maybe this is the view of a non-USian, but: If you are serious about somebody being Hitler or wanting to end democracy, you don't tread them like Trump was treated. Absurd technicalities so campaigns could call him a convict, but not actually putting him behind bars for breaking the rules these people supposedly care so much about? This was all messaging to shore up support and donations from snobby suburbanites and white collar losers. I am not an expert on the justice department, but this reads like just dont want to prosecute even though the Dems' message, who were supposedly running the governmental machine, was: "It's us or fascism" https://apnews.com/article/trump-jan-6-justice-department-classified-documents-01c2d54177d7c949f62a15604a27b3e0

I get it might not be easy but nobody can tell me yet why the guy behind something as mythologized as Jan 6 can just run for president again like it was some fucking retry, even after his idiot pork herd stampeded through the American Volkshalle

Copying over a comment I made in another thread:

I think this article I shared earlier in the week on /c/history is a pretty good piece to send to people, especially those at least sympathetic towards socialism. It outlines how the abolitionists actually managed to achieve lasting change in the United States, despite its 2 party system and powerful slave-owning aristocracy.

Basically it lays out what was done by the abolitionists to achieve a better world. That could help us start a serious discussion on what is to be done in our time.

The Abolitionist Dirty Break by Ben Grove

From the introduction of the piece:

How can a small movement challenge the Leviathan? How can it find strength in its independence? How can it topple a power that seems omnipotent and achieve a revolution?

In 2024, these tasks may seem hopelessly difficult to socialists in the United States. But defying the powerful has never been easy, and we will always have lessons to learn from our predecessors. One of the most important, yet also misunderstood, is the American abolitionist movement.

It’s easy enough to celebrate abolitionists for their righteous principles: activists of every stripe invoke their legacy. Yet abolitionists and their Radical Republican allies were more than just moral idealists. They were also cunning revolutionary strategists. Using principled independent politics, they successfully attacked America’s slaveholding oligarchy and the two-party system that protected it. Their insights and debates have tremendous relevance for modern socialists, because abolitionism helped to ignite the most important revolutionary rupture in U.S. history: the Civil War and the downfall of chattel slavery.

And these were the conditions that their movement built itself in:

By the 1820s, a two-party system of Whigs and Democrats was developing, nurtured by the brilliant New York politician Martin Van Buren. Van Buren’s explicit goal was to use the excitement of party politics to distract the masses from more dangerous conflicts over slavery. Whigs and Democrats would have fiery conflict and genuine power struggles—but both sides suppressed opposition to America’s true ruling class: the planters of the South, the Slave Power.

I might not be good at agitprop.

Every time that someone implies that Palestinians should have been sacrificed for the country, I just call them fascist.

It is after all what they are but I'm not sure if that convinces people to try something different.

America’s officially fascist. Now what? - NonCompete

#The Houdini Line: Our Post-Election Statement and Goals My friends, brothers, sisters, comrades, today we face a moment that will test us all. It's the kind of moment that comes once in a generation. As you know, Donald Trump has won the presidency again, and there's no sugarcoating it—things are about to get harder for working people, for women, for our LGBTQ comrades, and for every community that's been pushed to the margins of this country.

And what have we seen from the so-called opposition? The Democratic Party—the party that was supposed to be for the people—has shifted so far right that they're promising walls and advancing genocide. They've got no vision, no courage, and no heart for the people. They don't want to fight for you; they want to fight over who gets to hold the reins of power. But let me tell you, folks: the people who hold that power don't care about you or me. They don't care about us any more than they care about the grass they step on or the wind that blows.

Now, I know that many of you—especially those who are young and facing this for the first time—might feel like the ground has been ripped out from under you. You're worried, maybe even scared about what the future holds. Some of you may even be wondering if you'll be safe here, wondering if you need to leave this country just to find security and a fair shot at life. But let me tell you this: you are not alone. You are not alone. There is an entire generation of people who have been where you are, who have felt that same fear, and they're still here. And I'm telling you, the sun will rise tomorrow.

Let me tell you, my friends, DIY networks exist. Real, true communities exist—communities that don't rely on politicians and their empty promises. You don't have to depend on the person on your TV screen. You can depend on each other. And I'm asking you right now: reach out. Look to your left, look to your right. Connect with your neighbors, your friends, your comrades, because now is the time to build, and build strong.

In the words of the great revolutionary Thomas Sankara: “There is no true social revolution without the liberation of women. May my eyes never see and my feet never take me to a society where half the people are held in silence. I hear the roar of women's silence. I sense the rumble of their storm and feel the fury of their revolt.”

And we're going to take that message and put it at the heart of our movement. Because, folks, there is no liberation if women aren't free. There is no justice if women's rights, including the right to choose, aren't protected. This is not a side issue—this is the issue. Women's rights are human rights. And we're going to make that clear in every corner of this nation.

We're still in the first half of this new American century, and what we build now will set the course. Let's remind ourselves of those words held by Lady Liberty herself:

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

That's the America we could be. And in that struggle for a better, freer future, women have always been the ones pushing forward. They're not just part of this movement—they've been leading it, keeping it strong, giving it life. Women are the backbone of every fight for real change. And we're here to say that if we want freedom, if we want equality, we have to start with them.

Because, let's be real: what kind of country are we building if we don't guarantee the basic rights of women? What future are we heading toward if half our population has to fight to be seen, to be heard, to be free? Fighting for women's rights isn't just the right thing to do—it's how we build a country where everyone can live with dignity.

So let me put it plain: if we're going to face these next two years with courage and strength, we need each other. We need connections that go deeper than the political rallies, that go beyond isolated protests on college campuses. We need a robust national network, built by us, for us. Not from the top down, but from the ground up, with every voice, every hand, every heart pulling together. I'm talking about a coalition that spans this whole country—local organizations, radical youth, labor unions, mutual aid groups—all of us together.

I believe it's time to think big. It's time to organize at a scale we haven't seen in decades, a century even. So here's what I'm proposing: December 20th, 2025, New Orleans. I want a national convention, a place where every corner of this movement can come together. I want to see communists, anarchists, democratic socialists, labor union leaders, Indigenous leaders, prison abolitionists, climate activists, creators, content makers, and organizers from all walks of life come together to build a plan, a strategy, a path forward.

This convention isn't just some meeting on a calendar. It's a starting line—a launch toward a future we choose, a future we build together. Because we're already 25 years into this century, and we've seen where the current leadership has taken us. The crises of our time—climate change, economic injustice, systemic racism, the oppression of women, the attack on LGBTQ+ rights—are too critical, too urgent to be left to the whims of the powerful. This convention is where we draw the line and start shaping a new way forward.

Folks, this convention is where we're getting down to the brass tacks. We're not just looking to fill up seats; we're looking to make real changes, to organize and strategize for a future we actually want to live in. If you want to help make this convention a reality, here's what you can start doing right now:

1. Join a Group—Just Pick One and Start Showing Up

Look, it doesn’t matter if it’s Freedom Road Socialist Organization, PSL, the Green Party, the Socialist Alternative, Food Not Bombs, or a mutual aid group in your area. Just pick a group and start showing up. Get into their meetings, meet people, understand their goals, and make connections. Our aim is to have people embedded in all these organizations, and we need them all talking to each other. If there’s a meeting or event coming up, go. Bring up this convention. Even if they aren’t officially involved, open up the conversation. 2. Educate Yourself—and Pass That Knowledge Along

Not everyone has the time to sit down with a stack of books, and that's fine. But if you do have that privilege, use it. Educate yourself, but don't stop there. Bring that knowledge to others. Be a resource for your friends, family, and neighbors. Don't talk down to them; we're not here to preach from some high horse. We're here to learn and build together. Remember, we are the masses. Share what you know in a way that's practical, that connects with people where they're at. If we want to see change, we have to make education and dialogue something real, something people can understand and see in their own lives. 3. Start the Conversations Where You Are

This is where it starts—right where you live, work, and spend your time. Talk to your friends and family, your coworkers, the people you already know. Bring up what's happening around us, what we're working toward. If you're a community leader, even if it's not a political setting, make space for these discussions. If we're going to change anything, it has to start by opening up these conversations in our everyday lives. Get people talking, thinking, and, more than anything, ready to take action.

Now, why New Orleans? Why December 20th, 2025? New Orleans has faced it all—storms, floods, and years of being neglected by those in power. It's a city that embodies resilience. But with climate change pressing down harder every year, there's a real risk that it won't be here in another 100 years. That's why we're gathering there: to make a promise, to take a stand, and to ensure that we don't let this moment slip away.

I'm not alone in this vision. None of us are. This is something so many of us feel in our gut—that together, we can do something different, something real. And I want to make something clear before we close: the attacks on women's rights in this country are attacks on all of us. We cannot build a free, just future if women are held back, silenced, denied their basic rights. Women hold up half the sky, and we will not stand by while they are pushed down. We need every voice, every hand, every heart in this fight.

So let's take this energy forward. Let's walk out of here knowing that we're not alone, that this movement is growing every day.

This is our moment in history. I know we will rise to meet the occasion.

Thank you.

-Erik Houdini