Nice try, fed.
post
Pee on your shoes.
We will contact you.
Start contacting local socialist orgs, PSL, DSA, CPUSA, etc., go to their meetings and start talking to people. Look for groups that offer education, seem to have good internal democratic processes, good comradely vibes, and who are actively engaging in campaigns to struggle against injustice, and doing stuff that you want to participate in.
Groups that have lots of political discussion, rather than being obsessed with internal processes, groups that don't work with cops, and don't just follow the dems on everything, is another thing to look for.
Your local conditions are the most important thing to consider. I wish I could tell you what group to join, but it varies quite a lot. A small and very active group is probably better than a large group with mostly inactive members. I'm in DSA, because I want to build a alternative workers political party, and I like DSA, but I also know that not every chapter is the same, there's def some chapters I would not recommend, although my local is very good.
Once you find your political home, you can branch out, keep working with other groups help build coalitions in your city. The most important thing is, you can't affect change by yourself. We need to combine our efforts to be effective. Always speak up, speak your mind and rep your personal perspective, and groups that don't handle good well considered perspectives can be toxic. Then again, we can bring toxic perspectives with us, so always be open to hearing criticism and always be trying to improve yourself. Be patient and assume good intent but find a group you can work well with. Develop your cadres.
Virtually every group needs people who can take good notes and/or can begin meetings on time. Like that bar is so incredibly low, but the people who do it for their own groups are some of the only people who will do that reliably, and they're also often people who are the most committed and experienced. Taking those simple functions off peoples workload or even providing support in those areas can be invaluable to the whole group. Other things, like doing phone/text banking or tabling for like a few hours per month is incredibly valuable work, that helps with turn out to events and allows recruiters to make and build contacts. Very low bar, very high impact. One of the groups I'm involved with actually pays people to make calls so volunteering for that work on your spare time, and being reliable and consistent is another invaluable quality in a new member.
One final tip, it is better to do one thing consistently then it is to try and take on everything that you see needs done. Make room in your life for organizing, and don't take on extra unless you're sure you have time/energy for it. Tell people in your life like "I have a commitment every Thursday from 7-9 pm" and then stick to that for a while. Burn out will fucking destroy you. So check in with your self, and check in with others.
Right now there isn't really one (assuming USA which is where I'm located). IMO the best thing you can do right now is first find likeminded people IRL and do stuff that's interesting to yourselves and other like minded people, then use those shared interests/bonds as a foundation for motivated community outreach.
Where I live I feel like the sense of community is almost nonexistent despite having a large population. IDK how much of that is from me being autistic, but a lot of things that stem from capitalism like car culture, addictive social media platforms, anything AI, shitty work-life balance, and horrible safety net are also strong contributors to society being super isolating, which then causes anger and self centeredness which results in a lot of what else is wrong with society.
One of the reasons Republicans are as successful as they are is that they provide community through stuff like religion and church, which tests people's commitment through rules and tithes but also results in tighter bonds where people are more open and trust each other more and do a lot of (mentally) uplifting things together. Then politicians use that to create a unified vision of an ideal society and wield that to their advantage to gain political power, and those communities are super motivated to uphold it.
Meanwhile there are tons of churches everywhere, but as for a left-wing equivalent there's next to nothing and I'm not even fully sure that it's possible to replicate something like this with left-wing values. Probably the most important things to take from this is being based on an agreed upon set of values, having a shared vision, expecting some level of commitment (including financially), meeting IRL, having regular activities that are enjoyable and based on the shared values/vision, and the most visible outreach being centered around the interests of those being immediately talked to and also around helping the local population which contributes to a positive image of the organization among less informed people and helps boost its popularity (it's also less difficult to make changes locally than nationally). Once there is enough popular support, then there's actually a chance of gaining political power and overthrowing capitalists through next step actions, but without popular support or some other form of power the chances of that succeeding is basically none.
As far as organizations that exist right now go, for ones like PSL I'm not sure how other chapters work or how it works on a national level. The problems I have with my local chapter is that it mainly focuses on peaceful controlled protests (has no chance at making meaningful change, sucks for community building, and is ultimately a waste of time) and it rarely focuses on local issues on social media (not good for building local support, and I want to actually do stuff, not just read and yell things). The best organization I've found so far which I'm volunteering with is one that stemmed from Food Not Bombs, which is run by leftists and focuses on raising awareness of local issues (specifically related to homelessness), using temporary aid as a way to protest unjust laws and promote a vision for an ideal society that fixes systemic issues that cause homelessness. Outside of the main distribution efforts, the main organizers in the group know some homeless people by name and where they're located and will help them as well. They've also gotten media attention in local mainstream news outlets (not exactly good attention but it's something). Some other Food Not Bombs chapters have gotten national media attention for breaking laws that hurt homeless people. A more broad organization that still prioritizes local issues (until more can be done outside of that) would be a lot better IMO, but that doesn't really exist where I live so this is what I've been involved with for now.
Want to help Terrence and Philip?
Sneak out after you get tucked into bed tonight and meet at Carl's Warehouse.
Punch and pie.
Here's my Marxist-Leninist reading list if you want a place to start (I'm aware of the joke, haha)!
For anyone wanting a good place to start, I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list! Under a bit of revision right now, but still fully usable!
"I want to help"
"Read several books first".
Are you aware of how disgusting and classist it sounds?
most working class people cannot read well, let alone theory, have no material time to read, or if, they do, they don't have the mental energy or continuity to get to the end of it, grapple alone on how to turn that into action and find a path for themselves. It's very individualistic, good for the privileged who organize out of aspiration rather than out of necessity. Any serious org, to the people coming to offer help, should answer: "this is John, he will teach you how to do X and Y, and why this is important. Get to work". Anything else is designed for an intellectual, individualistic minority that never gets shit done.
You need both theory and practice together. Practice sharpens theory, theory guides practice. You don't have to be a grandmaster Marxist-Leninist with decades of theory under your belt to do good work. A large part of organizing involves training and educating comrades, for example, you even hint at it. Many orgs require a protracted training period before even being a full member, such as PSL or FRSO.
What's classist would be shutting out the working class from theory, keeping it purely for the vanguard. Many existing communist orgs have run into this problem, and resolved it in various ways. Theory is for the working class, not for a privledged few, so the good vanguards have managed to make theory approachable and digestible.
No problem with that. My problem is with people who expect to start from theory as if that it's a relatable and normal thing to do.
I'd say it's definitely a "normal" thing to do. A lot of people don't understand the importance of organizing until they've read a bit of theory, and saying they were wrong to do so, or framing them as privledged, isn't the right path. There are two "wrong" camps, those who only read theory, and those who only do practice, though the practice camp is less incorrect. The correct group is the group that tries to balance both.
I know guys, let's like all form a resistance group and we'll all meet downtown on Thursday at 6 o'clock. That way we're all done with work and everything and we'll have a big fucking meeting. Like every resister, all over the country, we're all gonna meet downtown.
Think about it. There will be too many of us for the cops to do anything about it.
Like, even though they'll know where we are and when we're gonna be there, it'll be all of us versus only however many of them can actually show up.
Join an org, if you're a fed the good ones will filter you out. I recommend either the Party for Socialism and Liberation or Freedom Road Socialist Organization if you live in the US.
If you want a place to start with theory, I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, feel free to check it out!
Be kind by default, and turn to defense mode when proven to be necessary. Helping and loving each other is resistance against cruelty. <3
Go out. Join the chorus. Channel bartleby the scrivener. Where im at people are regular hanging around ice centers and ready to film what they can. Tell them they are not wanted here. Chant with them. Play with them. I bring cards and have considered a frisbee. Be out and occupy your space. This is where you live. Its yours and your neighbors. Make that clear.
What resistance? It seems to me that there is not one big organised resistance that is taking members.
Find a local event and network but be careful about it. The US had that "no kings" thing early in the summer (or before?). That was just a bunch of people against tyranny. No real organisation to it. So you'd go to something like that and just talk to people.
It helps if you have an anonymous way to chat. Something like Signal or Matrix or one of the others. Even Telegram would be better than using something public or corporate-backed, like SMS for the former or WhatsApp for the latter. But be careful with Telegram, read up on it, it's not a solid recommendation but it's better than nothing. Fortunately there are alternatives. Even if the other person isn't tech savvy β you probably are by being on Lemmy. So, show them the way.
Occasionally contact them through anonymous chat, just see how they're doing, and discuss future plans.
Also, aside from demonstrations, places where like minded people meet. For the authoritarians and conservatives, that's church, the local BBQ spot, and other, more obvious groups. I feel like they feel they can operate more openly since the US president is one of them. Used to be, these guys wore masks and were hidden, joining them wasn't about finding them, they'd find you, that kind of thing. Nowadays it's all out in the open. But I think liberals and progressives have meeting places, too. In response to church, for example, you should know that The Satanic Temple is not about devil worship, they're about resisting Christian imperialism. They're the ones fighting churches trying to get the Ten Commandments posted in every classroom. I'm religiously neutral, so they do not interest me, but they're certainly an option. For the anti-theist/"hard atheist," they're a good option.
Yeah, I know about Telegram's limitations. Been using it for ages, just to chat with my wife since she uses Android and I'm on an iPhone, and I don't do social media. It was the best way for us to message back and forth and we haven't moved off of it.
I have Matrix, Signal, and Session as well. Nobody chats me up on them but I keep them as options because why not? My phone has 512GB. Most is music and video. Apps are nothing to me.
there is not one big organised resistance that is taking members
The biggest is DSA
If you're in the US, please come help expand [ https://consumerrights.wiki ]!
lol, there's no privacy in a fascist State because the state doesn't feel compelled to respect the law and doesn't recognize fundamental rights. Nobody is going to leave you alone. Get real.
yeah, that's a microscopic element of privacy in a situation where the state can come and kill you with no accountability. You still have a body, you still need to inhabit a space, eat food and exist in the world. Encryption won't help you with that.
This is exactly what happens under fascism way before digitalization. Do you think they care if they make mistakes? They round up and jail random people if they are not sure. You really should read how fascism played out in Italy, Germany or Chile because you seem dangerously misguided
Right now I think it's more just a collective of individual action, not so much a group of people that meet up. It's also near impossible with how monitored everything is these days. Be careful where and how to talk about this stuff tho. Anything that has a speaker has the potential to listen, even if it's "turned off".
Look up the group Indecline and see if they have any suggestions for civil disobedience around you.
there isn't one you can join, but you can start an argument with stevens dad on twitter any time you want
I like how you just stated that Marxist "nonsense" will succumb to the same issues as capitalism, with no qualifications or real justifications, and instead are arguing for idealism and a rejection of science and understanding.
The evil tyranny of science vs the proud rebellion of the Flat Earth Society?
I understand the desire for spirituality. I'm not some Reddit atheist that claims to be on a war against religion. In my view, religion is something that will likely gradually fade, and doesn't need to be directly fought against. What I don't like is when people use spirituality as a cudgel against science, and use it as the basis for arguing against a better world. Religion has been weaponized against queer folk like me, women, ethnic minorities, etc, and have lobbed attacks against science for centuries.
I answered your strawman with something equally dishonest. I'm not interested in getting into a debate with someone who genuinely believes matter does not exist outside of consciousness and fully believes in idealism, rejecting materialism. There's absolutely no evidence for ideas being primary over matter, and moreover all it does is open up the way for absurdities and fantasy to exist as equals to hard science. Materialism helps us genuinely understand and interpret the world, each successive year affirming its utility as science expands and we understand more and more. Idealism is a willing rejection of understanding to entertain the idea of fantasy.
You reject materialism, then ask for a materialist (science is materialist, it is the measuring and understanding of mater) proof of materialism. Nonsense.
Friend, with all respect, only one in this conversation is intent on pushing their perspective.
Nah, not going to waste my time entertaining justifications for belief in the unprovable. I already told you, I'm not here to debate like a Reddit atheist, I just wanted to address your absurd strawman in the beginning. Thoughts are products of the brain, not of some idealist "soul" or other analogue. Matter is objective, measurable, and knowable, through scientific analysis and repeated testing. It isn't subjective.
No, lol. The ideas of people like Kastrup and Hoffman rely on consciousness being distinct from matter, and not a product of matter. Brainwaves are measurable, as biology advances we understand the electrical signals and chemicals forming perception. Further, matter is measurable and consistent, many humans can measure the same rock's mass in isolation from each other and get the same result without knowing the mass or the results beforehand.
What you're doing is deliberately holding onto idealism as the basis for justifying what you personally wish to be true. Idealism always returns, in some fashion, to religion, as explanation. It's a further abstraction from science and replicatable results in favor of subjectivism and vibes.
You're having a bit of a meltdown now because you can't actually argue against science. You have a hypothesis, and reject anything going against that on the basis of your hypothesis resting on the immeasurable and immaterial.
This is circular reasoning on your part, equivalent to positing that I'm not real simply because you are not me. Consciousness is a material, measurable process, that increasingly is better understood the more science advances. It isn't that I require no proof, it's that materialism is the best method for understanding, and the more science advances, the more it affirms the materialist understanding. You flip this on its head, affirming that even if materialism is the better method for understanding the world and is increasingly affirmed while idealism remains stagnant and increasingly disaffirmed, you prefer it to be true so you hold to it.
This is getting very, very silly. You're rejecting any and all proof of matter despite the continuous and replicatable proof of the same experiments resulting in the same results, across double-blind testing and more, of matter behaving in the same way regardless of who is percieving it.
Matter comes first, because consciousness is represented through brainwaves, electrochemical signals, and stimuli from material perception π
This is reddit-tier reverse-atheism, lol. Matter comes prior to consciousness because the brain is a physical organ responding to stimuli as reflected from the material world, a phenomenon further affirmed by the same results happening even from people completely unaware of the other. I think you need to settle down, maybe relax a bit, rather than acting so condescending baselessly.
Nah, you came in here declaring materialism to be tyrannical, when historically it has been idealism used by monarchists, fascists, and liberals to exploit the people while materialism has been liberatory, and used in service of working class liberation.
Materialism is the ultimate means of oppression.
Materialism was historically just one way of understanding the world. Over time, it got accepted more and more because it could make testable (and useful) predictions, and they turned out to be right.
And it's something you've been conditioned to believe in since birth.
Because it works.
Socialists, communists etc. still rely on materialism to drive their ideology
Because it works.
I'm reminded of The Preacher and the Slave by Joe Hill. The pie in the sky is a lie. Everyone needs to eat. Religion does not feed people.
My guess from the question an expectation of some formal group. Such groups exist. Better yet is prefiguration.
Build community in your neighborhood by getting to know your neighbors and contributing your skills to meet common goals. People, being social animals, work together to meet their needs. That is resistance.
Look out for your neighborhoods safety. Some ideas for doing that include: securing a water source, learning to raise food, learning basic repair of equipment, working on cardio, learning grappling/striking or joining a gun club. Be a neighbor with skills.
Lastly, never trust an organization with a heirarchy of leaders. Said leaders will eventually need to lynched. Joining the Marxist-Leninist book club is about as productive as Bible study.

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