Pretty much, we see this sort of thing happening every few years and people still don’t understand that protests on their own accomplish nothing. You have to build dual power to organize things like strikes and work stoppages. That’s what hurts capital. The protests come after that.
You have to build dual power to organize things like strikes and work stoppages. That’s what hurts capital. The protests come after that.
Yes, although protests can complement that process of building dual power, they don’t have to come afterwards. Like you’ve said, protests on their own accomplish nothing, yet they can still be an important way to gain awareness and introduce a broader range of people to these politics and groups involved.
I am speaking generally, I haven’t paid attention to these No Kings ones, but they’d surely be an avenue for fresh faces to meet socialist parties among all the spectacle.
Right, I agree with all that, my impression is that this particular form of protest is entirely performative though. They never seem to translate into actually building things like mutual aid networks, unions, or any other kind of permanent structures. It would be nice if people would start doing those things for a change.
Some are trying, but it’s a slow process going from toothless protests to a serious movement. It took decades for the civil rights movement to reach a point where people took it seriously. It took generations for union labour to gain legitimacy. We let the tools of community organizing and collective action rust away in complacency. It’s going to take time to reforge them.
Pretty much, we see this sort of thing happening every few years and people still don’t understand that protests on their own accomplish nothing. You have to build dual power to organize things like strikes and work stoppages. That’s what hurts capital. The protests come after that.
Yep exactly. There’s no backbone to these. It’s a weekend parade then back to brunch.
Yes, although protests can complement that process of building dual power, they don’t have to come afterwards. Like you’ve said, protests on their own accomplish nothing, yet they can still be an important way to gain awareness and introduce a broader range of people to these politics and groups involved.
I am speaking generally, I haven’t paid attention to these No Kings ones, but they’d surely be an avenue for fresh faces to meet socialist parties among all the spectacle.
Right, I agree with all that, my impression is that this particular form of protest is entirely performative though. They never seem to translate into actually building things like mutual aid networks, unions, or any other kind of permanent structures. It would be nice if people would start doing those things for a change.
Some are trying, but it’s a slow process going from toothless protests to a serious movement. It took decades for the civil rights movement to reach a point where people took it seriously. It took generations for union labour to gain legitimacy. We let the tools of community organizing and collective action rust away in complacency. It’s going to take time to reforge them.
Have you been you them? These protests are filled with people disseminating info and recruiting people into local resistance orgs.
If people are using them for recruitment and education, that’s a good thing. We’ll see if this ends up building into anything substantial.