In a cross-posted thread, I've seen plenty people mentioning that others don't even go voting. I think this is a bit defeatist; at least here in Brazil, most non-voters say stuff like "voting is pointless, it doesn't change anything". This means that they could potentially join a strike, if they were certain that it would improve things for them.
It's probably the same in other countries.
A few points on increasing odds of success:
- Never say how long the strike should last. The uncertainty makes it feel worse for your opponents; doubly so for corporations (as they hate unnecessary risks, and the strike going on for a long time is a risk for them).
- Have a concise list of clear demands. At least some of them should be obviously advantageous to the strikers, even the non-politicised ones.
- Some politicisation of the strikers is good. Just keep in mind that most don't want to hear about theoretical stuff. (Do explain the theoretical stuff to the willing ones though.)
- If you want 100, ask for 200. Let the other side negotiate it down back to 100. (They'd still do it if you asked for 100 - except that they'd negotiate it to 50.)
- Watch out for false flags stirring trouble. They'll do shit like throw stones at residential windows (to get non-strikers pissed at you, and justify the cops [ACAB] pepper spraying you.) And in general keep good discipline among strikers, always reminding them why, how, who, and against whom you all are striking.
- Also watch out for groups trying to co-opt the strike into "their" strike. They should feel welcome to join, but they should not seize control over the whole.
- Uni students are specially eager to join. Don't ignore them.
Source: mostly personal experience. I'm nowadays disengaged, but a decade or so ago I was in a socialist party, and joined quite a few strikes.
This is probably the greatest thing i have read in a long time. Thank you so much for posting it.
For those of you interested in participating in a general strike
YESSS! Finally! I hoped that you folks would get this done. I love the part "We’ve voted, we’ve protested, and this country still does not work on behalf of us working people." that is EXACTLY what I thought needs to be said. I'll spread this everywhere I can!
A classic
If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there, in those swarming disregarded masses, eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, had no way of coming together or even of identifying one another. Even if the legendary Brotherhood existed, as just possibly it might, it was inconceivable that its members could ever assemble in larger numbers than twos and threes. Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice; at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They need only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it.
It's been a hot minute, but is this an excerpt from 1984?
We aren't to that level of surveillance and authority. Not far, but we haven't lost the ability to organize yet. Apathy is a greater threat
*and in the voting booth. Stop trying to steer people away from voting in their best interests. If recent elections are anything to go by these could drastically affect a lot of people's lives.
Heckin' vote!
Of course it is important to vote.
The important part is that if you are outnumbered by people trying to do morally corrupt things, you should resist by any means necessary. This of course only works if you have enough people on your side.
The only point of elections (and other constitutional checks) is to prevent there being dictators, not to change the system.
It took the frontlines experience of a pandemic for healthcare workers to start doing this; what’s your nationwide motivator going to be?
Please look at germany going to the streets by the hundredthousands. The special motivator is we had fascism and authocracy. No more.
Once 1776 came and went, we kinda deflated. You guys have been better at pushing back and making demands on your government. More solidarity. More willing and able to miss a day of work for the right reasons.
We’re either at home with no pants on sinking into a sofa or computer chair while eating snacks, or fighting one another for not being a real liberal or for wearing a dress as a male.
Over the past century and a half, capital has largely defanged demonstrations and strikes. Just because it worked a century ago doesn't mean it is relevant today (and even then it was insufficient, given we still live in capitalism).
I think that people will get greedy (in the good sense) once you get a few successful strikes done.
Thats very much inaccurate. General strikes and other riots have brought us most of the positive things we actually have. Capital is trying to „trumpwash“ the past to make it seem like its pointless.
Look at 250.000 people marching through germany this past weekend and nearly a million since beginning of the year.
I'm not saying strikes didn't bring results, only that today they are less useful than they used to be. (perhaps largely as a result of their past effectiveness)
What will a million peaceful demonstrators achieve? Mostly nothing, or at best the lukewarming of a controversial law. Nowadays demonstrations are means of expression more than action, useful as a morale boost and social gathering for the movement mostly.
What works better is a long term commitment to stop unnecessary spending
Only buy the bare necessities, and the profits of almost every major American corporation will plummet.
They can deal with less labor, they don't need as much as they used to. But the only thing keeping our economy propped up is people spending like there's no tomorrow.
Stop buying, products and stocks. That's what hurts these days.
Imo there needs to be an actual economic mechanism that supports people having a sense of Enough. Currently the system incentives people to ignore this sense.
Thats very much what didn‘t work over the past three decades. It tries to put responsibility on citizens for things that should not be up for discussion. People should not enrich themselves on the behalf of others.
Germany for example has a law for this express situation, for good reason. It says „if someone tries to dismantle the constitutional system, citizens are allowed to resist [in any form necessary].“ this expressly includes general strike which has been a proven working method.
But all conservatives in this country would never take part because they find happiness in slavery.
