I'm not going to tell people how to organize. But a single day boycott with no demands or goals is not organizing. It's almost alienating in a way. Now, if you got together with friends and did something else like made sandwiches and went to a park. Awesome! You did something and probably all talked about issues together today. That's positive.
But if you sat at home and said nothing to anyone and hoped for some news story about a massive drop in sale and economic instability. Well, that didn't happen. And so people can have different reactions to that. My problem is that I think the net reaction is negative. It makes people feel like collective actions are useless. And they are when it comes to single day consumption.
But collective actions and organization are the fundamental power of working class movements. But the working class has its power in labor.
Now, economic boycotts can have power, but not in the way this is being done. Take South Africa BDS movements for example. These put real economic pressures on companies associated with South African apartheid. But these movements had clear demands and no time limit on the boycotts.
Single day boycotts are essentially useless in my eyes. I don't think they can ever reach the scale to do so. At least they never have historically.
Hunger strikes are only as useful as the attention that they can bring. I'll use Gaza as an example. The people of Gaza on March 2018 protested they Apartheid state of Israel in a peaceful march towards the walls around Gaza. Hundreds of men women and children were slaughtered by Israeli snipers. And nothing changed. Acts of peaceful protest like hunger strikes or civil disobedience are only effective if they put public pressure on a population that is inactive. The Gazan people have no one that cared of the injustice being placed upon them.
When these types of peaceful protest are met with violence and silence from the media the only actions that oppressed people have left are in violent revolution.
Labor organizing is the only real alternative to violent revolution that has been proven effective historically. But those movements are often met with violence from the state.
I don't know if that answered your question. But I think I hit some of it.
Your individual power extends to your company. The power of unions extends throughout all of industry. It's why major unions are trying to organize a general strike for 2028. Yes. 2028. And even that is incredibly soon given all the work that needs to be done.
Twitter is not only comprised of "well paid" class traitors. What do you think happens when the people that clean the server rooms don't show up? What happens when the garbage collection at Twitter doesn't show up?
The dock workers union alone was able to get a deal recently just as the threat of a strike. We don't need the support of every single worker (though every one helps. Even the software engineers as they fundamentally share the same class interest). We need an expansive organization, strike funds, and a clear set of demands. This is what is being organized. But every single union that forms gives us more collective power. Yes, even the ones as your small business of 10 employees.
Sorry. If you're actually asking but I thought I was pretty clear. Labor organizing is where power is. This starts at YOUR workplace. There are plenty of resources and "maps" to get you started but that is often very unique to your location and place of work. There is not a single meme image that I can post. This takes work. The start of that work is looking for labor organizing movements in your area and place of work. If there are no existing unions or labor movements you can contact the AFL-CIO or other organizations in your field. They can help you learn more about your resources.
This takes work. If I could post a meme image like the OP I would. But it doesn't work that way. You need to be ready to do work. Talking to your coworkers, agitating, etc.
Chris Smalls is your inspiration but we need 1000 more Chris Smalls throughout the country. Not one day of a consumer boycott.
This is not about being a downer towards any movement. It's about understanding that class war is always filled with distractions like these single day consumer boycotts that do absolutely nothing. People that are downers about them are trying to direct people towards what should actually be done. It's not one massive movement out of the blue. It takes a lot of local and small work to even get to having any leverage at that scale.
Once we actually have a massive labor organizing movement in this country THEN the leaders of major unions can call for and organize something like a general strike. But that doesn't happen on its own because someone posted a "general strike" meme on reddit. It's takes a lot of work, organizing, and very specific demands, and strike funds.
But this all starts with you and the organization of labor in your workplace.
We are fighting capital. It doesn't just end up with a bunch of peaceful protests and the capitalist class rolling over and saying "ok you can all have healthcare". They have all the power of the police, state violence, and media agitating. It's why you need massive organization, solidarity, and funding for your cause. And most of all very specific and united demands. Otherwise these movements quickly die when people can't pay their rent or buy food.
Organizing around denying consumption is the exact opposite of what a general strike would do. This does nothing but make people feel like nothing they do matters because it's focusing on the exact opposite of what we should be organizing on. We should be organizing around labor.
I can't tell if these online "consumption power" movements are just a reflection of the complete lack of class consciousness. Or if they are planned distractions that are designed to fail to make people feel powerless. I think it's a bit of both.
Exactly. Withholding consumption is not where our collective power is. Withholding Labor is where our collective power is. These "consumer power" movements are so incredibly capitalist brained. Our working class is so brain rotted by capitalism that they can only think of "power in the hand of consumers" which is one of the biggest most obvious lies capitalist tell.
That's just not how our economy works. "Local" business is not making toilet paper from trees they cut down in their backyard.
I'm probably getting downvoted for this but I hate hate hate this "consumption is power" bull shit boycotts. Consumption is NOT power. LABOR is power. If you work at these large companies you have a million times more power and influence by organizing.
Boycott today if it makes you feel good. But it's so incredibly missing of the point that I have to assume it is purposely missing the point of collective power.
Your power is in your ability to withhold labor. Not withholding consumption for one day that you'll just buy the next day. Hell, if these planned organized single day boycotts, if they actually had an impact, would be a way to maximize profits to reduce labor requirements for those days. It's so silly.
Organize your workplace. That is where your power is!
Just left a nearly an identical explanation. Refreshed and saw this comment. Well said. Fascism is Imperialism turned inward.
Because class war is being raged but most of the global north working class don't have any class consciousness. Capitalism is working on doing what it has done to the global South for decades but this time to the global North. Fascism is Imperialism turned inward. Welcome to the rest of our lives.
Pretty sure all of his children are through IVF. It's a requirement for him that they be XY chromosomes. The kid he disowned is his only daughter who is trans.
You can't be a Tankie and a supporter of Russia today. The USSR is gone. What are you even talking about? Do you even know what the words your using mean?
Turns out his free use of using the Nword and calling hasidic jews "dirty and nasty" meant he was actually just a bad guy. He just needed to find an outlet for hating brown people that people would support. He's found it now.
An apartheid state does not have a right to exist. It must dismantle it's systems of apartheid if it wishes to continue to exist.
You can't argue with someone that just keeps rambling in 10 different directions at once. You are someone without a compass. You are very understandably alienated and frustrated by the world that we live in. But instead of finding guidance through reading theory or organizing with real people you've spent your days listening to politics and trying to form your own dillusional world view. You've convinced yourself that "no one gets it" but when showed that there are people that get it and there are people that are organizing you instead tried to vote shame them so you can stay in your comfort zone.
Your political views are not intelligent. They are nihilism. That's it. There is no reason to argue with a nihilist.
Unfortunately I don't think that that's possible. MAGA was able to take over the Republican party because they still fundamentally defend the interest of capital. It's why you still have career Republicans that criticized MAGA as a part of MAGA today.
The Democrats refuse to move left because leftist are anti capitalist and pro worker. They will never move that way because it is against their class interest and against the class interest of their donors. The most they will do is "allow" some slightly progressive voices like AOC into the party at "tokens". But they will never platform them or allow them to grow.
The Democrats will gladly lose elections if it prevents anyone left of Reagan from winning.
I'm disappointing? Are you projecting? I'm not gonna argue with your depression mate. You're clearly not mentally capable of having this conversation.
You think you're smart and depressed. But you're just depressed mate. This comment is the ramblings of someone that has completely disconnected from reality. Get some help.
I'm not gonna argue against your depression.
Why is your criticism so heavily directed at voters? Voting for who you want is a fundamental part of democracy. You are spending so much energy criticizing voters but I haven't seen an ounce of criticism for the actual party leadership. It is literally the job of the party leaders to create a platform that aligns with its voting base. They literally turned their back on their base in order to try to appeal to Trump voters with anti immigration policies. THEY HAD ADS TALKING ABOUT BUILDING THE WALL. Do you think MAYBE that has something to do with why the Democrats failed to get voters out to the polls?
Yep. It's the position of liberals throughout history. It's even worse now though since their are so many more "toys" to keep them pacified. Like as long as they can watch YouTube and eat Taco Bell they'd be ok with their neighbors getting shipped to GITMO.