If Americans were too comfortable to radicalize, we wouldn’t have both Dems & GOP declaring anti-capitalism as extremism, we wouldn’t have both parties sending in the national guard to intimidate the electorate, we wouldn’t have both parties sending the cops to attack protestors, we wouldn’t have both parties fighting unions, we wouldn’t have both parties going after 2nd amendment rights, etc. We especially wouldn’t have the US government jailing and assassinating leftist leaders as a matter of policy.
Au contraire; if americans had class consciousness and were ready to radicalize, none of it would matter. If anything, those policies would speed up the radicalization. I guarantee you that if 60-70% of americans considered socialism to be a good idea (as was the case in Russia in 1917), both republicans and democrats would almost immediately be swept aside by a revolution.
As it stands, with support for socialism wavering steadily around 1-2%, all those policies are there precisely to stop any reform or radicalization and to funnel any existing working class anger & energy into either right-wing populism or “radical liberalism”.
To say Americans are too comfortable for revolution, when 18 million are food insecure, 37% cannot afford a $400 emergency, 40-60% of the homeless are employed, 41% of Americans are dealing with medical debt, the bottom 50% own 2% of the wealth while the top 1% own 70%, the average wage in this country is a poverty wage, corporations are buying up to a third of family homes on the market… it’s just an absolutely idiotic and ignorant statement.
It’s not that they are comfortable in the absolute sense, it’s more that they can feel and understand, even if subconsciously, the immediate benefits provided to them by imperialism and unsustainable capitalism. It is undeniable that almost all americans have it better than citizens of global south. Any serious socialist movement would have to denounce imperialism, and by extension the colonial plunder that brings in so many resources into the country; and it would have to switch to a sustainable mode of production, reducing the total commodities available. This is a scary thought for most, even a lot of “progressives”. Revolution would mean an immediate (but temporary) decline in the perceived standard of living for an average american; they wouldn’t be able to afford even a dream of a mcmansion and F250 anymore.
I wanted to vote for the socialist last election. democrats sued her off the ballot in my state. Now why would they need to do that, if Americans don’t want to vote for socialists?
“Intimidation” election manipulation are much easier to pull off than serious election manipulation. What it does in this case is prevent a “count” for the left, and deprives you of any feeling of community, not change the result of the election. If there was serious support for a socialist among the populace, as there was in new york, no amount of billionaire money, political games or voter fraud would change the end result. Proletariat has the power, it just needs to realize it. American proletariat has its head stuck in the sand, hiding from both its power and its responsibility, and a lot of work (education, agitation and organizing) will have to go into changing that before a revolution is even on the table.
Oh wow, I was going off the percentage that the PSL was getting in various polls. But this is very reassuring. Now I have hopium that I’m wrong and a US revolution may be coming within my lifetime.
Au contraire; if americans had class consciousness and were ready to radicalize, none of it would matter. If anything, those policies would speed up the radicalization. I guarantee you that if 60-70% of americans considered socialism to be a good idea (as was the case in Russia in 1917), both republicans and democrats would almost immediately be swept aside by a revolution.
As it stands, with support for socialism wavering steadily around 1-2%, all those policies are there precisely to stop any reform or radicalization and to funnel any existing working class anger & energy into either right-wing populism or “radical liberalism”.
It’s not that they are comfortable in the absolute sense, it’s more that they can feel and understand, even if subconsciously, the immediate benefits provided to them by imperialism and unsustainable capitalism. It is undeniable that almost all americans have it better than citizens of global south. Any serious socialist movement would have to denounce imperialism, and by extension the colonial plunder that brings in so many resources into the country; and it would have to switch to a sustainable mode of production, reducing the total commodities available. This is a scary thought for most, even a lot of “progressives”. Revolution would mean an immediate (but temporary) decline in the perceived standard of living for an average american; they wouldn’t be able to afford even a dream of a mcmansion and F250 anymore.
“Intimidation” election manipulation are much easier to pull off than serious election manipulation. What it does in this case is prevent a “count” for the left, and deprives you of any feeling of community, not change the result of the election. If there was serious support for a socialist among the populace, as there was in new york, no amount of billionaire money, political games or voter fraud would change the end result. Proletariat has the power, it just needs to realize it. American proletariat has its head stuck in the sand, hiding from both its power and its responsibility, and a lot of work (education, agitation and organizing) will have to go into changing that before a revolution is even on the table.
Did you just pull that 1-2% completely out of your ass?
https://news.gallup.com/poll/694835/image-capitalism-slips.aspx
Oh wow, I was going off the percentage that the PSL was getting in various polls. But this is very reassuring. Now I have hopium that I’m wrong and a US revolution may be coming within my lifetime.