https://x.com/OOCcommunism/status/1999932339414032604

tbf, the final two sentences are actually kind of good, but it’s just funny to do this when the question is about 8 billion people, like bro, “living continuity of a revolutionary program”? humanity’s literally all dead, Trotsky’s the last guy left!

also why the hell is the WSWS launching an AI chatbot?!

  • spectre [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    3·
    5 months ago

    I’m curious, do you think even someone like me could be taught to be a leader? That’s the last place I’d like to be. I’m often incoherent, have no public recognition, am all over the place, lack confidence and have a history of ceding ground the moment someone talks over me, all terrible traits for the leadership position. But do you think it’d be possible to turn around even someone like me or do you think I was born this way and now it’s too late to address it? Are we all just cogs born in our place? What if I had to become a cog that I’m terrified of being to advance socialism?

    I think this is more common than you think. The answer is briefly “yes, you kind of need to so something”. You don’t need an official leadership title to offer leadership skills or to make yourself useful. It is best to join an org that is active in your local area, (mostly) regardless of tendency. If that isn’t practical, I think the average user on this site should be directly involved in some sort of local affair whether you’re going to “win the local dogcatcher seat for socialism” or even just “win chair of my condo/neighborhood HOA for socialism” or something like that. You don’t even need to be “visibly socialist” in just thinking in terms of mentality.

    • Juice@midwest.socialEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      I would even recommend finding a local food kitchen or other worthwhile mutual aid, since these groups are full of caring and determined people who value taking action, and youre very likely to find people who have many nascent qualities of socialist organizers

      • Juice@midwest.socialEnglish
        2·
        5 months ago

        I’m very in favor of being a socialist who is openly and transparently socialist, and I believe that orgs of socialists should be open in advancing that as well. I think that the failure of “estimation” most often occurs when people try and create their own idea of an organization and fit objective conditions into it, which leads to a sectarian, alienated strategy; rather than developing what already exists into informal structures, and then organizing, eventually formalizing, an organization adapted to existing conditions. This latter case, when carried out with strong political praxis, is what I deem most effective, whereas the alienated sectarian strat fails to gain traction. Another downside is that it doesn’t expose the illusions of individualist politics, whereas the second model is fundamentally collective and democratic.

        Many orgs go through these same growing pains, one group I am a member has (sort of) a tenuous relationship with our group’s founders. A common obstacle to watch out for is when groups who begin with the “right ideas” try, and fail, to gain traction in a movement, they can overcompensate too much in the other direction, only tailing the masses. Mass organizing strategies are often over compensation in this direction, whereas sectarian tendencies can fluctuate between tailing and alienating strategies. Fortunately, experienced organizers often know how to navigate this terrain. But in many cases I think they don’t have a navigational strategy, and they still make mistakes.

        So make sure you speak up and develop your perspective while engaging with objective conditions as near to actual struggle as you can.