Leftism has to improve people's lives if we want them to fight for it
There's some theory in this one, get over it
The first part of this essay is some background on how we got here, and the second part discusses how that background needs to inform leftist organizing
1. Capitalism has failed and liberals are useless
Because I can only process the world as it relates to Christopher Nolan movies, lately I often think of Alfred’s line in The Dark Knight:
“You drove them to the point of desperation, and in their desperation they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand.”
Except instead of the relationship between Batman and organized crime in Gotham, it’s the relationship between the endemic failures of liberalism and the American working class. Maybe it’s not a good analogy.
In any case, liberal ideology has collapsed because it has failed to produce any material improvement in the lives of working Americans. We all know this, but we need to understand it. Without getting too hung up on the theory, here’s an overview for non-nerds:
In a capitalist society, every interaction we have—whether between business and businesses, workers and bosses, renters and landlords—is competitive. Every aspect of our lives is predicated on the outcome of a winner and a loser. Winning is achieved by subjugating and victimizing others (a company that pays a living wage to its employees, or abstains from using slave labor abroad, will be crushed by the market).
This is the root of all our societal sicknesses: white supremacy and racism, settler colonialism, the prison industrial complex, the gender pay gap, our abusive healthcare system, almost a million homeless people, and so on.
A capitalist government can never truly have “separation of powers” because money can interact freely with all of them, meaning there is no “reforming” capitalism: given enough time, politicians will be corrupted, laws will be meddled with, and monopolies will form, all at the expense of the evermore put-upon worker.
Liberal ideology has failed because it is still obedient to capitalism and thus unable fix any of the societal sicknesses borne from it; put another way, liberals steadfastly work for a goal that is fundamentally impossible to achieve, the material result of which is the impotent and useless political party we know today.
A great example of the schizophrenic nature of liberal ideology is Obama’s Race to the Top program, which ostensibly incentivized low-performing schools to improve teaching standards and graduation rates with massive government grants. In reality, the schools that already had the best funding won the grants, the program didn’t address any of the systemic capitalistic causes of our deeply flawed public education infrastructure, and predominantly white charter schools in Delaware and Massachusetts won hundreds of millions of dollars. TLDR; some conservative bootstraps bullshit with different optics.
Enter right wing populism, which has seized upon this generational moment of outrage, harnessed it, and targeted it at brown people. Of course that’s not new in this country, but this turn to such a nakedly ethno-fascist government has only happened a few times in history. Neither Republicans nor Democrats can ever acknowledge capitalism’s responsibility for our shitty lives; but where Democrats chose not to acknowledge any problems, Trump acknowledged many and assigned it to immigrants and DEI. Now we’re here.
This is how fascism takes over. Liberal democracy worsens the lives of the working class until they become so desperate for a break from their perceived systems of oppression that they elect a dictator. They feel that they’re out of options, and the mob turns to The Joker for help. I knew that analogy was fire.
2. Revolution and politics are the same thing
Every leftist revolution, violent or otherwise, has happened with support of the people. Politicians are only as strong as their turnout; Guerrillas are only as strong as the communities they fight for. Revolution and politics are intrinsically connected.
Between all the blood-soaked fantasies of insurrection and tutorials on mutual aid getting thrown around right now, I want to emphasize that leftist organization has a far greater purpose, the achievement of which will allow it to succeed where Democrats have failed and finally produce a formidable opponent to right wing populism:
Leftism has to materially improve the lives of working people if they’re going to fight for it.
I keep seeing this question, “How do I organize?” That’s how. Do something to improve people’s lives. The clown show we’re calling the Harris campaign showed, irrefutably, that relentless campaigning and a billion dollars doesn’t matter if nobody wants what you’re offering. In other words, bringing some hot meals and clean clothes to the homeless in your community, or providing free services to your neighbors like grocery runs or new brake lights, carries much more weight.
Food Not Bombs and community food pantries feed people. Labor unions use strength in numbers to give workers leverage against abusive bosses; tenant unions organize renters so they can defend themselves against abusive landlords. Abortion access groups get contraceptives to vulnerable women and provide secure escort into clinics being terrorized by Christian protestors. The common theme is a community guided by their politics, volunteering time and resources to improve each other’s lives.
The Black Panther Party is the blueprint for leftist community organizing in America. The BPP were card-carrying Marxist-Leninists who used leftist praxis to fight for liberation so effectively that their leadership was assassinated by the US security state. In a span of just a few years, a small group of activists built a movement with over 5,000 vetted members who oversaw robust social programs that provided medical services to the black community, fed their schoolchildren, and acted as armed patrol against violently racist police (in fact, most black revolutionaries were outspoken leftists, although you won’t learn that in a competition-based public school classroom). Their politics informed their praxis.
An example from abroad comes from the Korean War. As South Korean troops retreated through occupied territory, they terrorized, raped and looted the entire way home. In contrast, Communist North Korean soldiers who next occupied those towns would pay for everything. Instead of pillaging, they bought food and services from residents, and even when their chosen currency ended up being worthless later on, the residents of those occupied towns supported the troops who had treated them with dignity and kindness.
Castro also enforced a strict code of ethics upon his soldiers: they were to treat villagers with the utmost respect and act as a friend to the working class in every aspect, and it’s no coincidence that he seized Havana with overwhelming popular support and died still beloved by the Cuban people.
When you think of organizing in this way, it’s much simpler to understand. Yes, there’s a lot more skill and professional aspects the further you get into it—next month I’m going to a training thing that’s gonna be like four straight nights of spreadsheets and data analysis, very fun—but the fundamentals never change. We are strong together, and our ideology can materially improve working people’s lives.
There’s a corny one-liner in AA that I often relate directly to my politics: “you may be the only copy of the Big Book someone ever reads.” Aside from my own thoughts on 12 Step groups, they’re basically saying you represent the program’s results and people won’t want to join if you’re obviously a disaster. In politics, I take it to mean that I am a walking example of my ideology. I take it upon myself to help people who need it because my ideology guides me to do so, and I don’t need to advertise my allegiance to working people because my actions prove it.
Right wing populism is a facade; that’s the fundamental advantage leftist politics will always have over rightist. Ours are the truth. It sounds simple, but it’s crucial, and only necessary to be proven by us. Republican policy won’t fix anything, and in fact will attend to the mechanized imprisonment and death of millions if they get their way. Leftist politics reject capitalism and value human life over money. For anyone in doubt, I’ll refer you to the efforts that went into getting your work day down to eight hours.
Just calling it like I see it: this country is on the brink of civil war. I think we’re a matter of months away from police using live fire on protesters and armed conflict between citizens and paramilitaries. When the GOP Gestapo starts going door to door checking people’s papers in a country with four guns per person, what do they think will happen?
I hope I’m wrong, obviously; I’d prefer that nobody paid their taxes in April so we could fix our problems in about eight hours without any bloodshed, but I doubt that’ll come to pass.
Approach activism with this urgency in mind, but don’t lose sight of the point. Yes, we’re fighting, but we’re fighting for something. Revolution and politics are the same thing.
Also, ICE convoys are less likely to pillage a community if met at the gates by armed community defense. Something to think about.
Absolutely loved this, especially the part about how important it is to live through our supposed leftist values and ethics because that is truly how you get people curious about leftism and other such ideologies. I had a colleague the other day ask about my anti fascist action badge after hearing of how many men I’ve called out and reported at work!! I got to explain everything from fascism to communism to her. When you stand up for people- they get curious!
This ts so tuff❤️🔥