The American working class last engaged in militant strikes in the Great Depression. First, the post-war economic boom absorbed unions into the Democratic Party, then deindustrialization demoralized and confused workers. The Communist Party led many of the union drives of the '30s, but McCarthyism crushed it in the early '50s. An upsurge of Marxism-Leninism from the Black Liberation and student anti-war movements of the '60s became demoralized by the fall of the Soviet Union and China's turn inward and focus on production. American workers are politically divided by politicians and media, fragmented into small service industries and gig economy, and influenced by individualistic American ideology. They react now to the rapid fall in standard of living and endless wars. A single spark could light the prairie fire, then a long process of organizing, fighting, failing, learning, developing leadership,
I’ve always known it was going to have to make regular working people and lower classes hurt a lot more than they’ve hurt before. Most people that I interact with daily have never experienced actual food or housing instability. Not even for 2 weeks. I think the rest just need a little more fear. They’ve already forgotten Alex and Renae. More suffering has to hit small town America. Until they realize how low they actually are- they wont “get” it.
Americans have a really distorted reality. Poor people in massive debt get excited and feel better about themselves when they buy something sold to them by a multi-billionaire person who overcharges them and would never associate with them.
I’ve always known it was going to have to make regular working people and lower classes hurt a lot more than they’ve hurt before. Most people that I interact with daily have never experienced actual food or housing instability. Not even for a week. I think the rest just need a little more fear. They’ve already forgotten Alex and Renae. More suffering has to hit small town America. Until they realize how low they actually are- they wont “get” it.
Americans have a really distorted reality. Poor people in massive debt get excited and feel better about themselves when they buy something sold to them by a multi-billionaire person who overcharges them and would never associate with them.
Americans are somewhat insulated from their bad decisions because there is so much excess in this country. They haven’t hit rock bottom yet, but it might still come. Great article.
As I have said, as long as Billy Ray can still tune into NASCAR and buy cheap shit at Walmart, then he will keep supporting the Elite who couldn’t care less about him and his family.
Once again Neil hits the ball on the nose. The worst part is that we blame ourselves when we don't succeed because we aren't completely organized. And the system keeps grinding out fairy tales about individuals who overcome it all through hard work blah blah blah.
Pulled in too many directions, struggle to live/survive, exhaustion, distracting “entertainment”…and the ongoing circus of events that have no end in sight.
I told a friend last year that unfortunately it will likely take millions dying here due to a myriad of possibilities, over several years and individuals finally becoming personally affected to wake up the worshippers. Nobody wants to look like a fool and feel the shame of what got us here when waking up. That hard wiring is an instinctual response to protect oneself from that an existential crisis. Change is hard.
Believe me…many here are working hard in these streets for better for our communities and to try to make them safer. Certainly exhausting…can’t afford to feel defeated, there’s too much work to be done
Great post. I keep thinking about this part: "A movement needs structure. It needs trust, leadership, discipline, and places where private pain can be translated into public understanding." Those four elements can be translated into different skillsets, and are so difficult to attain for so many, especially those in the lower/working classes. And too often we see criticism of various movements that read something like "they really need to get organized" but without many solutions about *how* to get organized.
Continuing to read so I can keep thinking about the "okay, but how" of it all. Your insights into the overarching structural issues are valuable and appreciated.
Yes the Anglo Saxons have resisted revolt ( except the noble class in past centuring). But they do seem to love subservience. They love be able to look up to Royalty and the Wealthy class. They also love war. These Anglo-Saxons make up the driving force in USA politics and people.
Anglo-Saxons need to be killed. You’re all a bunch of filthy settlers. Once we kill off the white people we can take the land back that’s the revolt. We need to have destroy the settler state because settler colonies and settlers don’t have a right to exist.
Great analysis. Pamela H's comments summarize the causality well. I think that as the bourgeoisie is gradually withered by parasitism, its misery will get to the point where the perceived boundaries between them and the workers will be reduced, potentiating solidarity. The system is already reacting to this tendency defensively, pitting the government against the governed, the MAGATS against the liberals, the white against the brown, the Christian against the Muslim, the gay against the straight, etc... Maybe a sea change in our governance will ameliorate aspects of the problem within constitutional processes, but I doubt it, for reasons that your article makes clear. I'll demonstrate and vote (yet again) before I "go to the mattresses".
Thank you. CELDF has been working in this same space for a while now. I wish more Americans would understand the situation on these terms and appreciate knowing that people like you are getting the word out.
This is a thoughtful analysis, though I’m struck by how much it essentially paraphrases voices who said the same thing two generations ago. The need to reestablish their observations suggests the critical importance of Black history at a time when more and more Americans are finally recognizing this country’s brutality not only towards the rest of the world, but also its own citizen-subjects.
Dr. Martin Luther King‘s letter from a Birmingham jail explains the conspicuous absence from movements of people who remain comfortable, while his experience indicates the viciousness of the state towards movements that challenge its arbitrary distribution of power and capital.
Your article is great - one of my frustrations is looking around and watching everyone just keeping on, with the occasional “performative art” of a No Kings rally. They bring people together - for a Saturday - but only add to that “one and done” mentality. But everyone is just focused on “surviving” - which I fear will mean we don’t
The American working class last engaged in militant strikes in the Great Depression. First, the post-war economic boom absorbed unions into the Democratic Party, then deindustrialization demoralized and confused workers. The Communist Party led many of the union drives of the '30s, but McCarthyism crushed it in the early '50s. An upsurge of Marxism-Leninism from the Black Liberation and student anti-war movements of the '60s became demoralized by the fall of the Soviet Union and China's turn inward and focus on production. American workers are politically divided by politicians and media, fragmented into small service industries and gig economy, and influenced by individualistic American ideology. They react now to the rapid fall in standard of living and endless wars. A single spark could light the prairie fire, then a long process of organizing, fighting, failing, learning, developing leadership,
and resurging must take place.
thank you Bruce , this gives me a lot to think.
I hope you are right about prairie fire !!
I see more and more people talking about whatever we are talking about there, good sign
I’ve always known it was going to have to make regular working people and lower classes hurt a lot more than they’ve hurt before. Most people that I interact with daily have never experienced actual food or housing instability. Not even for 2 weeks. I think the rest just need a little more fear. They’ve already forgotten Alex and Renae. More suffering has to hit small town America. Until they realize how low they actually are- they wont “get” it.
Americans have a really distorted reality. Poor people in massive debt get excited and feel better about themselves when they buy something sold to them by a multi-billionaire person who overcharges them and would never associate with them.
we really have short memories.. ...
I’ve always known it was going to have to make regular working people and lower classes hurt a lot more than they’ve hurt before. Most people that I interact with daily have never experienced actual food or housing instability. Not even for a week. I think the rest just need a little more fear. They’ve already forgotten Alex and Renae. More suffering has to hit small town America. Until they realize how low they actually are- they wont “get” it.
Americans have a really distorted reality. Poor people in massive debt get excited and feel better about themselves when they buy something sold to them by a multi-billionaire person who overcharges them and would never associate with them.
Americans are somewhat insulated from their bad decisions because there is so much excess in this country. They haven’t hit rock bottom yet, but it might still come. Great article.
Thank you Pamela, thanks for the support
As I have said, as long as Billy Ray can still tune into NASCAR and buy cheap shit at Walmart, then he will keep supporting the Elite who couldn’t care less about him and his family.
This is exactly "it". This is an excellent piece. It explains everything so clearly.
Wow, Neil! Another amazing and eye opening article. This answers so many questions.
Once again, we've been showed that "the system is working exactly like it's supposed to".
Thank you Terri!
Once again Neil hits the ball on the nose. The worst part is that we blame ourselves when we don't succeed because we aren't completely organized. And the system keeps grinding out fairy tales about individuals who overcome it all through hard work blah blah blah.
Pulled in too many directions, struggle to live/survive, exhaustion, distracting “entertainment”…and the ongoing circus of events that have no end in sight.
I told a friend last year that unfortunately it will likely take millions dying here due to a myriad of possibilities, over several years and individuals finally becoming personally affected to wake up the worshippers. Nobody wants to look like a fool and feel the shame of what got us here when waking up. That hard wiring is an instinctual response to protect oneself from that an existential crisis. Change is hard.
Believe me…many here are working hard in these streets for better for our communities and to try to make them safer. Certainly exhausting…can’t afford to feel defeated, there’s too much work to be done
Great post. I keep thinking about this part: "A movement needs structure. It needs trust, leadership, discipline, and places where private pain can be translated into public understanding." Those four elements can be translated into different skillsets, and are so difficult to attain for so many, especially those in the lower/working classes. And too often we see criticism of various movements that read something like "they really need to get organized" but without many solutions about *how* to get organized.
Continuing to read so I can keep thinking about the "okay, but how" of it all. Your insights into the overarching structural issues are valuable and appreciated.
we can always look into histories for answers, let me think about this. thanks
Yes, please elaborateore on this in future articles. Keep up the great work!
thank you
As someone who identifies as a communist, I appreciate your work so much. Thank you for trying to be a light in the darkness.
Thank you Tracey!
My pleasure. I love your work. It’s informative and thought provoking!
Fantastic, so succinctly summed up. Thanks for writing about it and also identifying the shadows of McCarthyism!
Because Amerikkkans are cowards and they know that revolting means the end of their white supremacy!
Yes the Anglo Saxons have resisted revolt ( except the noble class in past centuring). But they do seem to love subservience. They love be able to look up to Royalty and the Wealthy class. They also love war. These Anglo-Saxons make up the driving force in USA politics and people.
Anglo-Saxons need to be killed. You’re all a bunch of filthy settlers. Once we kill off the white people we can take the land back that’s the revolt. We need to have destroy the settler state because settler colonies and settlers don’t have a right to exist.
Great analysis. Pamela H's comments summarize the causality well. I think that as the bourgeoisie is gradually withered by parasitism, its misery will get to the point where the perceived boundaries between them and the workers will be reduced, potentiating solidarity. The system is already reacting to this tendency defensively, pitting the government against the governed, the MAGATS against the liberals, the white against the brown, the Christian against the Muslim, the gay against the straight, etc... Maybe a sea change in our governance will ameliorate aspects of the problem within constitutional processes, but I doubt it, for reasons that your article makes clear. I'll demonstrate and vote (yet again) before I "go to the mattresses".
Thank you. CELDF has been working in this same space for a while now. I wish more Americans would understand the situation on these terms and appreciate knowing that people like you are getting the word out.
This is a thoughtful analysis, though I’m struck by how much it essentially paraphrases voices who said the same thing two generations ago. The need to reestablish their observations suggests the critical importance of Black history at a time when more and more Americans are finally recognizing this country’s brutality not only towards the rest of the world, but also its own citizen-subjects.
Dr. Martin Luther King‘s letter from a Birmingham jail explains the conspicuous absence from movements of people who remain comfortable, while his experience indicates the viciousness of the state towards movements that challenge its arbitrary distribution of power and capital.
I wrote two years ago to explore the prescience of his warnings, in a piece also reflecting on the history of CIA crimes that gave rise to the war launched by the Netanyahu & Trump axis of evil a few weeks ago. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/martin-luther-king-jr-tried-to-warn
I wrote another piece the year before reflecting more directly on MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail and its profound implications for the present. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/reclaiming-the-radical-legacy-of
America is barely aware that there is a issue.🇨🇦
everyone still managed to get by.. slow suicide.
Your article is great - one of my frustrations is looking around and watching everyone just keeping on, with the occasional “performative art” of a No Kings rally. They bring people together - for a Saturday - but only add to that “one and done” mentality. But everyone is just focused on “surviving” - which I fear will mean we don’t