Beyond Government And Resistance Part II

I am writing this roughly three weeks in the past–about the amount of time Trump has been in office up to this point. That means a lot could happen in the intervening period that I don't know about. A lot could be worse, or at least seem worse, due to how heavily he can flood the zone. But I want you to remember something really, really important: we are all getting pretty pissed off. This bodes well for the metaphor I introduced last week, which is that we have left "preparedness" and entered the "response" part of the shitfire mess we're in.

Anger may not seem like such a good thing, and I suppose it isn't exactly good–but it's not good for our enemies, either. The top 1% in this country own 30% of all its wealth, and the top 10% owns 67%. In a country where 40% of folks are one missed paycheck away from losing their homes, that is fucked. And while for years, despite best efforts by leftists, we have not succeeded in creating a stable class-consciousness in this country, I think that may be about to change.

The killing of UHC's CEO was a truly singular moment in the history of this country. Across the political spectrum, across generations, and across class lines, Americans were unified in their vociferous hatred for the US healthcare system–if not the act itself. This is emblematic of the entire system, I believe. 42% of Americans voted for neither Trump nor Harris in last year's election. The corruption by the ruling class in this country has become so overt that it's harder and harder for them to dominate the narrative. We got a foot in the door because of an assassination–really a wild thing to see, historically speaking–and now we've got to make that gap wider.

This, I think, is how we have to respond as a people. We have to grab hold of the this moment, awful as it is, and unify behind the belief that we deserve better–and that we can do better. The important thing is that we all act toward this end, because it cannot be done in our little islands, nor will it come about passively. The alternative is pretty dark, I'm afraid. So while we're working to help the vulnerable folks as the pain starts crashing down, we've got to keep showing each other that we're in this together–all of us. That's pretty vague rhetoric, admittedly, but we'll get into practicalities as we go along.

Beginning at the End

We're sort of looking at this issue in reverse–let's keep it that way for a moment. A large chunk of the population of the United States has stood up (it doesn't take as much as you think, but let's dream big here) and said that enough is enough. It wasn't so simple as just saying "no," because of course the government has been building up local armies (you know, the cops) for just such an occasion, but we've managed to remain united and to hold the line. This has resulted in the caving of the government and the rich–probably in a rather literal sense. Easy peasy.

What's just happened is we've succeeded in a massive general strike. We've stopped working, stopped consuming, and the flow of dollars to and from the ultra-rich has halted. Now, we're a diverse nation, despite efforts by some to the contrary, and not everyone is going to participate, want to, or be able to. Because of this, the strike is going to look like what you might expect: picket lines, strike breakers, police brutality. Unless buy-in is truly miraculous–even if it is–we're going to see violence meant to disrupt this. Cops will be sent to the picket lines, they will attack our protests, and they'll likely come to the homes of organizers and attempt arrests at minimum. But to switch tenses again, we held strong.

A general strike cuts at the very heart of everything the people in power care about: money. (It's a short list). We are rather officially an oligarchy, and without the monetary might of the US workforce, that oligarchy is not long for this world. They will try to force our hand, but by seizing the means of production (seizing them up, more likely), they will no longer have the means to keep that force working against us for very long.

Beginning at the Beginning

So, that's our goal: a nationwide general strike. You may remember that Shawn Fain, UAW president, is calling for one on May 1st, 2028. That may seem far out–dismally far when you think about how much shit we'll have to survive for three more years–but in a country as inured to its own conditions as the United States, it will likely take this long to stoke the embers we have going now into a full-blown fire. (I don't think we can expect, for instance, the kind of participation India saw overnight (nor can we simply numerically.)) While I would like to see some giant movement earlier, I think we need any kind of cohesion we can get, and a powerful union leader like Fain is a fine enough rallying point. It's a good way to inoculate the left against purity tests, while we're at it, which is going to be necessary going forward.

This is where we can start to get granular: we assist with a general strike by building our solidarity at the ground level in order to ensure we all have what we need. (There's plenty else, but we don't really need to revisit protest tactics or bag contents.) This solidarity is built rather simply, I think. I've always asked you to reach out to friends and neighbors to build groups and take action, but we're now being gathered by the overt disruption of our lives.

Building solidarity in your community can start simply. Margaret Killjoy has a good recent newsletter about this subject–she recommends, and I concur, that people just get together and talk things over. It can really be that basic, to start. Talk about the problems we're facing, brainstorm solutions, and don't be too worried about getting it right, because what matters is pushing against the bad. Starting off, that's going to look a little easy–but it is, actually.

I want you to have something doable to start with, and that's what this is: get together with folks you know, maybe even folks you don't know well, and talk about how bad things are. Not to be all "first, you've got to get mad," but hollering out the window to let your neighbors know you all feel the same is not a bad start. Remember, what we're trying to convey to each other is that we're mad, together, at an injustice. You can start this solidarity group around a hobby, a community project, or just a frequent social gathering–but it should be scheduled and persistent. Something that does make me worry about this general strike setup is that we fall short on demands–there is that threat/demand dynamic to a strike, after all–and we wind up giving in before we get all that we need. Being clear about what we need and where our lines are should be something we define from the start–it should be the basis of our conversations.

From this burgeoning solidarity come next steps. We will, and you should, begin organizing toward more than just awareness and solidarity. We'll start talking about that next week. For now, you have an assignment: friends, co-workers, family, whomever–you need to find time to talk to people in your life about the absolute clusterfuck this world is becoming, and help make them all aware that they're not alone in thinking things are scary, and disorienting, and maddening. And that there's power in simply knowing we all feel the same way.