Right now there isn’t really one (assuming USA which is where I’m located). IMO the best thing you can do right now is first find likeminded people IRL and do stuff that’s interesting to yourselves and other like minded people, then use those shared interests/bonds as a foundation for motivated community outreach.
Where I live I feel like the sense of community is almost nonexistent despite having a large population. IDK how much of that is from me being autistic, but a lot of things that stem from capitalism like car culture, addictive social media platforms, anything AI, shitty work-life balance, and horrible safety net are also strong contributors to society being super isolating, which then causes anger and self centeredness which results in a lot of what else is wrong with society.
One of the reasons Republicans are as successful as they are is that they provide community through stuff like religion and church, which tests people’s commitment through rules and tithes but also results in tighter bonds where people are more open and trust each other more and do a lot of (mentally) uplifting things together. Then politicians use that to create a unified vision of an ideal society and wield that to their advantage to gain political power, and those communities are super motivated to uphold it.
Meanwhile there are tons of churches everywhere, but as for a left-wing equivalent there’s next to nothing and I’m not even fully sure that it’s possible to replicate something like this with left-wing values. Probably the most important things to take from this is being based on an agreed upon set of values, having a shared vision, expecting some level of commitment (including financially), meeting IRL, having regular activities that are enjoyable and based on the shared values/vision, and the most visible outreach being centered around the interests of those being immediately talked to and also around helping the local population which contributes to a positive image of the organization among less informed people and helps boost its popularity (it’s also less difficult to make changes locally than nationally). Once there is enough popular support, then there’s actually a chance of gaining political power and overthrowing capitalists through next step actions, but without popular support or some other form of power the chances of that succeeding is basically none.
As far as organizations that exist right now go, for ones like PSL I’m not sure how other chapters work or how it works on a national level. The problems I have with my local chapter is that it mainly focuses on peaceful controlled protests (has no chance at making meaningful change, sucks for community building, and is ultimately a waste of time) and it rarely focuses on local issues on social media (not good for building local support, and I want to actually do stuff, not just read and yell things). The best organization I’ve found so far which I’m volunteering with is one that stemmed from Food Not Bombs, which is run by leftists and focuses on raising awareness of local issues (specifically related to homelessness), using temporary aid as a way to protest unjust laws and promote a vision for an ideal society that fixes systemic issues that cause homelessness. Outside of the main distribution efforts, the main organizers in the group know some homeless people by name and where they’re located and will help them as well. They’ve also gotten media attention in local mainstream news outlets (not exactly good attention but it’s something). Some other Food Not Bombs chapters have gotten national media attention for breaking laws that hurt homeless people. A more broad organization that still prioritizes local issues (until more can be done outside of that) would be a lot better IMO, but that doesn’t really exist where I live so this is what I’ve been involved with for now.
Start contacting local socialist orgs, PSL, DSA, CPUSA, etc., go to their meetings and start talking to people. Look for groups that offer education, seem to have good internal democratic processes, good comradely vibes, and who are actively engaging in campaigns to struggle against injustice, and doing stuff that you want to participate in.
Groups that have lots of political discussion, rather than being obsessed with internal processes, groups that don’t work with cops, and don’t just follow the dems on everything, is another thing to look for.
Your local conditions are the most important thing to consider. I wish I could tell you what group to join, but it varies quite a lot. A small and very active group is probably better than a large group with mostly inactive members. I’m in DSA, because I want to build a alternative workers political party, and I like DSA, but I also know that not every chapter is the same, there’s def some chapters I would not recommend, although my local is very good.
Once you find your political home, you can branch out, keep working with other groups help build coalitions in your city. The most important thing is, you can’t affect change by yourself. We need to combine our efforts to be effective. Always speak up, speak your mind and rep your personal perspective, and groups that don’t handle good well considered perspectives can be toxic. Then again, we can bring toxic perspectives with us, so always be open to hearing criticism and always be trying to improve yourself. Be patient and assume good intent but find a group you can work well with. Develop your cadres.
Virtually every group needs people who can take good notes and/or can begin meetings on time. Like that bar is so incredibly low, but the people who do it for their own groups are some of the only people who will do that reliably, and they’re also often people who are the most committed and experienced. Taking those simple functions off peoples workload or even providing support in those areas can be invaluable to the whole group. Other things, like doing phone/text banking or tabling for like a few hours per month is incredibly valuable work, that helps with turn out to events and allows recruiters to make and build contacts. Very low bar, very high impact. One of the groups I’m involved with actually pays people to make calls so volunteering for that work on your spare time, and being reliable and consistent is another invaluable quality in a new member.
One final tip, it is better to do one thing consistently then it is to try and take on everything that you see needs done. Make room in your life for organizing, and don’t take on extra unless you’re sure you have time/energy for it. Tell people in your life like “I have a commitment every Thursday from 7-9 pm” and then stick to that for a while. Burn out will fucking destroy you. So check in with your self, and check in with others.
Your number one step is privacy. Privacy is the foundation of freedom; it “protects the right to be left alone”.
If you’re a beginner, Naomi Brockwell’s videos have very good tips. If you’re not a beginner, read Michael Bazzell’s book Extreme Privacy. Read it in full and decide the level of privacy you want (you likely will not need every single one of his tips).
lol, there’s no privacy in a fascist State because the state doesn’t feel compelled to respect the law and doesn’t recognize fundamental rights. Nobody is going to leave you alone. Get real.
Encryption requires no respect from the State
yeah, that’s a microscopic element of privacy in a situation where the state can come and kill you with no accountability. You still have a body, you still need to inhabit a space, eat food and exist in the world. Encryption won’t help you with that.
No, the state can’t just do that. They could do it to any one person, but not to everyone. Consider this hypothetical: the state wants to kill 100 people. If everyone is outside, this job becomes easy. If everyone is in their homes, this job becomes harder. Why? Because breaking down doors, moving equipment, etc. costs money. And government agencies don’t have all the money in the world! They can’t:
- Go after every single person who uses cash
- Go after everyone who uses a vpn
- Go after everyone who uses encrypted messaging
- Go after everyone who attends a protest and who wears a mask and puts their phone in a faraday bag.
Privacy works best in a larger group. Telling people privacy is dead actually hurts you more than telling people that there are indeed effective steps you can take to protect yourself.
This is exactly what happens under fascism way before digitalization. Do you think they care if they make mistakes? They round up and jail random people if they are not sure. You really should read how fascism played out in Italy, Germany or Chile because you seem dangerously misguided
Very well. Since privacy is irrelevant, give me your full name and address. I promise I won’t report you to ICE.
If you think you can organize a resistance to fascism while being surveilled 24/7, be my guest. The only thing you’re doing by being a stupid doomer is discouraging people from taking proactive steps towards better privacy. Surveillance is what kills our freedom of speech, assembly, and petition.
It’s funny how much people deny that privacy is the foundation of freedom when every tyrant knows it. That’s why they set up surveillance systems.
Check out generalstrikeus.com. Also the peoples Union
Join an org, if you’re a fed the good ones will filter you out. I recommend either the Party for Socialism and Liberation or Freedom Road Socialist Organization if you live in the US.
If you want a place to start with theory, I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, feel free to check it out!
Nice try, fed.
Or mossad
Pee on your shoes.
We will contact you.
A member of the resistance has contacted me, thank you !
Done. Am now resisting arrest in the Wendy’s diner.
serious answer: start by reading theory and knowing how “the resistance” works at all.
Here’s my Marxist-Leninist reading list if you want a place to start (I’m aware of the joke, haha)!
Thank you!
That’s exactly what I wanted.
No problem! Feel free to give me any feedback you may have if you decide to follow it!
once you get a grip of ohm’s law, resistance is a breeze
I groaned, but that’s a good one lol
“I want to help”
“Read several books first”.
Are you aware of how disgusting and classist it sounds?
how is reading a book classist for you? you can read. (and its free). the introductory stuff is mostly easy to read too.
you can join a leftist org directly and they will teach/show you if you prefer it that way. that’s probably how most people start.
most working class people cannot read well, let alone theory, have no material time to read, or if, they do, they don’t have the mental energy or continuity to get to the end of it, grapple alone on how to turn that into action and find a path for themselves. It’s very individualistic, good for the privileged who organize out of aspiration rather than out of necessity. Any serious org, to the people coming to offer help, should answer: “this is John, he will teach you how to do X and Y, and why this is important. Get to work”. Anything else is designed for an intellectual, individualistic minority that never gets shit done.
that’s exactly why others are here to talk to and explain it to people.
there is a variety of ways you can learn politics from audiobooks to youtube to finding them irl as mentioned, if you prefer other ways of absorbing information. books are only the better source imo.
the thing people do need is wanting to learn. which I assume is what OP wants. its impossible to do political work without knowing the politics you are working to build.
You need both theory and practice together. Practice sharpens theory, theory guides practice. You don’t have to be a grandmaster Marxist-Leninist with decades of theory under your belt to do good work. A large part of organizing involves training and educating comrades, for example, you even hint at it. Many orgs require a protracted training period before even being a full member, such as PSL or FRSO.
What’s classist would be shutting out the working class from theory, keeping it purely for the vanguard. Many existing communist orgs have run into this problem, and resolved it in various ways. Theory is for the working class, not for a privledged few, so the good vanguards have managed to make theory approachable and digestible.
No problem with that. My problem is with people who expect to start from theory as if that it’s a relatable and normal thing to do.
I’d say it’s definitely a “normal” thing to do. A lot of people don’t understand the importance of organizing until they’ve read a bit of theory, and saying they were wrong to do so, or framing them as privledged, isn’t the right path. There are two “wrong” camps, those who only read theory, and those who only do practice, though the practice camp is less incorrect. The correct group is the group that tries to balance both.
For anyone wanting a good place to start, I made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list! Under a bit of revision right now, but still fully usable!
oooo you even got jones manoel’s scolding of western marxists for orientalism in there
Yep! Western Marxism needs to be correctly addressed right off the rip, or else the chance of those going through the list ending up as social chauvanists increases. Manoel says it best!
Look up the group Indecline and see if they have any suggestions for civil disobedience around you.
Right now I think it’s more just a collective of individual action, not so much a group of people that meet up. It’s also near impossible with how monitored everything is these days. Be careful where and how to talk about this stuff tho. Anything that has a speaker has the potential to listen, even if it’s “turned off”.
I know guys, let’s like all form a resistance group and we’ll all meet downtown on Thursday at 6 o’clock. That way we’re all done with work and everything and we’ll have a big fucking meeting. Like every resister, all over the country, we’re all gonna meet downtown.
Think about it. There will be too many of us for the cops to do anything about it.
Like, even though they’ll know where we are and when we’re gonna be there, it’ll be all of us versus only however many of them can actually show up.
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