I think a lot of places that prohibit talking about violence are supporting the horrors. Like, it'd be swell if we could vote ourselves out of this mess but that seems like a long shot, and a lot of damage would be done before that even started to take effect.

I get most of us don't actually want to risk our lives. We don't want to be the one guy who throws a molotov and gets shot by the police.

But shit is really bad, and at the end of all things might makes right. Principles and philosophy don't matter if you're dead.

I think everyone's thought about like "what if i went back in time and shot Hitler before things got really bad?" Well, that's now. You've arrived at the time travel destination.

I don't really want to live in a world where republicans are shot dead, where the prosecutors putting people in jail for protesting are murdered in their sleep, or where the owners of a factory that pollutes the air we breathe are beaten so badly they'll never walk again. But I also don't want to live in the world those forces will create if left unchecked.

Besides, the right has been using stochastic terrorism for years.

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 26 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (4 children)

But shit is really bad, and at the end of all things might makes right. Principles and philosophy don’t matter if you’re dead.

Not necessarily. There have been some successful non-violent revolutions in history, and there's a strong case to be made that not exhausting those options could be a huge mistake.

We still have, right now, completely un-used tools at our disposal, such as unionizing en masse and deploying a general strike, which is insanely powerful (capable of bringing a nation to its knees if done widely enough), while being far less dangerous and more appealing to the general populace than any other means.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 17 points 5 months ago (3 children)

To be clear, I support other options like a general strike and unionizing (though I think forming a union is only a bandaid on top of the evils of capitalism, it's better than nothing).

I don't think "just vote for the democrats in 4 years" is a viable strategy on its own.

But even so, these have to be backed by might. If you do a strike and they send police to do violence to you, you have to be ready to fight back.

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 18 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I see the workplace benefits of a global union (specifically the IWW) as a bonus, with the real meat being that it teaches people how to organize, and how much power they truly can wield collectively, as many people still feel quite powerless despite the potential they hold, they need only be taught how to use it.

When the Spanish Civil War kicked off, it was the Syndicalist unions (CNT-FAI) that were able to organize their communities effectively to resist Franco and transform Catalonia when the existing government crumbled. That type of organization doesn't necessarily have to be from a union, but I feel the ability to engage in a general strike would be far more encouraged if people were in a union and became used to flexing that muscle (and build up a strike fund to be able to sustain it) and would drastically help in effectively resisting.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 9 points 5 months ago

This is a good point. I hadn't thought much about how some of the skills and such from unionizing might transfer to other things. Thanks

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