I mean, as unfortunately fun as I find posting here, it's for some reason just now hitting me how divorced from "reality" it is. No matter how many books I read or things I write for wherever I may write, none of it amounts to striving for real, material change.
I've tried to look for anarchist or even just socialist organizations in my area (small city in the Midwest US) and they're all either inactive/defunct or (well meaning) middle class reformist liberals LARPing. I know my area isn't exactly a hotbed for radical activity but I guess I'm just a little lost on how to actually get involved and act on my principles.
Lots of other anons think most of the options available today are shit, see this thread
I'm starting to think the only thing for me to do is try to start my own thing. It's easier said than done of course. I'm also in the Midwest, but I haven't looked around for anything yet. I don't think I'm solid enough on my theory yet to get involved majorly
There are Americans here involved in DSA, PSL, and a couple other orgs. Then of course Euros involved in a bunch of others. The reality is that real world political work is dull/frustrating as fuck and nobody wants to talk about it in the place we chill and post shitty meme.
In the midwest you should at least be able to find a DSA chapter in a nearby city. I know FRSO used to be kind of big in the midwest, but those are tankies. Sadly you'd probably get to do a lot more meaningful work in a reformist leaning org. Our communist organizations are really shitty in the US which is why so many communists rather get involved in tent organizations like the DSA that actually do something rather than LARP like the cold war is still ongoing.
Don't bother organizing online. Tried it, didn't work. Maybe meme warfare is doable here, but IRL shit is best done with IRL people. Things you can do: - join an org - make an org - indoctrinate the youth so they will join orgs etc. etc.
David Brooks
This. Internet parties are pure LARP unless they actually strive to manifest in reality. If you want to make moves for real change, do what this guy is saying, don't join a Discord dataminer-server
Jason Davis
I know that feeling, small midwestern city here too. Local leftists are idpozzed beyond cure.
Leo Hernandez
Discord servers aren't for datamining u fag. "action front" would be a good example of a leftypol-started group to do some IRL shit. Problem was, it was all international, so a poster design wouldn't be as applicable elsewhere. Furthermore, not many people were interested in participating in the first place. Lastly, not many in the group were actually motivated enough to consistently do actions. It was fun while it lasted. But organizing IRL is better.
Luis Cook
I only say this because of their privacy policy. Ever since I read it I've never used it again and never will. discordapp.com/privacy
Ayden Nelson
I organize with a number of activist groups in my local community, most of them not socialist at all. People should really not underestimate the power of changing minds through committed entryism.
Jacob Cook
Get some people together to lobby your state legislators for a Democratize the Enterprise bill. There's something meaningful you can do.
Mason Walker
This. I wouldn't touch the damn thing if my friends would use IRC. The only political discord I'm on spends more time talking about anime and games than actual politics. It's more of a safe space from Zig Forums than anything else so I'm not terribly worried about feds.
Luis Rogers
Everyone I know just uses chat.disroot.org instead these days.
Colton Howard
This is the first I've heard of it, but it looks awesome.
Wyatt Wood
Fishy. Tell us more than a sentence and that it's "awesome".
James Diaz
Does Zig Forums do anything IRL of value?
Colton Price
If by do anything you mean go out to make ourselves looks stupid as fuck like Zig Forums does no.
Some of us live in communes, others are ballsy enough to go join YPG, etc. We have different interests. We're not all generic retards like Zig Forums. What we do most of the time is read books.
Does not defending genocide perpetrated by fascists make me a "liberal"? Fine, I can be a liberal then. I'm also terribly sorry for your cognitive bias, but the world is a little more complicated,
Luis Johnson
join the democratic party no seriously if you actually want to see change, be the change, push the party to the center left, its the best chance dsa or green if democrats are too unstomachable, anything else is just larping
Mason Bell
Lefties and unions tried to turn the Democrats into Socdem party during the 70s, and failed miserably. Jacobin wrote a bunch of articles about it. you'll never be able to cleave the democrats from their capitalist backers. Not even progressive capitalists will stand for it.
Camden Long
It's far worse than that, socialists and organized labor have been trying to pull the Democrats left since the fucking 1890s and it's never fucking worked. Only in times of great crisis have the Dems moved leftwards, and always by absorbing the most opportunistic and right-leaning people while excluding or suppressing radicals.
Robert Roberts
I take part in DSA. Might as well help with food drives and break light repair. Plus it gets people willing to consider socialism.
Oliver Anderson
I'm passive with passion, so yes, I'm actually an activist. Just yesterday I spent full 12 hours(!) abstaining from parliamentary elections. It was very tiring of course, but at least I can say I've done my part - unlike those who continue to legitimize the status quo with their mindless participation.
Adam Reyes
omegalul
Zachary Parker
Youre all the same. Sad little larpers with middle class upbringings trying to find something to rebel against.
Luke Brooks
I live in a village in the middle of nowhere so not much of a chance for joining a lefty org here. I will however be moving to a city for uni this year and there I plan on joining the local Socialist Party.
Nolan Parker
Your not memeing right? I need some good tips on looking for abandoned homes and not getting caught staying in them.
Grayson Roberts
I live in a trailer park tbh, dont know about the other anons.
Cooper Carter
But Bosnians are icky.
James Richardson
Considering your in the midwest try starting a radical union. Many towns in that region still have some industry, and recently shut down factories could be restarted and turned into a co-op. If your in a very rural area try to create a radical farmers organization.
Brandon Diaz
I work 12 hour shifts at a gas station kn a working class town. Fuck off.
Dominic Smith
My dad drove a county bus and my mom worked part-time in retail, and they had to support 4 kids on that. You have no idea who any of us are.
Justin Perez
YOUR MOM SUCKED MY COCK LITTLE BITCH
Ayden Ross
WHOOPS FORGOT MY FLAG
David Martinez
I co-own a really successful collective bookstore, we can actually pay our rent while selling shit mostly at cost to the community. So yah, I do actual revolutionary stuff. Writing letters to prisoners, organizing FNB, putting on conferences at local unis, organizing protests, etc.
Jason Jenkins
...
Justin Myers
Those who speak don't know and those who know don't speak. I have come to the conclusion that there are no groups worth taking part in, other than to recruit proxies for personal war against porky and co. Its all about personal action user, fuck ideology and fuck people who care about it. The simple fact is that the situation we are in now is shit, has been shit and will continue to be shit if (you) don't get up and do some shit. Everybody from Zig Forumsacks to gommies to ayncaps all are less than garbage if you don't live out your "revolution" on a day to day basis. Go do some IRL memetics, drop a banner, kill a jew banker, make some art, learn to write code. basically fucking get up or shut up should be the watchword of any revolutionary group, and even then, watchwords are useless, because they dont involve action. Fuck these fucks on Zig Forums and other websites. just do you fam.
I despise the larphood that we are ALL forced to participate in, but your tone suggests that you have found the superior way. Can you teach us, master?
Austin Gray
Yet the power of organization, coordination, and cooperation can't be ignored. I absolutely agree that we each need to improve ourselves, but you're wasting your time if you never get further.
Of course not
Eli Johnson
There were times growing up where we couldn't afford my medicine til payday and I kinda had to suffer til then .______.
Jacob Lopez
I mean, OP should do their thing. But I've joined the well-meaning reformist LARPing liberals, and you can probably include me in that category. I also think it's a response to the failures of Occupy's structureless model. People are also looking for structure in reaction to the rise of "alternative work" in the form of independent contractors, via contract firms and temp agencies.
The various militant and revolutionary approaches also don't have a great track record though. Look at the 60s.
The IRL radical groups that I've seen with my own eyes – and I mean radical by leftpol standards, not normie standards – have not impressed me. They have problems with unaccountable power cliques and only seem to do things in the real world via attempting to hijack the organizing efforts of the reformist groups. In practice this means the militants showing up unannounced and trying to escalate things with the cops. Then when the reformists (who had not prepared for this) leave, the militants take to Twitter to complain about the sellout LARPing reformists.
