Revolution has to be the answer. The American public is held so hostage to the loss of income, shelter, basic living needs, to ever undergo an epiphany directed to the
elimination of the current humanity-crushing impact of the capitalist/imperialist
It does seem that it could never happen that enough people would want to get out of their comfort zone to go for the whole thing-A real revolution.
The revcoms get to the heart of this question through analyzing the dialectical relationships between material conditions, consciousness, and revolutionary leadership.
It’s critical to not view consciousness in a static way, but understand the dire direction that society is going in, and how that can affect people’s ability to use usual coping mechanisms, as crises deepen.
However, people won’t spontaneously rise up to make a conscious socialist revolution without clear leadership and strategy, such as the Revcoms have been developing, and working to take out to the people. Check out
Even NFL TV coverage for regular games has become sycophantic for our billionaire overlords. Team owners often get a few seconds of camera time during games as homage. 30 years ago the camera never sucked up to the team owners.
I don't even do pessimism v. optimism. Doesn't interest me. Organize for revolution we must. Chances for a decent and even great human future go up if we do. If we don't, our fate is pretty obvious. The only thing crazier than calling for a real socialist revolution? Not calling for a real socialist revolution. Capitalism is an exterminist system hard wired to severely cripple if not end the human experiment.
There is no physical housing shortage as stated by the ruling class, profit-monger press. Disused housing, vacant homes, and occupiable spaces exist in large quantities. These could be put back to use, ending the desperation of rent burdened and homeless people. It will take work. (!) Well, then this would "create jobs," something all capitalists claim to be in awe of. Of course, the kind of jobs they mean are the ones where you work for their profits, the kind of jobs any revolution I am interested in intends to cancel. Reopening and re-using vacant interior spaces would also create and strengthen communities. The concept is housing, not "real estate." The "shortage" being discussed by capitalists is a shortage of the kind of housing they want to see, housing as investment, for profit, housing for people who have the means to purchase it whether they are being taken advantage of or not. This is new "upscale" housing - ironically built as quickly and cheaply as possible - and sold for as high a price as possible. The "shortage" is not being addressed in terms of homelessness or people being deprived of housing for lack of money to obtain it. Homelessness and affordability will be mentioned only as smokescreens for their real intention, which is not housing for those in need, but profit derived from those who can amply afford newly built "luxury" real estate. The young, suburban raised, corporate "go getter" class with a few bucks from mom and dad and their six figure salaries feel they deserve brand new housing, not some "looks kind of old" building. The capitalist housing "crisis" is having less shiny new, expensive units to sell than the number of privileged people who will buy them. The preferred method of solving this, wherever possible, is to tear down anything empty or in need of basic repair and replace it with "Exquisite Luxury" condos and 2 million dollar homes for the benefit and use of bloated investors, the outright rich, and the overcompensated corporate managerial class. If it can't make anyone a huge pile of money by razing it and building something morally offensive, then it sits empty. The criminal capitalist system does not connect people in need with viable, existing housing, it only connects the investor class, landlords, and real estate hustlers with people's money. Any individual without housing has zero chance of achieving any kind of prosperity. Revolution can begin with demanding access to food, housing, healthcare, etc. You cannot participate in anything without access to it, a fact which the life draining, profiteering ruling class fully understands. If a system denies life, then we must deny life to that system.
What better illustrates "Murikan indifference to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, than the thousands who attended that stupid game, where the players are rated by how well they can run into each other. Do bear in mind that it's from the ranks of these ignoramuses that you need to enlist support for any revolution. What are the chances, without further education, of succeeding, when you're inviting them to swap the fun of their mind-numbing sports for the hard work of revolution.
I have often thought of this Thomas. It seems to me the left when dreaming big about a better world does not take into account how ignorant, stupid and selfish too many people are. A system that is based on ignorance, stupidity and selfishness suits them just fine. You think, well, people can be educated beyond their current numbness, but, a lot of times I look around and think, maybe not.
I've been around a very long time, in fact well beyond the average life span, and I can declare with some confidence, that it would be impossible to gather enough intelligent progressives to effect any meaningful change in our system. "Ignorance" is and always has been our primary obstruction to improvement. Close behind is "indifference".
Well, as has been said... We do not fight fascists because we think we will win. We fight fascists because they are fascists. It's either resist what seems wrong, or just let it go unquestioned. I suppose people like us are not capable of "unquestioning."
Don't get me wrong,(is the "M" for Mont?? lol) I fully agree that fascism must be met head-on,,, my pessimism is confined to the possibility of ever getting enough of the right mindset to mount a successful revolution. Too much complacency.
I've always thought, since I was maybe about 15 years old, that the only logical endpoint of capitalism would be so bad that in my lifetime I might see it collapse. People would be homeless, hungry, and they would revolt. As I got older I saw that yes this may happen, but the revolt would be so disorganized and easy to suppress that it would end in failure. Like the labor uprisings where they would send in the cops and military, Pinkertons, and just start shooting. Yes, complacency is the issue. If people would look and learn and consider the long term future of the "human project" then they would begin to organize against oppression and exploitation, etc. The education system, constant propaganda, and now tech and entertainment distractions keep the blinders on. Recently the sharp increases in food prices and housing costs (brought to you by the rich and those striving to be richer, as always) made me think, this might put one ray of illumination into people's heads about what is actually going on in the system, but so far they just take it. The mainstream news they watch (if they watch any news at all) explains these problems away with more lies, and always "there is no choice, that's just the way it is." God made the earth, and He made capitalism, and He wants things this way. Yours is not to question why, but to do and die I believe the saying goes. And now, off to work I go. :/ End note: I just saw an interview where a MAGA dupe says that now with AI we don't have to worry, because it is already smart enough to "solve all our problems." And how will this happen? Well, by "running the country as a business," of course. So yes, we may simply be doomed. (sigh) How can you lack the capacity to see how "business" runs things? Quite astounding actually.
YES!
Revolution has to be the answer. The American public is held so hostage to the loss of income, shelter, basic living needs, to ever undergo an epiphany directed to the
elimination of the current humanity-crushing impact of the capitalist/imperialist
stranglehold!!
Superb reporting, Mr. Street. Thank you so much.
It does seem that it could never happen that enough people would want to get out of their comfort zone to go for the whole thing-A real revolution.
The revcoms get to the heart of this question through analyzing the dialectical relationships between material conditions, consciousness, and revolutionary leadership.
It’s critical to not view consciousness in a static way, but understand the dire direction that society is going in, and how that can affect people’s ability to use usual coping mechanisms, as crises deepen.
However, people won’t spontaneously rise up to make a conscious socialist revolution without clear leadership and strategy, such as the Revcoms have been developing, and working to take out to the people. Check out
revcom.us for detailed analysis.
Our capitalist system with the Super Bowl on one extreme and genocide on the other is sick and disgusting!
Even NFL TV coverage for regular games has become sycophantic for our billionaire overlords. Team owners often get a few seconds of camera time during games as homage. 30 years ago the camera never sucked up to the team owners.
I don't even do pessimism v. optimism. Doesn't interest me. Organize for revolution we must. Chances for a decent and even great human future go up if we do. If we don't, our fate is pretty obvious. The only thing crazier than calling for a real socialist revolution? Not calling for a real socialist revolution. Capitalism is an exterminist system hard wired to severely cripple if not end the human experiment.
Fascism is (among other things) capitalism with a boot on our necks.
There is no physical housing shortage as stated by the ruling class, profit-monger press. Disused housing, vacant homes, and occupiable spaces exist in large quantities. These could be put back to use, ending the desperation of rent burdened and homeless people. It will take work. (!) Well, then this would "create jobs," something all capitalists claim to be in awe of. Of course, the kind of jobs they mean are the ones where you work for their profits, the kind of jobs any revolution I am interested in intends to cancel. Reopening and re-using vacant interior spaces would also create and strengthen communities. The concept is housing, not "real estate." The "shortage" being discussed by capitalists is a shortage of the kind of housing they want to see, housing as investment, for profit, housing for people who have the means to purchase it whether they are being taken advantage of or not. This is new "upscale" housing - ironically built as quickly and cheaply as possible - and sold for as high a price as possible. The "shortage" is not being addressed in terms of homelessness or people being deprived of housing for lack of money to obtain it. Homelessness and affordability will be mentioned only as smokescreens for their real intention, which is not housing for those in need, but profit derived from those who can amply afford newly built "luxury" real estate. The young, suburban raised, corporate "go getter" class with a few bucks from mom and dad and their six figure salaries feel they deserve brand new housing, not some "looks kind of old" building. The capitalist housing "crisis" is having less shiny new, expensive units to sell than the number of privileged people who will buy them. The preferred method of solving this, wherever possible, is to tear down anything empty or in need of basic repair and replace it with "Exquisite Luxury" condos and 2 million dollar homes for the benefit and use of bloated investors, the outright rich, and the overcompensated corporate managerial class. If it can't make anyone a huge pile of money by razing it and building something morally offensive, then it sits empty. The criminal capitalist system does not connect people in need with viable, existing housing, it only connects the investor class, landlords, and real estate hustlers with people's money. Any individual without housing has zero chance of achieving any kind of prosperity. Revolution can begin with demanding access to food, housing, healthcare, etc. You cannot participate in anything without access to it, a fact which the life draining, profiteering ruling class fully understands. If a system denies life, then we must deny life to that system.
Wow! Well said!
What better illustrates "Murikan indifference to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, than the thousands who attended that stupid game, where the players are rated by how well they can run into each other. Do bear in mind that it's from the ranks of these ignoramuses that you need to enlist support for any revolution. What are the chances, without further education, of succeeding, when you're inviting them to swap the fun of their mind-numbing sports for the hard work of revolution.
I have often thought of this Thomas. It seems to me the left when dreaming big about a better world does not take into account how ignorant, stupid and selfish too many people are. A system that is based on ignorance, stupidity and selfishness suits them just fine. You think, well, people can be educated beyond their current numbness, but, a lot of times I look around and think, maybe not.
I've been around a very long time, in fact well beyond the average life span, and I can declare with some confidence, that it would be impossible to gather enough intelligent progressives to effect any meaningful change in our system. "Ignorance" is and always has been our primary obstruction to improvement. Close behind is "indifference".
Well, as has been said... We do not fight fascists because we think we will win. We fight fascists because they are fascists. It's either resist what seems wrong, or just let it go unquestioned. I suppose people like us are not capable of "unquestioning."
Don't get me wrong,(is the "M" for Mont?? lol) I fully agree that fascism must be met head-on,,, my pessimism is confined to the possibility of ever getting enough of the right mindset to mount a successful revolution. Too much complacency.
I've always thought, since I was maybe about 15 years old, that the only logical endpoint of capitalism would be so bad that in my lifetime I might see it collapse. People would be homeless, hungry, and they would revolt. As I got older I saw that yes this may happen, but the revolt would be so disorganized and easy to suppress that it would end in failure. Like the labor uprisings where they would send in the cops and military, Pinkertons, and just start shooting. Yes, complacency is the issue. If people would look and learn and consider the long term future of the "human project" then they would begin to organize against oppression and exploitation, etc. The education system, constant propaganda, and now tech and entertainment distractions keep the blinders on. Recently the sharp increases in food prices and housing costs (brought to you by the rich and those striving to be richer, as always) made me think, this might put one ray of illumination into people's heads about what is actually going on in the system, but so far they just take it. The mainstream news they watch (if they watch any news at all) explains these problems away with more lies, and always "there is no choice, that's just the way it is." God made the earth, and He made capitalism, and He wants things this way. Yours is not to question why, but to do and die I believe the saying goes. And now, off to work I go. :/ End note: I just saw an interview where a MAGA dupe says that now with AI we don't have to worry, because it is already smart enough to "solve all our problems." And how will this happen? Well, by "running the country as a business," of course. So yes, we may simply be doomed. (sigh) How can you lack the capacity to see how "business" runs things? Quite astounding actually.