Morning Comrades.
In light of the last few days over in the U.S. I wanted to expand some of the thoughts I had about the situation. Practically and philosophically speaking they do all apply to everyone here in the “west” but they are to a certain degree more U.S. centric than normal.
At the end of this email I will be sharing a few resources that are specifically geared towards tactics, not strategy, in regards to effective protests as well as resources that have helped me over the last 20 odd years or so. I know that a lot of you will know most of these already but if anything, consider them refreshers from someone that has had his ass handed to him more often than not, protesting.
To start off a few more truths and thoughts about how to survive a fascist coup and what to do about it.
Tech: Tech is your enemy and as unnatural this may seem at this stage of our lives make this your mantra for everything you do, that, in even in the remotest possibility can be seen as challenging authority. Everything you do, say, like, share - even providing information about safe places in the US is recorded, saved put into a database and will be evaluated against you. Your phone, laptop or tablet etc no matter if it is on, off or on airplane mode can and will record where you are, what you say and recorded faces etc. Even if you disbelieve these facts, assume that they are true if you are planing, sharing, liking etc anything.
Bodies on the Streets: Every Body counts and is important. No single tactic here is right or wrong but together they have a much large chance of disrupting the lives of those in power - and make no mistake, that is the entire point of protests. A march, whilst nice for building feelings of solidarity are just that feel good moments. In my experience, a mixture of large and smaller, more mobile action groups work best. Say for example, a large group of people shuts down access to a number of government buildings will surely draw a massive police response - if you now add, 10 smaller protests at ten other locations, doing much of the same, any police force will be utterly overwhelmed and will allow huge numbers of people to do the necessary work. This thread here illustrates this mixture of tactics quite beautifully. Again, getting as many people out at once is key here, that leads to the next ,very crucial point.
Coalitions: I know, in our times of individuality über alles this concept may seem a little strange but it is absolutely crucial for the above work. Mass movements need hours, resources and coordination to succeed. Oppressive systems tend to deny these to the bottom and hoard them at the top. This is the strategic basis for coalition, which you cannot moralize yourself out of. Whoever opposes coalitions on egotistical moral grounds cannot be, especially at this time, be taken seriously and I would not waste your time trying to “debate” them.
Coordination: Much like the increasing heated talk about a General Strike, which I’ll comment on later, coalitions and action plans on scales that have impact require coordination. Do not for one second believe that you can do this by yourself from the ground up, not at this stage of the game, this takes years, if not decades to securely set up. If you are interested in supporting a coordinated struggle against power your first move should always be to seek out political groups, unions etc that have been doing so for a while. The infrastructure behind coordinated mass movements is sizeable, it takes time, money and person-power especially to do so, and again, you cannot do this on your own. At best you’ll be able to get 5-10 people out on the street with you thanks to a half-arsed IG post and trust me the cops will nab you before you can say no. Seek out the groups who are active in your area and make yourself be known and offer what you can offer. Again every body counts and no, no one will do this for you.
Armed Struggles: This is very specific to the US, and whilst this used to be a reality in Europe decades ago I still do believe this is an important subject to touch upon. Your perception of any armed struggle in the West ( unless you were involved in the IRA / ETA etc., which I doubt ) is usually totally off and not based in reality, and yes, blame the CIA Psy-Op that is Hollywood. Shit like “Red Dawn” are insanely idiotic fiction made to appeal to Incel White Dudes with guns, maybe Militia’s of untrained citizens made an impact 300 years ago but all governments have learned that lesson and have trained for this. You haven’t. As a Communist, I believe in the power of organized mass struggle to achieve democracy, logically, and Mao was right, when he said: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun” - in his context and time. Fact is, to look around right now and advocate for "armed struggle" is to advocate for a poorly-coordinated and sparse elitism over mass struggle. Infinitely more important than picking up a gun is building a successful mass movement to anticipate and make impossible the violence used against us, and that requires the fullest possible strength and leadership of the working class right now. Calls to "defend ourselves with guns" en masse in this moment wouldn't just alienate a huge fraction of the people one sees fighting the far-right advance today. It also forces us to take a defensive position on the terrain of choice of a terribly-armed political foe. The political power of the working class comes from our unity above all else. Our job is to see violence coming from the ruling class and shut it down and mitigate it through proper organization, NOT invite it.
Resources For Protests and Direct Action:
Following, a few extremely helpful resources that you can read and download to share with everyone that I wholly subscribe to and have used, effectively in the past. If you are planning on going out for whatever reason, be diligent in reading and understanding these. Make no mistake, you will be and are facing highly trained and even more highly armed organizations whose ONLY purpose is to maintain the safety of the ruling classes and their comfort. IF you are out on the streets, no matter your role, you will be seen as a threat to this and dealt with accordingly.
With that, a few last words from this: Be safe, be smart, stay sober and collected out there. Fighting authority is serious work and demands sacrifices. A lot of the times you will feel deflated because immediacy is a curse of our modern world. This fight, and the most gracious fight for peace, democracy and self-determination are not moments in time but lifetime commitments, thus, act accordingly. I know everyone is feeling helpless and scared but to be sure that is exactly what they want. Class consciousness and the acts upon it are our weapon that results in non-transactional solidarity. I know it may not seem so, but we got this, because we have no other choice and I am here with you all, as and how I can.
See you on the barricades comrade.
Yours, without compromise,
V.