absolutely. And I'll cop to being one of those people who came late to that conclusion...But I HAVE come to it AND accepted it. In a weird way it's made me a good bit happier person and I can't quite figure out WHY...I THINK its because once you finally COME to this (correct) conclusion, you can ignore about 90% of the news...I mean AL MOST ALL of it is predicated on acknowledging agency and will on the part of our institutions and the people who run them...Now I KNOW they are going to do nothing so I don't have to fret wondering WHEN they are going to do something...Does that make sense?
This is when we need the Paycheck Party. A grassroots organization that promotes the idea that if something is good for your paycheck, then a politician should support it. It’s a non partisan way to say focus on our paychecks. It’s also an idea with a natural enemy built into the idea: the bosses, the billionaires, the monopolists, the strike breakers.
Extremely important question everyone should be asking. Those with the most to lose, will do the least makes sense to me...no rocking the boat just hang on tight and hope it will be over soon. But I find that people who don't have a great deal, but have something; also don't want to lose what little they have. They want to believe somebody or someone will be a along for the rescue. Many people are afraid, but not desperate, yet. Nolan makes a good analysis of why certain powerful groups are not the expectant cavalry. Its seems its really a matter of how much anxiety can we tolerate until we are motivated to act on our own.
I personally would be in favor of defying the law and advocate for, at the very least, wildcat strikes ( they are not unprecedented in very recent times), slow downs, work stoppages etc; across the country. This administration is more than pushing hard against long established legal precedent, protocols, and even the bedrock constitutionality of our long established democratic institutions. Trump is testing the waters, seeing what he can he get away with. How far can he go pushing the legal boundaries before there is a hard push back? My guess he thinks he can get away with quite a bit. Why not do the same; test the waters, and start ginning up the idea of real immediate hard push back?
"Aside from the systemic imperatives that cause capitalism to accumulate without end, we must also reckon with the driving force of class greed. Wealth is an addiction. There is no end to the amount of money one might desire to accumulate. The best security to being rich is to get richer, piling possession upon possession, giving oneself over to the auri sacra fames, the cursed greed for gold, the desire for more money that can be consumed in a thousand lifetimes of limitless indulgence, wanting in nothing but still more and more money."
One small but vital point, Comrade Nolan. It's not enough to hit the streets and fan the flames. All those in motion need more than mobilization. They need organizations, of several kinds. But organizations aimed at bringing a Third Reconstruction to governing power, starting at the base, and working outward and upward. ORGANIZATION, that's our vital weapon to build within mass movements..
Some already exist in your communities, some you will have to build from scratch. Don't leave out the lowly study group with weekly meetings. A lot can grow from these. When going to a demo, you need more than comfortable shoes and a lawyer's phone number. You need a clipboard and pens, and your contact flyers or business cards. Without these, you're just an activist, not an organizer.
I agree, but all is lost without a national organized political movement to confront power. US history has had several close moments with such national movements that were crushed. (Eugene Debbs, MLK's Poor People's Movement). Small scattered local efforts are not enough, we need national organization and coordination power. Something all those small local efforts can be tied to and coordinated with. Current holders of national power are very comfortable with energy being directed at small local efforts.
The burning question is what national political organization can we grow into something that could make demands and become an agent for historical change? Is it DSA? RevComs? Green Party? Try to take over and rebuild (not likely) the Democratic Party?
I argue that our 'party' is the Justice Dems (AOC's team) plus Bernie. Build them by electing more, like we did with Summer Lee in Pittsburgh, a real firebrand. They now number about 10, so aim for 100 of them. Then things get dicey in our favor. How about 200 of them? Then the Dems face a transformative crisis: subordinate themselves or wreck the whole party by purging. I call it 'the Way of the Whigs' option, the only one that ever worked in our history. Will it work for us? Who knows, the future is open. But elect people like AOC and Summer Lee at the base, and build local organizations around them. You can also recruit to your 'sane' socialist groups, LR, CPUSA, Socialist Majority in DSA. The harder the core, the wider the front. And/or build the nonsocialist left like WFP and PDA. They have some local chapters. Make more. Take county and state positions. You BUILD Justice Dems, but you will often VOTE FOR nearly any Dem to take down any MAGA fascist. You rarely get at the top what you haven't already won at the base. Unite the many, defeat the few.
To have the kind of mass mobilization you rightfully suggest, there has to be a lot more connectivity between existing and truly grassroots movements. People need to know where to plug in and how to build power with likeminded groups. What platforms can we use that aren't run by oligarchs? I wish there was some sort of Slack or Discord-like option with better security that people could find and be vetted for. This is one of my (many) concerns.
Just think of it like this: Entropy vs increased heat energy...As it is with physics it is with human endeavors...Grassroots movement BY DEFINITION are localized 'kick starts' so to speak...But if the pressures that caused these grassroots to emerge in the first place maintains, then the individual grassroots kick starts will find each other...It simply HAS to begin like this...just like the statistics of gathering crowds. individuals to couples to small groups etc etc...Its organic nature will be its strength...I WISH there was a way to speed things up but its like taking a loaf of bread out of the oven halfway through baking it. The growing anger, frustration and fear will quite LITERALLY BE the fuel that moves things forward. As much as we'd LIKE to have full control of the resistance right now, its still in its nascent form...It'll be ready when it's ready and we have to accept that
"Don’t be sad you’re not rich. Be happy that you’re free."
this^^^^
Like I was saying to my mom on our early morning call...Elon Musk CLEARLY isn't a happy person. Don't mistake hyperactivity and gleeful cruelty for happiness...He is an EMPTY EMPTY human being who has 'recently' discovered that even being the wealthiest man in human history can't fill that vast emptiness...
So he is high on ketamine, and who knows what else. Classic escapism, the textbook drug user's scenario. Not happy... maybe drugs will work? We've all been to parties where people have had too much and it's kind of repulsive? Musk is getting close to going too far, taking too much. He may be controlling his "micro-dosing" now, to some extent, but the guy is high, in public, much of the time. It's incredibly obvious. What happens when he starts to need a "little extra" and "takes the other half?"
Mr. Nolan omitted the military from the list of institutions/organizations and social sectors that will not save us. Until the denouement of General Charles Brown firing settled in I thought there was a chance the military would step in. Now? Not so much.
We must stop looking for Superman-Saviors. That was a mistranslation from the beginning. The Ubermensch comes from within.
absolutely. And I'll cop to being one of those people who came late to that conclusion...But I HAVE come to it AND accepted it. In a weird way it's made me a good bit happier person and I can't quite figure out WHY...I THINK its because once you finally COME to this (correct) conclusion, you can ignore about 90% of the news...I mean AL MOST ALL of it is predicated on acknowledging agency and will on the part of our institutions and the people who run them...Now I KNOW they are going to do nothing so I don't have to fret wondering WHEN they are going to do something...Does that make sense?
This is when we need the Paycheck Party. A grassroots organization that promotes the idea that if something is good for your paycheck, then a politician should support it. It’s a non partisan way to say focus on our paychecks. It’s also an idea with a natural enemy built into the idea: the bosses, the billionaires, the monopolists, the strike breakers.
Extremely important question everyone should be asking. Those with the most to lose, will do the least makes sense to me...no rocking the boat just hang on tight and hope it will be over soon. But I find that people who don't have a great deal, but have something; also don't want to lose what little they have. They want to believe somebody or someone will be a along for the rescue. Many people are afraid, but not desperate, yet. Nolan makes a good analysis of why certain powerful groups are not the expectant cavalry. Its seems its really a matter of how much anxiety can we tolerate until we are motivated to act on our own.
I personally would be in favor of defying the law and advocate for, at the very least, wildcat strikes ( they are not unprecedented in very recent times), slow downs, work stoppages etc; across the country. This administration is more than pushing hard against long established legal precedent, protocols, and even the bedrock constitutionality of our long established democratic institutions. Trump is testing the waters, seeing what he can he get away with. How far can he go pushing the legal boundaries before there is a hard push back? My guess he thinks he can get away with quite a bit. Why not do the same; test the waters, and start ginning up the idea of real immediate hard push back?
"Aside from the systemic imperatives that cause capitalism to accumulate without end, we must also reckon with the driving force of class greed. Wealth is an addiction. There is no end to the amount of money one might desire to accumulate. The best security to being rich is to get richer, piling possession upon possession, giving oneself over to the auri sacra fames, the cursed greed for gold, the desire for more money that can be consumed in a thousand lifetimes of limitless indulgence, wanting in nothing but still more and more money."
~ Blackshirts and Reds, Michael Parenti, 1997
One small but vital point, Comrade Nolan. It's not enough to hit the streets and fan the flames. All those in motion need more than mobilization. They need organizations, of several kinds. But organizations aimed at bringing a Third Reconstruction to governing power, starting at the base, and working outward and upward. ORGANIZATION, that's our vital weapon to build within mass movements..
Who and where will these 'organizations' come from? I think this is the grassroots Nolan was mentioning.
Some already exist in your communities, some you will have to build from scratch. Don't leave out the lowly study group with weekly meetings. A lot can grow from these. When going to a demo, you need more than comfortable shoes and a lawyer's phone number. You need a clipboard and pens, and your contact flyers or business cards. Without these, you're just an activist, not an organizer.
I agree, but all is lost without a national organized political movement to confront power. US history has had several close moments with such national movements that were crushed. (Eugene Debbs, MLK's Poor People's Movement). Small scattered local efforts are not enough, we need national organization and coordination power. Something all those small local efforts can be tied to and coordinated with. Current holders of national power are very comfortable with energy being directed at small local efforts.
The burning question is what national political organization can we grow into something that could make demands and become an agent for historical change? Is it DSA? RevComs? Green Party? Try to take over and rebuild (not likely) the Democratic Party?
I argue that our 'party' is the Justice Dems (AOC's team) plus Bernie. Build them by electing more, like we did with Summer Lee in Pittsburgh, a real firebrand. They now number about 10, so aim for 100 of them. Then things get dicey in our favor. How about 200 of them? Then the Dems face a transformative crisis: subordinate themselves or wreck the whole party by purging. I call it 'the Way of the Whigs' option, the only one that ever worked in our history. Will it work for us? Who knows, the future is open. But elect people like AOC and Summer Lee at the base, and build local organizations around them. You can also recruit to your 'sane' socialist groups, LR, CPUSA, Socialist Majority in DSA. The harder the core, the wider the front. And/or build the nonsocialist left like WFP and PDA. They have some local chapters. Make more. Take county and state positions. You BUILD Justice Dems, but you will often VOTE FOR nearly any Dem to take down any MAGA fascist. You rarely get at the top what you haven't already won at the base. Unite the many, defeat the few.
RevCom will only save their charismatic leader 😩
HOPE
Precisely.
To have the kind of mass mobilization you rightfully suggest, there has to be a lot more connectivity between existing and truly grassroots movements. People need to know where to plug in and how to build power with likeminded groups. What platforms can we use that aren't run by oligarchs? I wish there was some sort of Slack or Discord-like option with better security that people could find and be vetted for. This is one of my (many) concerns.
Just think of it like this: Entropy vs increased heat energy...As it is with physics it is with human endeavors...Grassroots movement BY DEFINITION are localized 'kick starts' so to speak...But if the pressures that caused these grassroots to emerge in the first place maintains, then the individual grassroots kick starts will find each other...It simply HAS to begin like this...just like the statistics of gathering crowds. individuals to couples to small groups etc etc...Its organic nature will be its strength...I WISH there was a way to speed things up but its like taking a loaf of bread out of the oven halfway through baking it. The growing anger, frustration and fear will quite LITERALLY BE the fuel that moves things forward. As much as we'd LIKE to have full control of the resistance right now, its still in its nascent form...It'll be ready when it's ready and we have to accept that
"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to sleep with a mosquito in the room"
Great article! Thank you!
Fabulously written. Unfortunately, so true. I have no answers. Sigh. Everyone please share Nolan's wake up call. All we need is the spark.
Amen. Absolutely.
"Don’t be sad you’re not rich. Be happy that you’re free."
this^^^^
Like I was saying to my mom on our early morning call...Elon Musk CLEARLY isn't a happy person. Don't mistake hyperactivity and gleeful cruelty for happiness...He is an EMPTY EMPTY human being who has 'recently' discovered that even being the wealthiest man in human history can't fill that vast emptiness...
So he is high on ketamine, and who knows what else. Classic escapism, the textbook drug user's scenario. Not happy... maybe drugs will work? We've all been to parties where people have had too much and it's kind of repulsive? Musk is getting close to going too far, taking too much. He may be controlling his "micro-dosing" now, to some extent, but the guy is high, in public, much of the time. It's incredibly obvious. What happens when he starts to need a "little extra" and "takes the other half?"
Mr. Nolan omitted the military from the list of institutions/organizations and social sectors that will not save us. Until the denouement of General Charles Brown firing settled in I thought there was a chance the military would step in. Now? Not so much.
The military will not save us, but for somewhat different reasons than above. May write something on this soon.
Are there any substack that focus on resistance and their organization ? Can Substack play a role?
It is not enough to be AGAINST something to organise a resistance; you have to be strongly FOR something. What are we for? Not Trump isn't enough.
Collective liberation!
Absolutely stirring words, dear Hamilton. May we live up to the challenge!
We of the huddled masses have the numbers, and we ARE free! Thanks for reminding us to focus.
Maureen M. Welch