Popular support is needed for a revolution to happen. But striking even on a smaller scale is steel still a very effective way at gaining larger action from the population.
Earlier you said risking being thrown in jail was something revolutionaries should do. What do you mean by that and why would it be more effective than going on strike?
Reaction of violence by the capitalist state is definitely a common side effect of larger strikes and is a certainty during revolution. But the effectiveness or revolutionary status of an action shouldn’t be measured by how violent a reaction it gets from the capitalist state. We should be striving for the greatest change with the least negative outcome, not aiming to risk dying or going to jail.
Of course a single small scale strike isn’t going to cause a revolution. But it’s still revolutionary in the fact that it builds class consciousness and paves the way for further action. A single strike certainly does more than voting.
most of the point has been about the viewpoint we are choosing for the words
I guess so. I would say revolutionary activity is any form of workers uniting against the capitalist class and building class consciousness to get us closer to a revolution, or the revolution itself.
multiple actions that don’t cause a huge ruckus are the backbone of the change and in fact the important part
Can you give examples of this? I have only seen significant change in favour of the working class when the working class has inhibited the ability for the capitalist class to go about it’s regular oppressive lifestyle.
everybody except affluent white people is in a worse situation than they would be if “the most left wing of the large parties” had governed with consistency in any western country
I have two issues with this. First of all they haven’t and they likely never will be considering the ruling capitalist class has complete control over the press. It’s not worth falling into the idealist trap of hoping an outcome will happen just because it will benefit everyone. Secondly Even when “left” parties do get elected they always succumb to the coercive forces of the capitalist class and never have any opportunity to impact any change.
Also, elections are by far the best situation for the spreading of political ideas.
This is an interesting point. Revolutionary parties do often run elections inside liberal democracies, although they don’t do this with the expectation they will gain power within the capitalist system and reform it they do this to further spread revolutionary ideas.
Popular support is needed for a revolution to happen. But striking even on a smaller scale is steel still a very effective way at gaining larger action from the population.
Earlier you said risking being thrown in jail was something revolutionaries should do. What do you mean by that and why would it be more effective than going on strike?
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Sorry for late reply lol
Reaction of violence by the capitalist state is definitely a common side effect of larger strikes and is a certainty during revolution. But the effectiveness or revolutionary status of an action shouldn’t be measured by how violent a reaction it gets from the capitalist state. We should be striving for the greatest change with the least negative outcome, not aiming to risk dying or going to jail.
Of course a single small scale strike isn’t going to cause a revolution. But it’s still revolutionary in the fact that it builds class consciousness and paves the way for further action. A single strike certainly does more than voting.
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I guess so. I would say revolutionary activity is any form of workers uniting against the capitalist class and building class consciousness to get us closer to a revolution, or the revolution itself.
Can you give examples of this? I have only seen significant change in favour of the working class when the working class has inhibited the ability for the capitalist class to go about it’s regular oppressive lifestyle.
I have two issues with this. First of all they haven’t and they likely never will be considering the ruling capitalist class has complete control over the press. It’s not worth falling into the idealist trap of hoping an outcome will happen just because it will benefit everyone. Secondly Even when “left” parties do get elected they always succumb to the coercive forces of the capitalist class and never have any opportunity to impact any change.
This is an interesting point. Revolutionary parties do often run elections inside liberal democracies, although they don’t do this with the expectation they will gain power within the capitalist system and reform it they do this to further spread revolutionary ideas.
deleted by creator