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No, I don't guess. If you want to make life easier, get rid of the billionaires and stop making clown laws. It is actually this simple. We just have a critical mass of mouth breathers and the exploiters they let cuck them.
There is no part of that that's simple.
If you want to solve the energy problem, invent and mass produce a cheap, non-polluting, zero-point energy generator. It is actually this simple.
Place renewables every where, easy. It doesnt need to be non polluting. And if you were really serious about pollution you'd get rid of the cars everywhere and build public transport. This shit isnt rocket science or hard. Its obfuscated on purpose by the wealthy.
If it's so easy, why don't you do it? You don't feel like it?
Why would that matter? You said it was easy.
I have no power. No one listens to me. Case in point; this thread.
Because merely identifying another near-insurmountable cause and saying it's "simple" or "easy" is pointless and dismissive. That's my point. You've offered no solutions or even suggestions for how to find a solution.
You were just unsatisfied with the simplicity of the solutions. Because we're neck deep in capitalist bullshit the solutions actually are that easy. Just install renewables. Its that easy. Stop electing silver spooned babies who just feed corporations more power, its that easy look into who you are voting for, its literally that easy. Make unions, its that easy to get worker power back. Just have fucken unions. None of this shit is rocket science and you are floundering in learned helplessness like our situation actually IS insurmountable. It is not, not by any means of the word.
I get the impression that you want these things to happen. I agree that doing these things would improve the situation.
If they are easy and simple, why haven't you done any of them?
Great! What's your plan?
Oh right, I forgot I had all the power and was the president of the world right now. Let me just call up Goldman Sachs, tell them fossil fuel investment is cancelled. I already answered this question you are being obtuse on purpose. I dont have power. I can get my own solar panels, I can't pay for the fucken city to have them. I can lobby my community, I can't lobby California where I dont live. You are purposefully misunderstanding what I am saying in an attempt to try to make this stuff seem complicated and in need of a 150k point plan, its not. You just need the people with power to actually push for the things I am saying instead of dipping their heads in the power and greed cups. It is simple, you are refusing to see it for whatever reason, Idk maybe you're a chud with the way you're arguing this is solo soooo hard, and if its not why hasn't your poor powerless ass changed the world?
Dude, you're almost starting to understand what I'm saying, but obviously not there yet.
So, it would be simple and easy if an impossible and unrealistic condition existed. Not helpful.
That's a good start, and not hard. Maybe even simple, and/or easy. But it really doesn't solve the whole problem - it only solves a tiny, tiny part of the problem.
And how exactly are any of us going to get this to happen? Is it simple to get the people with power to do something? Or easy? Don't you think there are millions of people who would love for exactly that to happen? Once again, if it were simple or easy, why hasn't it been done?
Oh man, I thought you were starting to understand.
It is not simple. It is not easy. Of course we need to get the people in power to make change. But that is absolutely not easy or simple. It's like saying, "just cure cancer, duh!"
I do understand what you're saying. I'm saying you're wrong. It may be easy for one person to do certain things, but it's NOT easy or simple to get many people to do enough to effect real change.
China is literally doing it. Throwing solar panels wherever. Other countries are literally controlling their corporations instead of being controlled by them. I'm not "almost there", we are on completely separate peaks right now. You can't just say "this thing has to be scaled enormously so it must be hard" when we have other plans and blueprints we can just follow and get nearly the same outcome. Its not hard, the rich and powerful are just not willing to do the work. We can agree to disagree but I am not continuing this cause it is going nowhere you are just denying me, and I'm just pointing to this actually happening and you are saying "no! It hard!"
So good day.
For sure, but I think they mean it in a "one average person" kind of way.
Join the other people who are working to dismantle the billionaires and shitty capitalist system? There's lots of us and lots of different ways to get involved. One average person can't really do it alone, which is probably why they feel so tired if that's been their approach so far. (I mean, aside from all the ways the system works to exhaust us)
... how do you do that though?
There's a number of ways we can build counter power, and not only does it materially help our situation, it also reduces the feeling of helplessness and despair dramatically, and you'll likely meet some friends along the way.
Here's a handy guide on how to get involved in that sort of stuff.
Part 1: The big picture
The protests are good ways of meeting like-minded people in your community to form connections, as well as spreading awareness of local mutual aid groups so more can join or form ICE resistance groups who can join an encrypted chat to coordinate, alert neighbors, and talk strategy. It also is a good place for unions or union members to encourage others to unionize their workplaces, which can also ultimately work toward a national general strike, which is our most tangible and powerful collective action.
The country would be brought to its knees if suddenly deprived of profit and labor, allowing us to directly demand real changes (such as ending the war in Iran, ceasing support for the genocide of Palestine, and Abolishing ICE).
The General Strike was extremely effective in Chile in 2019, and had they not fallen for the trick of liberal reform, they would've had a successful revolution on their hands with virtually no bloodshed.
There are some concrete steps all of us can take toward enacting that hard-core general strike to make it more viable and bearable for us all. (the titles below expand if you click them).
Part 2: Learn First Aid
Violence is being used against those who resist and it will only continue. It extremely important to have the skills to be able to keep yourself and others alive if they get hurt.
Tacticool Girlfriend provides a great introduction to building a personal first aid kit, called an IFAK, which can deal with things like bullet wounds and other serious bleeding wounds. I also want to emphasize her recommendation of only buying medical gear from reputable sources (not Amazon!), such as North American Rescue to avoid fakes that could cost you your life.
But you'll need to learn how to use that equipment, too. The best resource for that is to take a local Stop The Bleed class, which are pretty widely available in most places. They may cost a small fee, but can also sometimes be free. Alternatively, if you cannot access a local class, this video by PrepMedic will give you a solid understanding of how to use Tourniquets and Gauze for wound packing.
Injuries are less harmful if they are tended to early. Learning first aid can help conserve resources when healthcare becomes unaffordable. Having several medics in case of harm by police is an extremely powerful morale booster during a protest that may become a police riot. When you become comfortable with the basics of first aid, riot medicine is the next suggested step.
Part 3: Establish or join local Mutual Aid networks
If you haven't already, get to know your neighbors. Mutual aid is a willingness to support and grow your community. This can include informal networks through friends, tenant/renter organizations, solidarity groups, and industrial unions.
These are groups using direct action to solve each other's problems. Building strong communities makes it difficult for fascism to take root. The actions of the government are going to hit every community hard, and the ones who build trust in each other and work together are most likely to survive. We've been building a list of resources in !inperson@slrpnk.net to help you on your way. Also check out this handy guide to find existing groups in your area.
This isn't only for your own community protection. Your ability to organize today will change the political landscape tomorrow. When revolution occurs, the social organizations that show the greatest resilience through the regime are the ones typically calling the shots when the dust settles. When it comes to elections, get out the vote drives are useless if most of the voters are fascists. At some point, you have to do grassroots political education if you don't want fascist candidates winning elections. Mutual aid networks are excellent forums not only for teaching each other good political ideas, but demonstrating them in practice.
There's also some projects you can do that help build community (and can be fun in themselves!), for more info, go here, and scroll down to the "Fun Projects to Build Community) section"
Part 4: Join a Union to help prepare for a General Strike
If you aren't in a union (or even if you are, it's worth dual-carding), consider joining the IWW to unionize your workplace (bonus: you'll get higher wages, better benefits, and more time off if you succeed!) to make a general strike possible.
Once you are in a union you and your coworkers will need to pressure your leadership to prepare for a general strike, as well as pressure them to organize with other unions to enact a general strike. This is especially true if you are in a more traditional union that isn't the IWW. Your local shop may need to organize directly with other unions if your union leaders are too cowardly to do so.
Most unions have a strike fund that can supplement your income during a general strike to make it more financially bearable (you should also save as much money as you can reasonably do, so it can also be used to keep yourself afloat during a strike). A General Strike is officially planned by the UAW for May 1st 2028, but it was planned before Trump was elected, and by then will be too late, so prepare now for one that may start sooner.
You can contact the IWW with the link below:
And for our international friends, you should join one as well, as fascism is gaining momentum globally. If your country isn't listed below, just contact the IWW directly in the link above, and they'll help you set up a new local branch.
Part 5: Adopt Security Culture and Digital Camouflage 🛡️
Sometimes benign seeming efforts can turn into unexpected personal data collecting traps. Like an obscure website for exchanging contact info with other students turning into a global ad-tech surveillance network (Facebook), or innocent seeming online personality tests being use to harvest character profiles. Even Etsy, Reddit, Tinder, and Duolingo are feeding information to US Government Agencies like ICE.
Security culture is commonly used to describe the general awareness of such potential traps and how it can affect groups or entire communities. This goes beyond mere individual privacy efforts, as without joint efforts these often fail to work.
Especially in activist circles, security culture is paramount. For opsec reasons not everyone in the group might be aware of what clandestine efforts others are involved in, but with a general security culture many potential data leaks can be avoided.
Movements are made by the volume of their participants, and the easier and less dangerous it is to participate, the more people will get involved. As more people get involved, individual involvement becomes even less dangerous, creating a virtuous cycle.
We'll start it off with some General Advice:
For a full guide on what encrypted communications platforms to use, and how to stay off the radar, read the Digital Camouflage section within the Monthly Meta post here (you'll need to scroll down. I'd add it here, but it won't fit in this comment).
I'd also highly recommend Full Spectrum Resistance to anyone who wants further info on how to resist (audiobook version here).
I have been reading full scale resistance.
And other ways. I try not to spend on just ‘ stuff’ of for the sake of it. I have very few subscriptions. (Vpn tor etc only). For products I try to thrift/repair etc. I advocate for feeling happy and positive. We don’t have to feel powerless, we are not. Empower others.
It’s not a lot but I’m growing.