The TRUTH About Revolution In America

[@SmedleyButlerianJihad]

I'm not worried about a civil war but I am worried about a prolonged "low intensity" insurgency. Think Northern Ireland during The Troubles as opposed to the Irish War of Independence

[@TealJosh]

Technically speaking JSO and XR are playing that same "game." Same with the pro Palestine encampments. These protests are stretching the security apparatus of governments, trying to provoke a crackdown. That's not the public goal, but if crackdown happens, the groups gain a massive victory every time. If you want to learn more about it, check out a playlist from Beau of the Fifth Column. Just watching the first video is enough. The playlist name is "It's in the manual..." The first video on the playlist is called "Let's talk about Portland again and manuals..."

[@etc.4903]

guerilla warfare

[@leikfroakies]

​@@TealJosh JSO achieved literally nothing other than shifting public opinion in favour of authoritarian crackdowns on the right to protest. They're nothing but an asset to the right wing

[@alexhubble]

The US has no current political divide anywhere near the intensity of the NI sectarian divide in the Troubles. No. Where. Near. It's actually quite funny how far off. And one of the divide doesn't feel they're being occupied by a foreign power.... No, it's not the Troubles.

[@VanderWolls]

If there's a new USA civil war, you can bet your ass it'll be more chaotic than the Troubles. More people, more supplies, more factions with their own agendas.

[@JamesRoyceDawson]

Theory humpers really need to understand that the line of “you have nothing to lose but your chains” hasn’t been true for a while. Not to remotely say we’ve got it good, but the complex nature of global supply chains and our need for modern technology, we have a lot to lose in a revolution

[@newsystembad]

I really wanna ask a Glorious Revolutionite exactly what their plan is to deal with even a single F-35

[@somerandommen]

​@@newsystembadHide in the civilian population lmao. The issue with a revolution isn't fucking planes and tanks, it's logistics and morale. 💀

[@kekistani_meme_farmer7242]

​@@newsystembad You can't occupy a city and collect taxes/product with a plane. You need soldiers on street corners. Planes help them, but it isn't anywhere near an insta win.

[@JamesR1986]

And by "a while" you mean over a hundred years. The Russian peasant's didn't' revolt until they were dealing with the fall out of World War I.

[@mrfigaloopierre9610]

@@somerandommen Israel uses F-35s, but I get your point, America spent 20 years in Afghanistan with an enormous military presence, and still lost.

[@seanentzel9616]

Heard this somewhere so im paraphrasing a bit but basically it went: "Most ppl just fundamentally want to feel like they're apart of something, but they want it to happen in the background hoping they don't have to actually do anything themselves" Simply, most ppl will gladly talk the talk but refuse to walk the walk

[@user-th1pv6ks5o]

Or have to face the consequences of what they were advocating for as well.

[@JamesS180]

I’m sorry, it’s “a part of”. “Apart” means separate from.

[@Olor]

This is a good quote, and even in leftists circles I think there is too much "feel-good political action" where we get little done. Especially in individualist oriented anarchist circles which will have these implusive protests that do not do anything, but make the people there feel like they are doing something. However, this is of course an even bigger issue among liberals

[@seanentzel9616]

@@JamesS180 I'm so sorry, allow me to get that edited as soon as possible for you

[@axtondragunov1784]

my main problem with this is because one you can't do a rebellion with 5 guys and I bet these kind of people would immediately start crying and shitting themselves in fear the second some 6 foot tall white guy from bumfuck nebraska with a room temperature IQ points a rifle at them and actually shoots. And they are the kind of people who would yelp in fear from shooting any firearm larger than a .22

[@zachnoland155]

"What ideology requires you to read 100yro texts?" I mean I'd say religion but we all know they don't read their texts

[@ammo7]

That's not true for religions though, the central tenet of every religion (other than Buddhism, and some people don't consider it a religion anyway) can be summed up as "don't be a dick", though it's true most religious people don't actually internalize the message.

[@MsScarletwings]

@@ammo7this isn’t even remotely true for the vast majority of religions let alone “almost all” of them and Buddhism most certainty counts

[@Dreigonix]

Tankies DO quote theory like they’re quoting the Bible, so…

[@rainbowkrampus]

@@ammo7 Lessee... Judaism, believe in this god, follow these rules (ymmv depending on what century you live in), and when you die you might get to see your loved ones again. Most of the rules are about proper ritual practice, many more are thinly veiled political propaganda, even if you don't belong to a sect which cares deeply about the rules, the god in question still permits and commanded any number of atrocities. Nothing about any of that can be summarized as "don't be a dick" except maybe some select passages when taken out of context. A common problem with the sect of judaism that came to be known as christianity, which... Christianity, believe in this god, but also believe in this Jesus fella who may or may not be the son of god/god itself/some kind of angelic being that is a mouthpiece for god/some kind of sage or prophet, believe that said person may or may not have been sacrificed by themselves to themselves depending on which iteration of Jesus you think is correct, be nice, but only because the context of the cult was that it was a tiny fringe sect of judaism trying to survive in the aftermath of an Israelite rebellion against Rome, which doesn't matter in the end because once Jesus comes back with the god's kingdom in tow, all of the unbelievers will be slaughtered or converted and the OG Jesus followers will rule alongside Jesus in an immortal, eternal monarchy. So, "don't be a dick"... until the time of the destructor and the end of the world. Put's a slightly different spin on things when you don't erase the context, no? Buddhism, everything is suffering, you are the cause of your suffering, to exist in the world is to suffer, so learn to accept that and some day you might learn how to not suffer anymore, though we're going to be extremely vague about how that works or what it even means, also, sometimes we have a sort of hell mostly because drawing demons is fun. So, the whole project is predicated on the idea that you will invariably be a dick merely as a byproduct of existing and there's nothing you can actually do about it except maybe through some vague means you might stop being a dick by, effectively, ceasing to be a person at all. I dunno man, seems like the "don't be a dick" hypothesis is maybe a massive oversimplification. One that is deeply rooted in modern perspectives which, across the history of these religions, is very recent and largely a byproduct of ideas which developed after people started thinking about morality and ethics in a framework which rejected centering religions as a source of knowledge about those things.

[@YokaiX]

@@ammo7not even close… the central tenet of religions generally can be summed up as, “this is the divine truth/revelation/enlightenment etc that has the answer to the meaning of life/existence”, everything else from morality and ethics, to the specific fundamental beliefs, are built from that.

[@JamesRoyceDawson]

This absolutely needed to be said. The age of revolution was when guns were just good enough to make a difference in big numbers but not so hard to make that you needed a military industrial complex to be competitive. No modern nation state is falling to revolution from the people

[@somerandommen]

I wouldn't say it's impossible, it's harder, but modern nation states are still vulnerable to insurgency, especially since they can't use the "blast the civilian population into nothing" as they've learned to do within the Middle-East.

[@mental_kintsugi]

...unless you have the military on your side, which is pretty unrealistic in any western nation nowadays

[@JamesRoyceDawson]

@@somerandommennope. To meaningfully oppose a modern nation state, you either need a part of the military to join your side or you need all of it. If it’s the former you have a civil war that will effectively destroy so much of your country that you aren’t a developed nation anymore. If it’s the latter, that’s a coup and you won’t get a very good government out the other end. If you have none of 5e military on your side you either have a massacre or a permanent insurgency that never has a shot at meaningfully taking over the organs of the government. As Vaush said, it’s just too complex of a beast to secure by force anymore.

[@JamesRoyceDawson]

@@somerandommen Military on your side=coup. Not great Half the military on your side= Civil war that destroys most infrastructure and probably a military government at the end anyway. Not great. No military on your side= Massacre or permanent insurgency. There is no violent way to take and hold the government without it being a military operation. Modern weapons, tactics and supply lines make it impossible.

[@morifan3128]

It's possible in poorer weaker countries but in the USA??? Literal delusion if anyone thinks an actual violent revolution is possible against the US military. Random obese dudes with guns ain't doing shit.

[@adam346]

the "easy overthrow" was actually never a thing... even in feudal times you had lords which had to support a king in order for them to stay in power... if a random peasant assassinated a king, it meant that king is dead and the lords would get together (or fight) to determine who should be king now if there was no direct heir.

[@zotaninoron3548]

More than that, Kings had each other's backs. When the revolution happened in France, several surrounding monarchies were motivated to war to reinstall the French monarchy to avoid setting a precedent for their own peasants, leading to France getting dogpiled.

[@tomlxyz]

​@@zotaninoron3548 which is basically the same as how it still works. If there's a risk that one country with the same type of government is at the risk of getting replaced with something else, others with that type of government will step in to prevent their own fall.

[@russellharrell2747]

How do you take over a government like the US? Project 2025

[@taragnor]

Yeah, the short answer is "the courts". If you control the courts, then pretty much everything else follows. You can gerrymander election lines, you can use court rulings to neutralize laws you to don't like. The supreme court especially basically answers to no one. In theory you can do constitutional amendments (and that's extremely hard), but even then they can just reinterpret the amendment to mean whatever they want, to effectively render it a non-factor, much like how the SC just ignored the 14th amendment to let Trump run anyway.

[@NicoleNewman]

Right. The incremental, covert, and organized infiltration into the courts, legislatures, and administrative state. Not some LARP about an armed revolution. Unfortunately project 2025 has the financial and strategic backing of billionaires and think tanks which the left doesn’t remotely have anything like. Best we can do is: talk to people in our community. Support unions and try to join or form a union, support co-ops and mutual aid. And *vote*. Up and down ticket. Support progressive candidates. The revolution ain’t coming, we work with what we have and make life better.

[@rainbowkrampus]

It's been the Republican platform for decades and they've been slowly chipping away at it for all that time. They completely restructured the party multiple times since the 60's and they still kept at it. If it weren't for Trump and the MAGA cult emboldening groups like Heritage Foundation, they might still be operating on the down low, inching their way closer and closer to a complete dismantling of the government and our democracy. They engineered the takeover of the supreme court and the Dems don't even have the stones to do anything about it even after the president was crowned a god king. They are supremely evil but also supremely effective. There are lessons to be learned there for sure. Building and maintaining motivation over the long haul is probably chief among them. But also understand that once you have power, you have to wield it, or else you will lose it.

[@manchovieclemmons2380]

​@@taragnor Its a good thing that their party is too fractured and unorganized to cease power. Its also a good thing that Biden won, thats probably making it pretty rough for them.

[@kane2369]

The call is coming from inside the house (of representatives)

[@DiscoStuIII]

I've talked to coworkers about strikes and unions in the casino industry. It would legitimately take like 5 people in a company of hundreds to bring the entire company to a halt. The best reaction I got was ambivalence. Doesnt make me hopeful for an radical action let alone a revolution

[@digaddog6099]

If you want people to strike, you need to convince them they have something to lose by holding still. You cant get people to risk it all for a raise. Oftentimes, there is something to lose. Wages aren't keeping up with inflation, and in a couple years you cant pay rent, for example.

[@DiscoStuIII]

​@@digaddog6099 Not expecting people to. For the most part I was trying to get a gauge for things from my very conservative work environment since I myself was getting fed up.

[@VapOreon-s3r]

As a Greek, I *wish* the lazy stereotype was even half true. Unfortunately, we consistently rank as one of the hardest working nations in Europe 🥲. The average greek workweek tops most EU countries and even the US.

[@peterbauer1494]

Holy smokes dude I didn't believe you at first. You guys should go back to worshipping Zeus and shit maybe those guys will help you

[@auntielu8531]

how’s the six day work week going? 🫂

[@adamlagerqvist8111]

The stereotype of course comes from the financial crisis which obviously wasn't a product of laziness and instead government corruption and corporate extraction.

[@AGoatDemon98]

Isn't it interesting how the hardest working populations are always stereotyped as the laziest?

[@Rudenbehr]

@@AGoatDemon98 Black people getting called lazy during 200 years of free labor from one entire racial group.

[@SlickBaby309]

Some of those people in chat are SO clueless. Irl i am union organizer and even interacting with different campaigns in higher ed to in manufacturing across the board other organizers have talked about the difficulty they are having cuz people dont realize how difficult orgainizing as a skill set is. "Oh just go on strike" do you know how many human relationships one has to make, and the number of esculating actions it takes to get one to a union meeting let alone a strike? Spoilers ALOT. They make it sound so easy with big solutions , it feels so tone deaf and condescending. Vaush is right , the fundamental problem with some of those chatters is they dont know how to organize and what it takes to build bigger movements. (BTW I am part of UAW and mofos are still tryna figure out how to get others involved all the damn time)

[@taragnor]

Yeah, it's a massive issue. It's probably the biggest thing holding unions back, because corporations have out-scaled them. They're multi-national with operations in a ton of countries, but unions haven't made that step up yet.

[@SFMtx123]

the issue is when i mention we need stronger union and community organization in general to get to a point where things like a general strike aren't just pipedreams I get told to get off my couch despite also being involved in union organizing. we know it's difficult, if it was easy we wouldn't be pushing it so hard. in this same stream, he calls the IWW 'not a real union' despite being precisely the kind of resource that can provide organizer training, and support for union efforts in industries without collective bargaining. we dont need every single leftist to be an organizer or an insufferable deep marxologist or whatever, we need to understand what vaush has said himself plenty of times; that the real work has to be done outside of the system of electoral politics - which is a system that can realistically only be used to pragmatically prevent the worst case scenario. Ive been homeless for the last 2.5 years and i gotta say my local homeless union and even chat itself has done more than the local democratic party, which would be obvious to you and vaush if he didnt decide to argue against his own takes in this segment.

[@kneau]

"General Dealers" and "The General Store"

[@bakermateo]

👍

[@TheCSJones]

Doing God's work. Keep it up.

[@nrsrymj]

With Republican help, your children will again be climbing into dangerous machinery

[@YokaiX]

They’ve tried the “bring back child labor” campaign sometimes to some extent

[@rainbowkrampus]

Inshallah.

[@vivianneclaire]

For those asking about what the largest general strike was, that ever stopped the economy of an advanced industrial country, and the first general wildcat strike in history-was May 1968 in France. The prolonged strike involved eleven million workers for two weeks in a row, and its impact was such that it almost caused the collapse of the de Gaulle government.

[@ojnib]

If you want to be an effective lefty, talk to your co-workers or be a strong advocate for unions. Use any theory you’ve read to shape arguments around class consciousness. Use it to relate and frame your interactions.

[@charlottecomeau1266]

i'm working in a unionized workplace and most people i work with neither understand or care what the union does. there were four other people in attendance at the union meeting i went to (there was a second meeting after, there was max 10 people at that one and we arent a small workplace). just telling people about the union and what it does for them (and that it doesnt steal half their paycheck) is making a difference unfortunately

[@Brazilsfirstcommiefemboyleader]

​@@charlottecomeau1266 is or isn't making a difference? Plus do you really think in general unionize workers earn less because the unions steal?

[@ojnib]

@@charlottecomeau1266 right there with ya. We’re currently pre-negotiations and getting folks involved is rough. It takes time to get people to realize the differences.

[@thaenaa]

The problem with most theory is that it's logic is based on outdated assumption about tech and global systems

[@allibababoo]

Not to mention that people (especially in macro scope) don't behave rationally.

[@synchronium24]

@@allibababoo We need to buy off the behavioral economists who work for the elites.

[@mEmory______]

Most theory isn't on the details of how civil wars will be fought to so no

[@rainbowkrampus]

When are mods going to overthrow the Vaushoisie though?

[@thaenaa]

@@rainbowkrampus mods are cops

[@TheJuanTrueKaiser]

Proletarian Revolutions still happen in the 21st century more often than one would assume, they just don’t happen in well developed first world democracies. Some of these revolutions are even ongoing.

[@YokaiX]

They have a lot less to lose afterall. All they have left to give are their lives.

[@rickstube5299]

The reason is the liberal democracy model. No one dislikes democracy, even if they dislike the economic model. The idea of overthrowing a democratic government is hard for first World proletarians because that has potential disastrous consequences. Meanwhile underdeveloped, especially authoritarian countries, have tons of revolution. The revolt is for political freedom first, economic second though. Most armed revolutions are usually carried out by Maoists, who usually just kill random people if they even loosely have ties to the bourgeoisie. So terrorism.

[@fantasyhero19]

I can’t believe that my local bartender not showing up to work one day, didn’t stop the genocide in Palestine

[@bakermateo]

Wait until he votes for Jill Stein.

[@MagusMirificus]

Remember, folks: revolutions happen when regimes fail to maintain civic order. We don't know what that will look like in any part of the liberal developed world, because it hasn't happened there yet--or if it has, it's only just started--but we do know that capitalism has internal contradictions that it cannot resolve, and that those contradictions will inevitably lead to its eventual failure. Do not make the mistake of thinking that revolution is either currently possible, or, in the long run, avoidable.

[@amellirizarry9503]

Have you heard of he Zapatistas? 👀

[@BleedForTheWorld]

@@amellirizarry9503 a lot of leftoids will ironically agree with fascists and deny their struggle and independence because a lot of leftoids also happen to be racist.

[@MsScarletwings]

@@BleedForTheWorldword 🥗

[@BleedForTheWorld]

@@MsScarletwings leftoid lol

[@MsScarletwings]

@@BleedForTheWorld100+ comments lol

[@MrNeodylliphan]

The Winnipeg General Strike was a city-wide strike in Canada's then-capital city. It involved literally all workers but the strikers insisted that EMS and firefighters continue to work because they were deemed essential. It lasted a few days and ended in a bloodbath when the prime minister declared war on the strikers.

[@thekingoffailure9967]

Based canuck moment

[@Pluveus]

The last time I've heard of a general strike actually having an effect was when German workers broke the beer hall putsch. And when the unions put the Weimar government back in power, they were immediately betrayed and had their labor rights gutted.

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

Thete was also one in Isreal which delayed netenahus cour reform

[@anymouse5056]

Here is the bare minimum of theory you need: Premise: I exist and have moral worth. Premise: The universe exists. Therefore: The evidence of my senses tells me that other people exist and have the same moral worth as me. Everything else you can derive from that as needed.

[@elmosaarelainen9671]

Your conclusion doesn't follow from your premises. Not that I disagree with the conclusion, but the logic is invalid

[@anymouse5056]

@@elmosaarelainen9671 It does sneak in there that the evidence of our senses are entangled with the universe and what those observations are. I just decided to practice the virtue of brevity over absolute formal logic.

[@calvinlee2261]

A concerning amount of people online calling for a general strike seem to not understand the concept of a strike fund

[@thekingoffailure9967]

But money is bad

[@Glandorray]

Y'know what Vaush? Other than having some issues with the intergenerational aggression, I gotta admit, you have a point. I think I needed to hear that, thank you.

[@jamesmohab]

People who shout "revolution" think the world is basically a YA novel

[@YokaiX]

Or an anime or manga, more likely

[@ShummaAwilum]

There's no such thing as a blank slate, however you want to interpret that. Overthrowing the system will never allow us to "start over".

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

starting over will just lead to making the same mistakes all over again. To build the world we want we must learn and grow instead.

[@taragnor]

Yeah, it's really what makes socialism/communism so hard to implement correctly. Because you can't just say "okay start over, we're taking away all the assets from the rich and starting everyone even", because it's very difficult to get that total economic reset. So you end up with some kind of hybrid system where you still have relics from the older days present that end up screwing things up, which usually fails because you have people with lots of money and power that don't want to proceed with transitioning into a system whose goal is taking away their money and power.

[@PhilipHood-du1wk]

"But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao..."

[@Goatchild90]

Classic tune

[@amaurylannes]

He later said he regretted that lyric btw.

[@MagusMirificus]

​@@amaurylannes The tankies bullied into it. It stands as an immortal lib-left anthem.

[@Dr.JeremyDunks]

KZbin's algo really knocks it out of the park sometimes. Great channel, love the videos

[@reshui878]

Don't forget the main channel too.

[@zotaninoron3548]

I have an early 20s acquaintance on facebook who has fallen down the tankie rabbit hole and it is a little frustrating. They are so fucking delusional.

[@YokaiX]

When I was new to Leftism, lemme tell you, the allure of such ideologies like Marxism-Leninism was pretty appealing. In my ignorance at the time, it seemed to make a lot of sense, and the arguments seemed compelling; it plays on your desire and hope for glory and radical change for sure.

[@rainbowkrampus]

Highly recommend investigating the methods of street epistemology. As we've seen time and time again, tankies can throw a lot of stuff at the wall, they're not stupid. But none of it ever sticks when held up to scrutiny. This is because the underlying motives for buying into the claims of tankies have nothing to do with an honest, critical evaluation of facts. Ask them how they know what they know and whether or not they have good reason to believe it. Help them question their own assumptions rather than stepping in and demanding they stop buying into nonsense.

[@zotaninoron3548]

@@rainbowkrampus We're not in a position where I can ask them anything. Our original confrontation occurred when I tried to let them know that China is not socialist/communist but state capitalist. And when they used material conditions at me wrong, I asked them to elaborate because clearly why they used it in that fashion because it seemed they were just tossing jargon to see if they could spook me off challenging their perspective. So they defaulted in just sending me wumao memes. Our most recent confrontation is when they came into the comments of my facebook post happy that Kamala picked Walz and calling her savvy for doing so. He decided to call me a liberal. Haha and then vague post about him on their feed. They are basically a coward that won't actually engage with critique so nothing will come of it.

[@ItsCoreyLynxxYall]

@@zotaninoron3548 "Teh libruhlz" is their go to. Like they expect someone to be ashamed of their political views. It's almost like it's projection.

[@rainbowkrampus]

@@zotaninoron3548 Oh, seems like you'd be better off just blocking them then, since it doesn't look like they're willing to engage in anything like good faith. Though, I haven't been on FB in like, a very long time. I don't even remember if you can block people lmao.

[@magnus_cockstrong]

the most revolutionary action available from our current situation, in terms of having an actual chance of producing positive change, is voting for and stumping for justice dems.

[@ShummaAwilum]

Vote for progressives when you can (and they aren't covert tankies) and regular Democrat of no progressives are available. Enough people do that long enough and we'll get a lot of what we want.

[@sonwig5186]

Thats the least revolutionary thing to do. Build organisations, join the communist party.

[@magnus_cockstrong]

@sonwig5186 there is no path to change through violent revolution. Its never worked at producing anything other than dictatorship, and given current conditions, believing in that path is literally just internet LARPing. We know for a fact we can elect people who refuse corporate money. If we had more than 12 of those people in office we might see actual change.

[@magnus_cockstrong]

@sonwig5186 "build organizations" in the context of this conversation means nothing, the communist party does nothing. Elect people who refuse corporate money to hold real state power.

[@magnus_cockstrong]

@sonwig5186 hey champ, name an organization you've built and detail the effect it's had, as opposed to people with workers politics holding state power? Don't you think it would be good if we had more than 10 of those people?

[@missellehayes]

"Go raw dog a social interaction, by which I mean make eye contact..." 💯

[@Shawgoth]

"It's not a fair world, and there is no god" dam...

[@YokaiX]

Harsh truths

[@laurencedixon5307]

To be fair..... Sun Tzus Art of War isn't even this dictat about War itself... It is a whole bunch of Principles that you quickly learn that only broadly matter these days. Its also about War....In this day and age, a Majority of people dont get involved in war.

[@kalliaslands9938]

Got to disagree what made old school revolutions such as the French Revolution or 1848 was not some spectacular violence but the ability to disrupt the state so much that some part of the elite decides to switch sides and support the revolution. This is what happened in Maidon, the Egyptian revolution, and Bangladesh. This is mostly about protests, street fighting, and winning broad based support rather than full battles. Full on battles do still exist as in Afghanistan or Myanmar but these are generally called civil wars.

[@mostreal907]

The thing is I don’t know if people know how awful a violent political revolution would be. You think the cost of living is bad now. If you think the medical cost are high now. Revolutions are awful and lead to dysfunction. It’s not even just death.

[@Brazilsfirstcommiefemboyleader]

That's a very fucking broad statement

[@cactus2260]

A revolution would take care of the people that hike the prices of these things. The profit motive would be gone.

[@benadrylcumbersplatch6448]

@@cactus2260is that why people will literally die trying to get their hands on air dropped humanitarian aid in warzones all over the world? Think for a second dude, the moment infrastructure is disrupted (And guess what, that is both insurgency 101 AND counter-insurgency 101) all hell breaks loose, profit motive or not.

[@TheSolarWolf]

⁠@@cactus2260And replace it with what? You basically destroy the old system and now you have nothing to replace it with beyond vauge ideas. Congrats you created something far worse then the profit motive and open the door for people to farther exploit and already exploited thing in the power vacuum

[@tan5taafl]

Bingo. So many want simple solutions to profound issues and avoid the grind required to make the change happen. Not even counting how they ignore all the repercussions.

[@7hat9uy]

This runs parallel to an argument I just had on twitter about the recent copyright case against genAI where internet lefties are complaining that it will set precedent to make things worse for artists (even though it is artists on the front line of the case). And so Luddites came up and these internet lefties are like "no don't repeat what the Luddites did, we're trying to stop you from repeating" and the explanation of what went wrong was that "they focused too much on the means of production instead of the relations of production". They didn't explain further and just fell back on "this post is so relatable" and it was just a repeat of "relations over means" with a bunch of condescending fluff before and after the point. My argument against this was that it's meaningless vague theory speak that isn't being applied to the situation. Also that after looking it up it's just the wrong use of "relations of production" that isn't really something to focus on. I did my best to explain that talking in theory speak will just signal to other "just read theory" stiffs and won't do anything to actually explain the point or help working class people relate to the sentiments.

[@YokaiX]

It’s true that revolutions have become a last resort. It shouldn’t be something we desire to prioritise in the modern day. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have other options of revolutionary action; unionising and organizing, are simple, and very practical revolutionary actions.

[@KingBobXVI]

Yep, people have a romanticized view of "revolution" as an outside force overtaking a government through force, but that really _is_ a last resort. The best example of a current attempt at revolution in a major country is, oddly enough, Project 2025. You want to overthrow the US government? That's how to do it.

[@MabusZero]

The irony of revolution vs reform is that you must have sufficient martial potential to destroy the established order to compel reasonable negotiations. In the Cold War era this consisted of detente via ideological and atomic balance of terror. At present, we see the financialization of all aspects of human life leading to the pauperization of all workers in which we are each about two paychecks away from homelesness. We have to strike our own balance. The zealous revolutionary is simultaneously necessary to this balance of terror and cannot be the one to define the negotiated outcome this permits.

[@Cephrain]

Imagine saying this to someone in real life.

[@bigsilverorb3492]

Again, Vaush. Spot-on.

[@allibababoo]

And yet he gets so much hate

[@bigsilverorb3492]

@@allibababoo Of course, haters have been on the rise. Evil's taking another swing at humanity. Luckily, it's going to lose.

[@ShummaAwilum]

WKUK had a great skit about a victorious anarchist revolution that immediately falls apart as they try to figure out how to keep a nuclear reactor from melting down.

[@ifihadalifeiduseitwisely7589]

Love the ant analogy, each to their own ability.

[@XMysticHerox]

Worth noting that Marx advocated for reform in democratic states including the US of his time which was of course signitifantly less democratic than the modern one. As for why people don't. Well it's all about QoL. Not necessarily the absolute one but how it is perceived. I do think a revolution can still happen when things start worsening. Just look at the GDR or fascist Portugal. Yes it still happens.

[@neferiusnexus]

Meanwhile in on Romania December '89... tho to be fair, Ceausescu somehow did manage to lower the standard of living to below 3rd world standards of the time.

[@omegaroleplayer1022]

the romanian revolution was made easier by, y'know, the entire soviet bloc collapsing

[@devinphillips9704]

Anyone who thinks regime change (which is usually what people mean when they say "revolution" in a political sense) can't occur without violence needs to talk to anyone from the Czech Republic over the age of thirty. Non-violent regime change can happen, and it does happen.

[@mEmory______]

How many of these non violent regime changes involved people from the previous hierarchy usurping control to create a new one?

[@YokaiX]

Carnation Revolution was a good one. A peaceful coup, led by the military, but supported by the majority of the people; popular revolution without a single drop of blood spilled.

[@YokaiX]

Carnation Revolution is another good one. Popular Revolution, via military coup, supported by the majority of the people.

[@carlosbisa3086]

General Strike is going to be the main character of my next game. That goes so hard.

[@EponineReads]

I hear The Beatles singing "Revolution" RIP John Lennon.😢

[@justin-md4xm]

You say you want evolution, the ape was a great big hit, you say you want revolution, man I say you're full of sh!t.

[@nobeoddy1664]

#9 #9 #9

[@wombatkins]

We all wanna save the world.

[@michaeljmyers1995]

We have modern luxuries and we're comfortable. Protesting and making waves online also is a great form of protesting especially when you look at the fact that some online spaces are trying to SILENCE certain kinds of speech

[@Idontknow-vm1iy]

This needed to be said for sure. Being terminally online and divorced from reality whilst parroting economic theory isn’t really conducive towards real change.

[@Hsxan_]

1:27 We also have Nukes, what happens with those?

[@russellharrell2747]

Don’t give ‘em up. Ukraine gave up the former Soviet nukes that were left in their country after the USSR broke up. And then a few decades later Russia took crimea, started a rebellion in the east, and then invaded. So North Dakota, hold on to what you got!

[@oliorogue]

the aliens will stop us from using them

[@YokaiX]

@@russellharrell2747the promise of Western protection, in return for giving up those nukes, hasn’t been consistently reliable as well

[@tylermech66]

One of the most impressive things one could do for the workers of America is "simply" managing to form functioning Unions for the big retail stores/services. Imagine _Walmart_ of all places with a Union.

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

4:49 every revolution i have ever heard about started as peaceful protests before the government cracked down.

[@YokaiX]

Get the people on your side. Popular revolution is what matters if it comes down to it.

[@watamatafoyu]

The most powerful and consistent thing I've felt with politics as an adult is disappointment.

[@shujii_s]

Woah, big shift down on the volume at 10:05

[@phoenixaeon5556]

oh good I thought I had a stroke

[@Gelatinocyte2]

6:21 We don't get our food from the local farm anymore; but what if we do, again? What if there's some organization that built a bunch of "plant factories"? (indoor farming, hydroponics, those kinds of crap!)

[@VooshSpokesman]

Love from a Suris and Shark3ozero fan!

[@PlatonsArm]

Any dialectical materialist will know that revolutions relates to food insecurity. The tipping point is usually when 40% of the population faces food insecurity. In the USA that number was 27% in 2023, up from 24.9% in 2022.

[@staudinga]

Ah yes, the peaceful and calm Bangladeshi student protests. Don't look them up.

[@halburke2947]

Still shocked by the comment that said “the only thing you get out of volunteering is self satisfaction” like WOW

[@newtonewhodis]

It's important to note, voosh, that your work is done through your viewers. You can do your work as one person, but you inspire others to also act in their own individual way. Your beetle status is only a factor of our activism

[@kneau]

15:51 Vaush... correct. In the 18th/19th centuries, there were "general dealers" -- merchants of "home goods, clothing and more." Retail. The General Store. A general strike affects, "home goods, clothing and more." Think about the tech sector -- there is FFANG (I forget which letter is doubled). I bet "home goods" has a top three. The "and more" definitely includes jewelry.

[@kalliaslands9938]

Also wanted to add modern states are much more centralized than earlier ones. The executive, legislature, intelligence service, stock market, army chiefs, civil bureaucracy is usually in one city and at most 2. This is why so many coups happen. It’s surprisingly easy to decapitate a government which is why so many coups happen. After a revolution the pencil pusher civil servant types usually just change allegiance to the new regime and go on as usual. The claim that there are fewer revolutions/coups only holds up if you look at wealthy westernized nations which are too stable to fall and the people too wealthy to warrant a revolution. If this situation changes there will be regime changes in the west too. Additionally there have been few major interstate wars which usually precipitates revolution in the loser.

[@peterkennedy3755]

I am immediately writing the ultimate self help book for unfuckable men. It's called How to be More Fun at Parties.

[@kitrana]

according to google The largest general strike that ever stopped the economy of an advanced industrial country-and the first general wildcat strike in history-was May 1968 in France

[@raymondgrantham6851]

We we gonna see. It just takes a spark.

[@xymaryai8283]

a revolution happens from the bottom up, it has to be easily followed. it has to bring a new structure to immediately replace the old. a general strike will not change capitalism, only the regulations, self imposed or otherwise. a revolution needs an interlocking plan across the whole workforce. co-ops are the easiest, most distilled form of this, but even then it needs clear structure to work for enough cases. those structures aren't easily found in times of turmoil, it requires stability and reason, but with enough unionisation, with enough consistent revolutionary work, enough co-ops with enough co-operation and assets can dismantle methodically, the larger macroeconomic systems, until there is too much pressure on a government that they cannot control without overwhelming violence. violence used against us will always be the only weapon they have that works. but peaceful revolution can always be improved, and the defense is a strong emotional position to be in. just make sure it stays that way, when the weapons do get drawn.

[@MagusMirificus]

Now that I've watched this whole segment, there's a critique I'd like to make: I never used to mind that Vaush never talked about "Direct Action" as much as larpier leftubers do, but since his position on electoralism is that it merely holds the line against fascism for another few years, and that has proved obviously true, I do wonder exactly how he expects his audience to participate beyond voting. The premises here seem to be that organized labor only has a shot at revitalization under a Democrat regime and a progressive one at that, and we'll never get better than technocratic neolibs from them until the threat of the GOP is destroyed, and the neolibs will never destroy it on their own, leaving it up to the working class to organize and deal with the problem directly. We're in a Catch 22 here; I suspect I've missed something in V's thinking or rhetoric, but I don't know what it is.

[@YokaiX]

We work within the electoral system, while also working outside it with practical revolutionary acts, like the unionizing and organising he mentions. It’s a long process, but we shift the Democratic Party further Left, keep making sure the Leftist or Left leaning candidates get elected. The system will shift Left via policy and our effective use of the democratic processes, to get the majority on our side; class consciousness of the masses will follow along.

[@MagusMirificus]

@@YokaiX Okay, but, he doesn't really talk about unionizing or organizing outside of saying "Well the GOP sure won't let you do any of that, so for now you'd better just make sure the Democrats win." Which I agree with, but we still don't really have a program of action outside of voting here. Plus, greater union participation will only happen under a truly progressive Democrat administration, which will only happen if the threat of the GOP is destroyed, which the Democratic party won't do unless they become more progressive first. It's as though the existence of the GOP makes it impossible to alter the current state of the Democrats, and the current state of the Democrats makes it impossible to destroy the GOP.

[@YokaiX]

@@MagusMirificusthe truth is, our options are limited. It’s not a satisfying answer, but it’s the truth. “We do what we can”, as he said. It can be a tough pill to swallow, but the alternative is, “do nothing and complain online”.

[@YokaiX]

@@MagusMirificuslet’s make sure the Democrats win so we actually have a chance to get the Leftists in the Party. That’s really all we can do for now.

[@MagusMirificus]

@@YokaiX I understand that, but limited to **what**?. I just think any political movement, even a tiny and powerless one, should have a concrete idea of what "What We Can" consists of. Again, Vaush's position seems to be that "What We Can" consists of slowing the progress of fascism by voting dem, and, I guess, complaining online about its inevitable victory in between. He says voting only buys us time to take advantage of by organizing, but says that organizing will never go anywhere until the fascist threat is quelled. He sees neither the disorganized western left nor the corrupt Democrats as capable of dealing with the GOP, feels that the GOP's existence keeps both of them in a state of ineffectiveness against it. The only logical conclusion to those premises is that the far right is totally assured of eventual control over this country.

[@stevenelson25]

There isn't an easy and straight forward enough way to explain the problems, for there to be any sort of positive change via revolution. The reality is that we need to improve overall general quality of life, in small ways as much as possible, so people are healthy first and foremost. Then we have healthy friends and neighbors, and it's easier to create solutions.

[@LarryJ2022]

I am a leftist on facebook. My feed is nothing but Imane articles about her not being trans overwhelmed with laugh reacts, and a bunch of anime nerds arguing about which anime is the worst ( and I am forced to conclude that they all are at this point ).

[@coolbanana165]

Apparently one of the biggest general strikes was in the UK 1926. 1.7 million workers, across the country, in various sectors. To support miners. The strike failed and was called off after 9 days, as the government was prepared and middle class workers volunteered to keep essential services running. The middle class really does seem to fuck over the working class when ever it feels like it. 😅

[@vantahawk2834]

Important correction on the Iranian Revolution: It was not the leftists that lost to the Islamists, it was the old monarchy _reinstated_ by the West. The order of events was as follows: The Sha Pahlavi was overthrown by a largely left-wing, secular, democratic movement and Mosaddegh became the first (questionably but still more) democratically elected leader - a democratic socialist. Shortly after, in the 1953 coup, the US and Britain ousted that government and reinstated the Sha, mostly in order to protect British capital interests in oil. This frustrating return to the status quo eventually culminated in the 1973 Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini, starting the theocratic, despotic dynasty that has persisted till today. So what you have here is a story more akin to 1920s Germany in its abstract political dynamics: In a context of bursting contradictions an assurgent popular leftist movement comes close to paradigm-shifting success but is then thwarted by a collusion of hegemonic forces (here moreso external - US, Britain & the Sha dynasty - rather than internal - SPD & the far-right in Germany). With the contradictions thus left unaddressed, an unpopular ruling class desparately holding on to power, and a disillusioned and weakened Left, an even more reactionary movement is able to take the reigns of power. The ol' moral of the story: Deny the Left their W, and everyone takes an L.

[@Come0ndeath]

This is the Vaush I need

[@messyah_music]

Yeah this is revisionism…plain and simple. You cannot simultaneously call yourself and anti-capitalist and believe that capitalism will end if we vote hard enough.

[@ShrigmaBrineset]

"I'm like a beetle"

[@will-pk8hq]

honestly i had to hear some of this. cant get lost in the sauce

[@darkranger116]

i feel like the most "tea in the harbor" situation that could ever happen from the American populace would be some kind of general-strike-mass-tax-withdrawal. Millions of people all threatening to never file taxes ever again until demands are met. Decommissioning citizens united, remove corporate lobbying in legislative preprocesses, take 15% of the industrial war complex budget and use that money on transportation, education, housing and food across the country for 2-4 years, break up the housing monopolies and institute rent control

[@AB25a1]

Even Abraham Lincoln was shocked by the advances in 1860s war logistics, contrasted with 1847 when the Manifesto was published.

[@tylerhackner9731]

This needed to be said

[@pola5195]

I actually think more lefties should read that "How to make friends and convince people" book. I heard some lefties say the advice it contains is basic, but I believe some would really benefit from getting told stuff like different people value different things and when you're trying to convince somebody maybe instead of screaming and/or insults try to frame it through their wants and values?

[@AmaraTheBarbarian]

Major social change in the US is almost never a result of peaceful protest alone. A claim that peaceful protest works here is dubious at best and just ahistoric at worst.

[@anonihme5142]

general strikes can also be a time where we redirect labor to civic projects, dance, chant, share, loo… errr repossess. doesn’t have to be all bad

[@Rob1066-]

Cannon is plural without the letter s at the end. Cannon is collective singular, like money or water.

[@BeardmanVaush]

10:04 Vaush's mike died right here.

[@MayaKulpa]

just reached out to the union organizers in my field. I need the push to practical action

[@thatguyryan5902]

Shoutout prefigurative politics 🥹

[@ryan-sh8vi]

I broke my thumb on the like button

[@YokaiX]

Gotta use your pointer finger next time

[@CrashKaiju]

11:56 : me when i forget the french revolution happened. 😂

[@barsabe]

the entire video is so bizarre and blind to every possible arguement that could be said.

[@avinashreji60]

@@barsabeTalk to real person about revolution

[@omegaroleplayer1022]

killing one guy in order to topple a monarchist government something the french revolution is infamous for NOT being, of course

[@sarahs472]

VAUSH, real question: could you outline ideas for how society can do things better in the age of supercomputing? I don't mean AI the hype, I mean we can forecast global disasters because we have eyes in space that are always on. We *could* build ridiculously engineered houses and use helicopters to physically MOVE those dwellings to another place out of harm's way. How can an economic and production system support this? It would also upheave land ownership.

[@johncowart9536]

@12:16 Exactly, where does power lie? You can't just go around deposing everyone. What does your end/victory state look like??

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

The only general strike i can think of was the one in Isreal over Netanyahus court reforms

[@parsley8554]

The fact that people are atomised Internet blabla this is the perfect time to get involved in your local thing you probably have an outsized affect ❤❤❤❤

[@MichaelDerryGameitect]

23:39 _"...if I'm reading theory, what should I read..."_ If you're not a leader in some movement or organization, do you really _need_ to know theory? Does a private in the Army need to know battalion-level battle strategy? If you're interested in it, read about it. If you want to make progress toward current goals, find ways to help existing organizations you agree with. I understand the sentiment, though. No one wants to feel like a peon blindly following orders. So, what's a good base level of knowledge to understand effective strategies and the broad concepts behind the world views you most closely align with?

[@ausername8699]

I first heard of "mutual aid" and thought it was like a temporary way sustain a community in rough patches, not an actual way of life that's supposed to last forever. Tankies and Anarchoprimitivists are the dumbest people alive, I swear.

[@embrikchloraker8186]

Modern society and infrastructure requires a lot of professional planning. That said, this planning could be organized with horizontal means. For instance, instead of landlords, we could have local housing councils who can distribute housing as needed.

[@BlackOpMercyGaming]

16:00 “what’s the right angle 90°

[@luminyam6145]

Thank you.

[@stevencolor3389]

A factor litely hit on in this video that I think is a big part of why revolutions are less common is the equipment. In the 1770s you had angry locals who could take their musket they used for hunting and go face to face with one of it not the strongest countries in the world (with a lot of outside help, especially on the naval side) In the 1860s you had people once again rise up with hunting rifles and able to stand face to face with the American army (though logistics were not on the rebels side) In both of those wars if you got close enough, you could kill anything the enemy fielded if you were away from a costal region using said hunting rifle. Since atleast the 1940s this has no longer been the case, small arms are not going to penetrate the armor on tanks, aircraft would be very hard to hit with small arms and even then a rifle round or a few smg bullets are unlikely to do any meaningful damage. Unless the citizens can get their hands on anti tank and anti air systems in sufficient number of launchers and ammo they can't pose a real threat to a established military This is well on display in the Warsaw uprising, Polish forces attempted to throw off the Nazis as the soviets drew near, the soviets stopped advancing on the other side of the river while the nazis and Poles fought, the resistance lacked anti aircraft guns and fighter planes meaning the Luftwaffe just pounded their held sectors of the city with airstrikes.

[@Md.HabiburRahmanNakib]

In Bangladesh, people started to protest peacefully. But,Hasina is so afraid of protest that she doesn’t even want a single bad sound about her in public.back in 2018, she stopped by an apolitical "Safe Streets" protest held by school & College (11&12the class) student Through her brutal police(read it"Mafia"). In July 2024, students protested Against "Quota" system. See,its a administrative tool of Hasina regime.She use these kind of quota to give "Civil Service " job to those people who supports her. Thats why, she fears the removal of quota system...this is the single reason, she stepped the protesters down in previous "Quota Remove " movement. This time she called them "Razakar" or "Traiter".. "Razakar " is a derogatory term in our country.who is associated with this word is viewed as a traitor to the country. Then,students took her "Tagging " politics d double down on it

[@johncowart9536]

I love how people try to say they want to get rid of the state.....bro, what do you think is gonna replace it???

[@FernandoBenitez-ht7uq]

Whew chat was particularly rough for this one

[@Id-EXTRA]

Technically if you think about it project 2025 is a modern revolution not a logical one but still 😅

[@meandyousomeofusfortwo]

This is exactly why I started following Vaush in the first place, articulating these libertarian socialist, anarchist views so concisely and pragmatically

[@SleepyJames]

Vaush u threw the filter right out the window 😂