Yeah I got this way during the last wave of BLM protests. You’d have a couple cool demos at the beginning, but it’d eventually fizzle out into Harry Potter meme signs. People say it’s an opportunity to radicalize people but I don’t think I’m charismatic or confident enough for that. I ended up feeling pretty isolated at most of them. I’d probably feel different if I went to events as part of an Org but I don’t got one of those right now.

“protests” are networking opportunities at best, at worst they’re the democratic party of activism and make libs think they’ve done something and pack it up.

A lot of my local orgs got people from protests like these, though. A lot of Bernie organizers were from Occupy for example, and a lot of Bernie people are in my local commie orgs. We just need to keep moving them left. Somehow.

I’m not sure of that part. Feel like that’s for someone more charismatic than me, but that also feels lazy and surrendering lol.

I’m seeing wayyyy too many Ukranian flags and anti communist signs. Russia is apparently still the USSR.

Protests are more of a ritual than a tactic these days. Protest is a tool, one of the tools in a toolbox to get what you want. They are not an end in themselves. If the protests aren’t disrupting anything, if they aren’t organized towards obtaining something or making somebody do something, they’re not any better than a block party or an online petition.

How does a radical org like develop a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship with a liberal protest group?

Tactics:

1. Form personal relationships with the most active organizers. If the vanguard party is the most active, radicalized segment of the working class, these folks are in a secondary strata below the vanguard party but above the disorganized and depoliticized general masses. Show them respect and appreciation for their dedication and effort. Do not condescend on the basis of being more experienced or knowledgeable. Understand their particular motivators, views, and political trajectory.

2. Offer useful help. Communist cadre are trained organizers with all the skills necessary to pull off the type of actions these movements are interested in getting going. Fill in the gaps for them, do so confidently, and be open about political affiliation - when you set up AV, gice speeches, or marshall crowds, wear your org’s shirt/hat/beret/whatever. There’s no better way to earn trust than by helping folks achieve what they couldn’t on their own.

3. Be bold in your politics. Demonstrate the unreliability of Democrat front groups (Indivisible). Hold a clear political line, point out the failures of Democrats without attacking their voters generally, and make correct predictions (they will tell you not to talk about Gaza). We are right all the time - count on people seeing that once you’ve earned enough trust to be listened to.

4. Keep high standards of professionalism. Put out the best-designed media. Avoid gossip. Resolve conflicts between other organizers. Be early to your commitments and overperform. Demonstrate high expectations and model delivering. Don’t be afraid to hold non-party organizers accountable, but do so to support their political development, not “put them in their place”.

Benefits:

1. Many opportunities to develop cadre. There’s a lot of work involved in intervening in these movements. Assign the work to many comrades, provide training sessions, and encourage folks to step out of their comfort zone to build new skills and experience.

2. Finding people in motion to bring into formal periphery or party membership. A meaningful chunk of these fresh organizers will make great comrades. Show them what your organization is capable of and how much more they could achieve in it. Beware of the demographic limitations of this movement (it’s pretty white) and don’t neglect other recruitment work.

3. Significantly boost the reach of your political message to the large crowds these events are drawing. Get on stage to speak - if there’s no stage, set it up yourself and you’re instantly the leader. Set up a table with lots of literature and you’ll have tons of good political conversations.

4. Keep the Democrats out. If we don’t take leadership of this movement, they will.

is this all there is? /rh

in Europe all i ever seem to meet are:

• ‘communists’: chauvinistic pensioners, or uni trots selling newspapers
• ‘syndicalists’: workaholic labour aristocrats and manscapers
• ‘anarchists’: teenage punkers

i’m either too old or too young to hang with any of these groups, and every year i get badjacketed because i wear a mask or have a ‘funny’ accent. i spent most of today having my fashion sense and diction mocked by 80 year old crackkkers. [nb my keyboard is broken and typed the three k’s itself. i’ve unlocked Maoist English autocorrect on my pc.]

all the local orgs are either clandestine anarcho-nihilists, or radlibs adopting revolutionary language but whose praxis begins and ends at petitions and performative protests.

Liberal contingents at rallies are excellent opportunities for recruitment. Large groups of angry people who are motivated enough to go outside, but have no strong ideas about what they should be doing. I’m genuinely fired up after canvassing the May Day crowd in my town. I met a lot of people who only needed to be told how to get involved in making real change.

Can we radicalize the protestors without them having to get beaten by cops? Or is that what it will take?

That is exactly what it will take. Historically speaking it is the exact event that has caused every single major escalation by protest movements.

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