Slacktivism in the USA

[Soomie]

Does anyone else get fed up with the amount of slacktivism in the United States? The lack of momentum here really frustrates me. It's so hard to open the eyes of the masses and get anything started. I think it was on this forum that someone said that as long as the masses in the first world had things they needed and desired, like food, internet, and television, that they would overlook small inconveniences like the NSA spying. I really just feel like I'm stuck here in the rat race trying to inform people and to get them up to speed on what is really going on in government. But few people want to go into it. They believe that the two party system is everything that we need and more, and it's only a matter of time before they give us certain rights that we have been waiting on. Then when they don't screw us as much as they could, we cheer and go back to surfing the web or watching a sports game on television. Meanwhile, countries like Brazil have 200,000 people take to the streets overnight in protest against corruption. Then, as if getting the masses to do anything weren't enough of a problem, we have armchair activists who don't want to do anything if they can't "like" or "share" it on fb and people on the left who share our ideals but won't identify as Socialist, Communist, or Anarchist because of what other people will think, or even some who try to change the definition of Socialism to make themselves feel better. Sometimes it's just so depressing being stuck here in the first world while the rest of the world is getting things done, at least to more of an extent than we are. Opinions on this?

[Taters]

There are probably hundreds of reasons, and most of them are related to capitalist propaganda ('There is no alternative', 'Communism killed millions', etc) and the oppressive bureaucracy (IRS, ATF, FBI, CIA, and other alphabetical permutations) of the state.
Most of all, though, people harbor no hope of changing the system in any meaningful way - let alone instituting a new system. The prospect seems too daunting, so most submit to it and say "That's the way things are" or enthuse over every tiny, compromised half-victory.

As for changing that sorry state of affairs, I'd like to cop out at this point and say "there are no easy answers." A huge capitalist crisis could shake many's faith in capitalism, though I fear a catastrophe would push many Americans into the arms of reaction or outright fascism.

(And btw I say this as an armchair 'communist' myself, having done nothing to advance the workers' movement in the US)

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

In a non-revolutionary period, the influence of bourgeois ideology can be difficult to counter.

[Ele'ill]

there is no hope

[Jimmie Higgins]

Does anyone else get fed up with the amount of slacktivism in the United States? The lack of momentum here really frustrates me. It's so hard to open the eyes of the masses and get anything started. I think it was on this forum that someone said that as long as the masses in the first world had things they needed and desired, like food, internet, and television, that they would overlook small inconveniences like the NSA spying. I really just feel like I'm stuck here in the rat race trying to inform people and to get them up to speed on what is really going on in government. But few people want to go into it. They believe that the two party system is everything that we need and more, and it's only a matter of time before they give us certain rights that we have been waiting on. Then when they don't screw us as much as they could, we cheer and go back to surfing the web or watching a sports game on television. Meanwhile, countries like Brazil have 200,000 people take to the streets overnight in protest against corruption. Then, as if getting the masses to do anything weren't enough of a problem, we have armchair activists who don't want to do anything if they can't "like" or "share" it on fb and people on the left who share our ideals but won't identify as Socialist, Communist, or Anarchist because of what other people will think, or even some who try to change the definition of Socialism to make themselves feel better. Sometimes it's just so depressing being stuck here in the first world while the rest of the world is getting things done, at least to more of an extent than we are. Opinions on this?

Telling people how bad things are does not make people active IMO. For one thing, many people know things are bad, that's why there's a huge amount of cynacism about everything as well as a lot of anger at the government and "corporations".

I read something recently about how the more people are informed about environmental problems, the less likely they are to take any action - they become fatalistic or resigned or turn inward (I can only do my little part). For economics, negative information about how powerful corporations are, how corrupt and untouchable they are, only makes people feel more powerless and can make people feel like it's better to settle or keep their head down rather than fight and probably loose - this is how union leaders try and sell bad contracts to their members (not necissarily a consious deception on their part). Information about runaway government powers does the same thing.

Criticizing the system is only half the equation, the other half is working class power to replace it and fight it (or even more generally a confidence in grassroots action and independance to fight for alternatives).

As far as countries elsewhere - well Egypt and Turkey in particular have, in recent decades, been charaterized by a stereotype of popular passivity.