How can we actually start a revolution in the west?

[Comrade Thomas]

Hello, this is an actually question; I was wondering how can 'we' citizens of the West help to start an actual violent, overthrow of consumerism and capitalism?

[tuwix]

For example, starting a general strike and continuing it until end of capitalism.

[WilliamGreen]

Hello, this is an actually question; I was wondering how can 'we' citizens of the West help to start an actual violent, overthrow of consumerism and capitalism?

Hey Thomas,

The big problem is everyone keeps doing the same thing they've done for 10, 20, 30 years and thinking different things are gonna happen. A lot of people in the left need a wake up that the methods aint workin. Simple as that.

You ever watch fight club? And in the end all the credit card buildings blow up?

If someone blew up wall street or something else that's a symbol of exploitation of the people and made sure to call in so it was only property destroyed. Follow that up with a big statement and you'd probably have the regular joe that drinks beers with his buddies and *****ing about the ceos and such that make what an average man makes in a year in a week.

That's how you get people on your side. People flock to big operations and movements. They don't flock to small stunts that people think is just a handful of wierdos.

:) Good luck

[Os Cangaceiros]

You're looking at it wrong. Revolution isn't something that can simply be started consciously, you'll look in vain for some sort of fuse you can light to kick shit off. The far left doesn't have any control over whether serious and widespread social unrest happens; it can only attempt to have the sort of solid institutions to help guide it in productive directions once it does happen. IMO anyway

[AnaRchic]

A 'violent overthrow' is just one small phase of a social revolution, there are more important aspects to concern ourselves with at the moment. A brief analysis of the Occupy Movement can teach us some good lessons for the future struggles to come.

The Occupy Movement was a good show of the dissatisfaction of masses of people, and our seemingly natural ability and propensity to self-organize along cooperative lines. Where I think this movement failed was in its lack of vision and tactical diversity. Given that the movement was fundamentally non-hierarchical in nature, it should have come to the point of synthesizing these impulses and practices into a political vision. Indeed it may have done so with more time.

Unfortunately the lack of tactical diversity in the movement was a problem. By focusing so much on occupying a public space, little was built in the way of lasting relationships and organization. If we could have begun to seriously expand this participatory/cooperative model into other areas of our lives; into our communities and our workplaces, we could have planted deep roots into the social fabric, making a revolutionary alternative to the system visibly viable. This should be a key focus for modern revolutionaries.

Its time to throw away these antiquated ideas of vanguard parties leading dumb masses through some bloody seizure of state power. That kind of a revolution is a relic of a past century. The key to a successful 21st century revolution is twofold; a political vision that gives expression to the free and cooperative relations increasingly expressed in social movements, and a project of creating new and cooperative mechanisms of social life, counter institutions.

As we create and expand viable cooperative and non-hierarchical alternatives, the question of power comes to the front of the equation. As we begin to live according to this whole new set of values, reconfiguring our mode of social life, the reality of class domination and the iron fist of the state makes itself evident to all. As I see it, from this point will necessarily come mass worker resistance through coordinated strike action, with self-organized communities providing the mutual aid and cooperation necessary to sustain such revolutionary action.

By building alternative structures and relations right now, wherever possible, as an expressive action of the growing global resistance, we can begin to construct the infrastructure necessary to bring about, sustain, and complete a successful social revolution.

Before any of this will happen, these values will need to be widely disseminated more than ever. I encourage all my anarchist and anti-authoritarian comrades to spread their views as far and as wide as possible. Lets make the idea of creating a voluntary and cooperative society a commonly known and understood political vision. As such values spread, and as we embark on creating the new society within the shell of the old, a struggle against global power structures will ensue, and with a solid vision and a united global resistance, we will win.

So in short, this is what we can do; spread our ideas as far and wide as possible, and create alternatives wherever possible.

[WilliamGreen]

You're looking at it wrong. Revolution isn't something that can simply be started consciously, you'll look in vain for some sort of fuse you can light to kick shit off. The far left doesn't have any control over whether serious and widespread social unrest happens; it can only attempt to have the sort of solid institutions to help guide it in productive directions once it does happen. IMO anyway

"to have the sort of solid institutions to help guide it in productive directions once it does happen."

This was gospel. Though what is that kind of a solid institutions. Maybe this is what we in the left really need to nail down. Because we obviously haven't been going about it right.

[WilliamGreen]

A 'violent overthrow' is just one small phase of a social revolution, there are more important aspects to concern ourselves with at the moment. A brief analysis of the Occupy Movement can teach us some good lessons for the future struggles to come.

The Occupy Movement was a good show of the dissatisfaction of masses of people, and our seemingly natural ability and propensity to self-organize along cooperative lines. Where I think this movement failed was in its lack of vision and tactical diversity. Given that the movement was fundamentally non-hierarchical in nature, it should have come to the point of synthesizing these impulses and practices into a political vision. Indeed it may have done so with more time.

Unfortunately the lack of tactical diversity in the movement was a problem. By focusing so much on occupying a public space, little was built in the way of lasting relationships and organization. If we could have begun to seriously expand this participatory/cooperative model into other areas of our lives; into our communities and our workplaces, we could have planted deep roots into the social fabric, making a revolutionary alternative to the system visibly viable. This should be a key focus for modern revolutionaries.

Its time to throw away these antiquated ideas of vanguard parties leading dumb masses through some bloody seizure of state power. That kind of a revolution is a relic of a past century. The key to a successful 21st century revolution is twofold; a political vision that gives expression to the free and cooperative relations increasingly expressed in social movements, and a project of creating new and cooperative mechanisms of social life, counter institutions.

As we create and expand viable cooperative and non-hierarchical alternatives, the question of power comes to the front of the equation. As we begin to live according to this whole new set of values, reconfiguring our mode of social life, the reality of class domination and the iron fist of the state makes itself evident to all. As I see it, from this point will necessarily come mass worker resistance through coordinated strike action, with self-organized communities providing the mutual aid and cooperation necessary to sustain such revolutionary action.

By building alternative structures and relations right now, wherever possible, as an expressive action of the growing global resistance, we can begin to construct the infrastructure necessary to bring about, sustain, and complete a successful social revolution.

Before any of this will happen, these values will need to be widely disseminated more than ever. I encourage all my anarchist and anti-authoritarian comrades to spread their views as far and as wide as possible. Lets make the idea of creating a voluntary and cooperative society a commonly known and understood political vision. As such values spread, and as we embark on creating the new society within the shell of the old, a struggle against global power structures will ensue, and with a solid vision and a united global resistance, we will win.

So in short, this is what we can do; spread our ideas as far and wide as possible, and create alternatives wherever possible.


I think there's also something very simple to be said about running out of steam.

The occupy guys talked and walked around. The media made it out to be some huge thing. Guys it wasn't. It showed that we have a huge support base, so next time maybe we should actually do something and figure out how to rally that.

[Ocean Seal]

"We" the communists can't start the revolution. The revolution will be the result not of its planning, but of a combination of material conditions with our constant agitation and organization. "We" can organize strikes, walk-outs, resistance to "lock-outs", solidarity meetings, military defections, protests, etc. "We" can reach out to people being evicted, neighborhoods being gentrified, workers losing their jobs, the unemployed losing their benefits, and teach them our message. "We" can incite riots, bring together workers of different affairs, bring political power to the streets, among other things. But the revolution is the handiwork of things beyond our control. We must influence history to lead to a revolution.

[WilliamGreen]

Hopefully soon we can get the type of organizations set up that can help in the above :)

Edit: Or at least unify what we have so it actually has some presence ;)

[cyu]

Remember what information turned you into a leftist?

Think of people in a similar situation that may be turned into a leftist by similar information. Then provide them that information and encourage them to repeat what you just did.

If you keep at it, eventually you'll have a chain reaction on your hands. If the chain reaction reaches critical mass, you'll have a revolution.

[Comrade Thomas]

Ah, thanks for the replies so far everyone.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Moved to Learning.

[The Jay]

I don't think that a 1917 Russia type situation is all that viable now in case you were harboring such an idea. Focus on yourself and those immediately around you. Talk to people and if they seem interested keep talking. Whatever happens, happens and you shouldn't feel as though if a workers' struggle gets crushed that you are responsible.

[G4b3n]

Like others have already said, revolution is not something that can be planned or consciously implemented, it is a response of the masses to the objective material conditions in which they find themselves. The major task this time around will be keeping out quasi-labor intellectuals who wish to steal everything that belongs to the worker.

[Tim Cornelis]

Hey Thomas,

The big problem is everyone keeps doing the same thing they've done for 10, 20, 30 years and thinking different things are gonna happen. A lot of people in the left need a wake up that the methods aint workin. Simple as that.

You ever watch fight club? And in the end all the credit card buildings blow up?

If someone blew up wall street or something else that's a symbol of exploitation of the people and made sure to call in so it was only property destroyed. Follow that up with a big statement and you'd probably have the regular joe that drinks beers with his buddies and *****ing about the ceos and such that make what an average man makes in a year in a week.

That's how you get people on your side. People flock to big operations and movements. They don't flock to small stunts that people think is just a handful of wierdos.


Yeah no. If you think that you are divorced from the actual concerns of working people. They'd think "what a delusion lunatics, go do something productive. I'm working my ass off, and they're playing cowboy." You get people on your side by struggling for improvements in the everyday lives of people.

[ToxicAcidRed]

tH9zG28GQEg

So you want a revolution?


Ask yourself what is wrong with the government
How do you fix these issues?
What is your endgame? What will you do after the system is collapsed.

It would do no good to plan a coup'deat when the end result will just be a state of anarchy (the bad kind) without any provisional sense of organization or community.


Tell a friend. Get the word out by exposing government and media lies, while at the same time offering solutions. Pointing out problems is easy, but what matters most is the solution.

Start off with practical methods, using rhetoric, talking points, and appeals. en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/Propaganda_techniques
Again, keep a clear consistent message, don't go back on your word. Make sure your revolutionary group is in favor of a system, rather than being against one (i.e. Anti-Fascist Action, but the name suggests it could still be in favor of other oppressive ideologies). Instead of merely saying you are against capitalism, say you are in favor of socialism or communism. Otherwise, it will create a "enemy of my enemy" situation, where your temporary allies become your future opponents.


I'm sure you can find more tips on the web

[argeiphontes]

You might want to look into creating prefigurative institutions like anarcho-syndicalist unions and democratic worker cooperatives. This should help shift class consciousness leftward and open up possibilities for further change. And you don't have to just sit around frustrated, you can do something.

[RedMaterialist]

You're looking at it wrong. Revolution isn't something that can simply be started consciously, you'll look in vain for some sort of fuse you can light to kick shit off. The far left doesn't have any control over whether serious and widespread social unrest happens; it can only attempt to have the sort of solid institutions to help guide it in productive directions once it does happen. IMO anyway

That was also the opinion of Rosa Luxembourg.