Does anyone else feel like they're not doing enough?

[Eleutheromaniac]

I don't mean to start a revolution today, or to completely change the status quo when I wake up in the morning. I've never had the opportunity to protest, to stand with my fellow working-classmen. I don't really have time to do volunteer work (help feed the poor, etc.) although I really, really want to. I've been doing a lot of reading on theory, but I feel like my lack of action makes me sort of an 'arm-chair activist.' I don't want to be one of those people that says a lot, but doesn't back it up. Does anybody else feel this way? Is there anything I can do?

P.S. I apologize if I posted this in the wrong section. The mods can move the thread as they please.

[Derendscools]

I feel as if talking to my friends about my ideas kind of helps, and I know I could do more, but stay positive and i'm sure you'll find the opportunity to do what it is that you want to do.

[La Guaneña]

Are you a student? Look around in your town for parties or some other political organization doing work among other students.

If not, look up if there is any sort of party or coalition doing anti-war or anti-racist work, such as ANSWER.

[Quail]

Depending on where you live, there are probably a variety of political groups (communist parties/organisations, campaigns against discrimination, etc). You could also search for groups in the US that you like the sound of and see if you could do something to help promote them in your local area (for example they might send you papers/flyers/stickers/etc).

[AnaRchic]

It helps to see social liberation not as a great cause for which we are to sacrifice, but as an extension of our own desire for personal liberation. In this way our 'activism' becomes a genuinely enjoyable part of our lives.

I'm an egoist, but I am active in the greater struggle for liberation, simply because I see the abolition of hierarchical power as essential to my own freedom. My own life falls far short of its potential as long as my potential fellows are held in bondage.

I've been active in the Occupy movement and am working to get involved in Detroit Eviction Defense, among other pursuits. I do all of this joyfully, as a social expression of my own personal resistance to authority. Revolution is not some religious ideal to sacrifice myself for.

I could be more active, but I feel no moral compulsion in that direction. Any revolutionary activity not done out of joy does not fly with me. Crimethinc has written some great texts on this idea; they've essentially harmonized a life-affirming egoism with revolutionary social Anarchism.

Be as active and involved as you genuinely desire to be. Never feel compelled to do anything you don't want to do.

[consuming negativity]

For some of us- actually, many of us - going out in the streets isn't always an option. Life calls; obligations to people and to ourselves. That you desire what is different and are willing to fight is not eclipsed by material realities that prevent your doing so. Do not be demoralized; the struggle is life. And all of us are living it.

[Comrade Jacob]

Since I try not to get out of the house much I really don't know if other leftists (if any) are doing anything. The most I can do is talk and debate with my friends. One has stopped being a conservative and the other has a strange mixture of anarchism and people he considers to be artists as the elite. It's confusing.

[motion denied]

I ain't doing shit.

[Eleutheromaniac]

Are you a student? Look around in your town for parties or some other political organization doing work among other students.

If not, look up if there is any sort of party or coalition doing anti-war or anti-racist work, such as ANSWER.

I'm at university right now, yes. It's hard to find people in my college town who are sympathetic to the left. There are (unfortunately) a lot of Libertarians and, of course, being on a college campus, a lot of Democrats.

Anti-war/racism would be a good start for me, I guess. What is ANSWER?

[Coatimundi]

I feel like this all the time, sometimes I just want to give up on getting involved, give up on Socialism and just retire to a life as a cog in the capitalist machine. If I were you, I'd try to find a political organization where you could find people who share your views.

[Per Levy]

What is ANSWER?

a anti-war PSL front. as for the question of the op, i do enough as far as i see it, taking care of people i love is enough for me. and its not like doing more or less is in any way importent. worst case scenario you burn out and drop out of this stuff all together, so thats why just do what you feel like doing and if your feel like doing nothing that is fine too.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

This is gonna sound completely silly to some of you......

But one of the things I've started doing is a bathroom graffiti campaign.

No, seriously. I have a marker I carry around in my jacket pocket, and when I'm in a public restroom I'll write socialist propaganda on the stalls. Drawing hammer n' sickles, writing slogans like "Workers of the World, Unite!", or "Google 'Marx was right' ".

Silly and juvenile? Probably.

But where I live, you don't have alot of options.

[left-of-the-dial]

I know the feeling but I think it stems from the lack of results from actions. When every protest is met with angry police and harsh media it's hard to achieve it's goals.

Also doesn't help that the Government (i'm talking from the UK by the way) don't pay the slightest bit of attention to protests just look at the lengths they went to against the miners.

The sad truth is we are a small voice against a media owned by people intent on keeping the status quo.

That's not to say spreading our message is useless it just means it's very hard for them to be believed.

Just imagine every mainstream media outlet quoting Marx on the hour people would believe Marx was right, just as the current media do about capitalism (or kleptocracy for want of a better word). Have a bloke on a street corner shouting Marx was right doesn't cut it like it did in 1917.

The powers that be are smart. Control the money and media and you control the world.

They've completely took capital (stock market/banks). They took away local economies improving workers lives (globalisation) and they took culture (commercial radio/exclusive TV & publishing).

I feel the point to stop this was missed in the 1920s and 1930s before the evils of fiat currency took hold (google it). The new zeitgeist is me me me and fuck everyone else and this is completely at odds with communism.

Divide and rule baby.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

I think this raises several interesting questions. First, how we assess our successes and failures, measure "enough", and so on. I don't have a "big" answer, but I will say that often times, in ostensible defeats there are strategic victories, and vice versa. For a real, sober, figuring out, one needs to view things from a distance, and in a broad context. To tack a cliche on this, I'd like to point to Zhou Enlai's famous response when asked about the French Revolution, "It's too soon to tell."

In terms of one's personal life, I think it's hard to say. One might do "nothing" for years only to find one's self at the right place at the right time to spark a inferno. One might do "activism" for years, achieving no appreciable results (though, honestly, I think such a view tends to be pessimistic, and gloss over real achievements). The important thing is that neither instance exists in isolation - both are related to one another and create the conditions for one another. Which, of course, points back to my original point, about the "big picture".

[Jimmie Higgins]

My advice is to be practical and prioritize. I never feel like I do enough... In politics, in keeping up with friends, in reading, in creative pursuits, in organizing my computer and apartment... Oh shit now I'm feeling depressed.

See, don't do that. Figure out the best use of time. Be practical, don't moralize about it or beat yourself up. For a student who also works, maybe prioritize your "radical time" by just reading and learning history and theory because you only get a few hours a week that you can devote to political activity. On the other hand, if a radical is playing video games 4 hours each night... They could probably also make some time to get involved in organizing.

[workers of the]

I feel the same way as tthe tread opener.
althought I do some graffiti, go to Protests, Do not eat chocolate and "made in chaina" products I still feel like im just living my life while there are so much bad things that going on need to be improve in this capitalist and racist world.
I wonder if we are (lefties) all over the world are not to patient to what is going on and maybe we need to do something big and sudden to stop the human right violation and poverty all over the world.
there are peaople right now (!!) that dying from starvation or people in chaina that Utilized by corpartions.
I would like to get an answer from more Experienced activist than me.

(Im still learn in school)

[exitingblue]

Im out in the sticks, online activism is the best option for me.

[mindsword]

This is gonna sound completely silly to some of you......

But one of the things I've started doing is a bathroom graffiti campaign.

No, seriously. I have a marker I carry around in my jacket pocket, and when I'm in a public restroom I'll write socialist propaganda on the stalls. Drawing hammer n' sickles, writing slogans like "Workers of the World, Unite!", or "Google 'Marx was right' ".

Silly and juvenile? Probably.

But where I live, you don't have alot of options.
thats actually a kind of cool idea, and very simple to do.

[Sinister Intents]

This is gonna sound completely silly to some of you......

But one of the things I've started doing is a bathroom graffiti campaign.

No, seriously. I have a marker I carry around in my jacket pocket, and when I'm in a public restroom I'll write socialist propaganda on the stalls. Drawing hammer n' sickles, writing slogans like "Workers of the World, Unite!", or "Google 'Marx was right' ".

Silly and juvenile? Probably.

But where I live, you don't have alot of options.

Brutal! I'm doing this!


Im out in the sticks, online activism is the best option for me.

Likewise :( there are only radicals in Erie and Buffalo, and I'm not very close to either, Syracuse is even farther, and same with Pittsburgh

[Ele'ill]

I don't mean to start a revolution today, or to completely change the status quo when I wake up in the morning. I've never had the opportunity to protest, to stand with my fellow working-classmen. I don't really have time to do volunteer work (help feed the poor, etc.) although I really, really want to. I've been doing a lot of reading on theory, but I feel like my lack of action makes me sort of an 'arm-chair activist.' I don't want to be one of those people that says a lot, but doesn't back it up. Does anybody else feel this way? Is there anything I can do?

P.S. I apologize if I posted this in the wrong section. The mods can move the thread as they please.


Within the theory you've read what form of action makes sense to you that you think is a good idea? Why can't you participate? Since you can't participate what are the beginning steps to get to where you can participate? If they are unachievable maybe your position should be criticism of that theory.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

No, I never feel like i'm not doing enough.

A lot of the time I wish to be more involved, but I don't feel as though this desire comes from a position of self-criticism.

I am a worker. Consequently, under capitalism I wish to defend and improve my own position in the social system, and as a politically conscious worker I aim to take the steps that will terminally improve my position; those steps forming revolution.

Logically, taking these steps cannot be done by myself, but neither can they be done by just sub-ordinating my very limited time and remaining effort after a long work week to some 'lesser of evils', irrelevant left sect.

So, I will stick to my principles, fight my own corner (in education, the sector I work in) and where I can support certain issues (for example tuition fees, No More Page 3 etc.) in a personal/group capacity I will. When I find a group whom I feel I can devote time and effort to without, I feel, wasting that time and effort, I will do so. But until then, I see it as entirely pointless to do something just for the sake of...doing something.

There's a phrase, 'practice makes perfect', that has been amended by some to 'perfect practice makes perfect'; the idea being that you need to practice well to improve whatever skill it is you're trying to learn/improve. Merely doing something without understanding why you're doing it, what you want the outcome to be etc., doesn't lead to improvement or efficacy. Therefore, the phrase 'doing something is better than nothing' should really be changed to 'doing something useful is better than nothing', in the same vein.

So yeah, of course in an ideal world there would be a lot of people doing a lot of useful things that advance the idea of a revolutionary break with capitalism. But let's not kid ourselves that any activity is worthwhile activity, because it's not only un-true, it's a dangerous method of burning out and eventually dis-enfranchising newer, enthusiastic cadre.

[Doflamingo]

I can certainly say that I'm not doing enough, but I feel a sort of anxiety when I want to make a point. I'm not the best at articulating sentences so when I want to say something, it often comes out completely wrong :unsure:

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

I know I could be doing a lot more (whether it would be remotely helpful or useful is another matter). 'Life' can sort of get in the way of revolutionary politics (especially if your wife is generally apolitical apart from the opinion that politicians are idiots). Luckily, I'm rather fond of my wife and kids so the disappointment of not being more active is minor (anyway, for all my ideals of how society could be, deep down I'm convinced it's not goiing to happen whatever I or anyone else does).

[blake 3:17]

Get your game on! Just do something -- you don't know what'll lead to what. Some of the best work I've done seemed like it came from nowhere. Some of the best plans accomplished nothing.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

[Rusty Shackleford]

If you're serious about committing to work, then it will be a sacrifice you will be willing to make, meaning less relaxation or social time or whatever.

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

I do virtually nothing at all at the moment (on all fronts) so I suppose at least I know where I stand