Obstacles of Revolution in America

What do you think are some of the biggest hurdles in the way of creating revolution in America? The government? The people themselves? International influence?

I would say a variety of Gramscian-type factors is the biggest obstacles.

Americans are vastly misinformed about socialism and/or anarchism.
The mass media has a right-wing/status-quo bent
etc etc

The rise of libertarianism and to an extent the "tea-party movement" makes me wonder if segments of the American working class has been made to "sympathize" the elite (or to see some of their interests as also in the interests of the American working class; i.e. "cultural hegemony").

To a lesser extent, the situationist "Spectacle" and the implicit spirit of American consumerism also play a role in this cultural hegemony.

Revolution in the US would be unpopular with most 'merakins. I think that after 60 years of anti Commuist propaganda and 90 years of anti Anarchist propaganda, I think that the 'merakin public will not greet a revolution (whether it be Anarcho socialist, Communist, ect.) with very much enthusiasm. Just look at what people are doing to Obama! One of their own and they describe him as a socialist.

I think that the people to focus on recruting should be the younger population rather than the Older population.

Revolution in the US would be unpopular with most 'merakins. I think that after 60 years of anti Commuist propaganda and 90 years of anti Anarchist propaganda, I think that the 'merakin public will not greet a revolution (whether it be Anarcho socialist, Communist, ect.) with very much enthusiasm. Just look at what people are doing to Obama! One of their own and they describe him as a socialist.

I think that the people to focus on recruting should be the younger population rather than the Older population.

I disagree. I think the public involvement in the Obama campaign show people DO care about their government. I shows they do want to see change. This campaign of fear around Obama being a "socialist" and a "Marxist" maybe has scared off some of his petty and big bourgeois supporters, but it has only encouraged the lower classes to support him. It shows that the idea of socialism is beginning to gain some currency. The American working class has just not become class conscious yet.

Though mobilizing the youth is important, i reject this idea that a successful revolution can rest on the shoulders of the youth. They lack the experience in the real world to arrive to the conclusion of socialism on a practical grounds, so they have to get there on a theoretical level. Show me someone who believes what they do on an intellectual basis, and I don't know where they'll be tomorrow.

Our biggest obstacle is the assumptions and "common sense" of bourgeois ideology that people have so completely internalized. They will prevent people from listening to us in the first place or even considering our ideas. It's not just a matter of being "misinformed," which is why no matter how many newspapers we force on people, they aren't going to wake up. It's a more fundamental problem concerning the ideological foundation of people's thoughts, the way they see themselves and the world/people around them, and the mode in which they interact with the external world. So instead of illustrating our ideas in purely political terms, we need to find ways to challenge people to question their most basic assumptions, relations, and modes of existence. We have a lot of work ahead of us.

I think one such demographic that will be difficult to win over yet not impossible will be our rural proletariat and farmers. These have historically been the most socially conservative, but their are many traits of rural American culture that could allow socialism to thrive their. First, and this is the case all around the United States, but while many associate communism with a bad name, they know basically nothing about it, not just ideologically, but at all. They could probably not even name any sort of particular event in history in which communism had a major role. To them, the media has simply created a veil. In my personal experience, if you are respectful to these people as well as open and willing to listen to their side, they will listen to you. And when they do, more than once they have expressed admiration in the idea. Despite the few racist and fascist zealots out there, much of the rural population simply don't dable in politics anyway, so not all of them are devoted neo-Nazis by any stretch of the imagination. Also, the younger generation of rural areas shows great curiosity, more so than urban youth. Also, smaller towns in rural areas have a greater sense of community and responsibility to their fellow citizens that is compatible with the tenets of socialism, so we should definitely not ignore that.

People who are assuming people aren't happy with the status quo, that people aren't willing to give up their comfortable lives, those who think that people aren't interested in revolution, have got it all wrong.

The fact is, a shit load of people have nothing but bad things to say about their job, their mortgage, their crap paycheck, the rising cost of living, outstanding taxes mainly for military funding, the fact that banks get a free ride as opposed to other enterprises, and the fact that we have a growing epidemic of homelessness, poverty, and unemployment. The conditions for desiring change have been here for ever, there is simply not a concrete vehicle of struggle for workers and exploited persons to latch on to. For a long time the US left has been very confined to well, leftists, and not the working population. What is needed is a coherent body of organization, that actually works to link up different struggles across the country and be manageable and flexible enough to be effective at adopting the best strategy and tactical discourse when facing new challenges in the struggle.

We need to challenge the state of cultural hegemony that currently plagues the consciousnesses of the country as a whole. To do this is not about printing more propaganda or making some internet site. Rather, to challenge cultural hegemony and to sew the essence of class struggle into the hearts and minds of working people, communist must struggle as working people and practice their methods of struggle in order to demonstrate an alternative to capitalism. Workers aren't attracted to leftist organizations in this country, for the most part that is. There exists, large areas of inactivity of any kind of leftist organization in many parts of the US. Growing up in one of these places it's plainly obvious to see what devastating consequences this must have. I've never been given a piece of propaganda in my life, nor have any organizations aside from the PSL and Answer really done anything of signifigance--that is where I live.

It takes a culture of struggle and solidarity, as well as a fighting spirit that a workers movement must possess in order to gain ground and keep it. It takes even more culture of security, ideological and political strength as well as scrutiny to make an organization large and strong enough to actually challenge capitalist rule. This is something that has been out of reach for a long time in the US. The US left has been declining since the end of Vietnam War, and has no hope of continuing in it's current state. I realize I personally do not have many actual solutions to give because I'm not one to give any in the first place--that's much larger than me. All I'm saying is we need to learn from history and use our knowledge in effective ways against the enemy. Some are making strides in this direction, but in the US we still have a left that is small, weak, for the most part archaic and dogmatic, and worst of all practically invisible. Antics like Food not Bombs or violent protesting is pretty much what the US left has had to offer of recent times, while organizations should be doing something useful.

If the working and exploited people of the US are ever going to take power, it's time to actually act as if that's the goal, and not some fantasy.

Posted by Mykittyhasaboner

People who are assuming people aren't happy with the status quo, that people aren't willing to give up their comfortable lives, those who think that people aren't interested in revolution, have got it all wrong.

The fact is, a shit load of people have nothing but bad things to say about their job, their mortgage, their crap paycheck, the rising cost of living, outstanding taxes mainly for military funding, the fact that banks get a free ride as opposed to other enterprises, and the fact that we have a growing epidemic of homelessness, poverty, and unemployment. The conditions for desiring change have been here for ever, there is simply not a concrete vehicle of struggle for workers and exploited persons to latch on to. For a long time the US left has been very confined to well, leftists, and not the working population. What is needed is a coherent body of organization, that actually works to link up different struggles across the country and be manageable and flexible enough to be effective at adopting the best strategy and tactical discourse when facing new challenges in the struggle.

We need to challenge the state of cultural hegemony that currently plagues the consciousnesses of the country as a whole. To do this is not about printing more propaganda or making some internet site. Rather, to challenge cultural hegemony and to sew the essence of class struggle into the hearts and minds of working people, communist must struggle as working people and practice their methods of struggle in order to demonstrate an alternative to capitalism. Workers aren't attracted to leftist organizations in this country, for the most part that is. There exists, large areas of inactivity of any kind of leftist organization in many parts of the US. Growing up in one of these places it's plainly obvious to see what devastating consequences this must have. I've never been given a piece of propaganda in my life, nor have any organizations aside from the PSL and Answer really done anything of signifigance--that is where I live.

It takes a culture of struggle and solidarity, as well as a fighting spirit that a workers movement must possess in order to gain ground and keep it. It takes even more culture of security, ideological and political strength as well as scrutiny to make an organization large and strong enough to actually challenge capitalist rule. This is something that has been out of reach for a long time in the US. The US left has been declining since the end of Vietnam War, and has no hope of continuing in it's current state. I realize I personally do not have many actual solutions to give because I'm not one to give any in the first place--that's much larger than me. All I'm saying is we need to learn from history and use our knowledge in effective ways against the enemy. Some are making strides in this direction, but in the US we still have a left that is small, weak, for the most part archaic and dogmatic, and worst of all practically invisible. Antics like Food not Bombs or violent protesting is pretty much what the US left has had to offer of recent times, while organizations should be doing something useful.

If the working and exploited people of the US are ever going to take power, it's time to actually act as if that's the goal, and not some fantasy.

Comrade Red Philly will appreciate this too:

http://www.internationalviewpoint.or...=phil%20hearse

That's a pretty good article, thanks.

Fox News

You're on the right track.

The entire media can be and is used for capitalist propaganda. Fox News is merely the most blunt and obvious of it. Most ruling class propaganda is much more subtle...think how often is being rich or being a business person are glamorized.

That kind of crap has even infected the mainstream liberals in America.

Before we have a revolution we need to destroy the idea of the "American Dream".

well that'll be hard thanks to the great depression and it's authors who wrote "rags to riches" novels. people read them even today and can't seperate fact from fiction.

There isn't any other way. As long as there exists the myth that anyone can get rich and that wealth is good, many Americans will cling to that idea like their lives depend on it and reject anything that challenges it.

It won't be impossible, but it will be difficult.

I think I should rephrase "destroy the American Dream". We just need to wean enough of the population away from it and get them on our side.

oh I totally agree, I was just pointing out how hard it'll be. I mean, in my american history class they insist that "the amerikkkan dream can be yours too!" and the textbooks say that history is FULL of these success stories. and I almost got a detention for saying otherwise.

the left is dead in west palm beach.

the left is dead in west palm beach.

It was alive in West Palm Beach???

It was alive in West Palm Beach???

well, there are workers everywhere. maids, hotel staff, construction technicians, we have all of those, they just don't know that they could have more, be more.

the Supreme Court ruled that the bans on corporate contribution to election campaigns are unconstitutional. This is opening the flood gates for special interests and solidifies the hold of the capitalists on the officers of elected government. As long as this remains the landscape of political life, America will go further and further down the tube.

There needs to be a constitutional amendment that abolishes the private contribution system and replaces it with a uniform state subsidy for anyone seeking office who qualifies the age, residence. citizenship etc. requirements of the state/federal government. This would bring socialism into the republican system by abolishing the distinctions of class that constrain elections to a handful of mediocre billionaires.

they control what you eat every day. the heads of state in charge of overseeing the food industries are the same people paid to lobby for food industries. monsanto, the same place that manufactured agent orange makes an herbicide called roundup. they also control 90 percent of the world's GE seeds through a seed that is resistant to roundup and a team of attorneys put together to prosecute farmers whose fields have become infected with their seeds (sometimes against the farmers will).

Justice Clarence Thomas worked as an attorney for Monsanto in the 1970s. Thomas wrote the majority opinion in the 2001 Supreme Court decision J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.|J. E. M. AG SUPPLY, INC. V. PIONEER HI-BREDINTERNATIONAL, INC. which found that "newly developed plant breeds are patentable under the general utility patent laws of the United States." This case benefitted all companies which profit from genetically modified crops, of which Monsanto is one of the largest.
Michael R. Taylor was an assistant to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner before he left to work for a law firm on gaining FDA approval of Monsanto’s artificial growth hormone in the 1980s. Taylor then became deputy commissioner of the FDA from 1991 to 1994. Taylor was later re-appointed to the FDA in August 2009 by President Barack Obama.
Dr. Michael A. Friedman was a deputy commissioner of the FDA before he was hired as a senior vice president of Monsanto.
Linda J. Fisher was an assistant administrator at the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA) before she was a vice president at Monsanto from 1995 - 2000. In 2001, Fisher became the deputy administrator of the EPA.
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was chairman and chief executive officer of G. D. Searle & Co., which Monsanto purchased in 1985. Rumsfeld personally made at least $12 million USD from the transaction.

The media tells Americans left and right that they have two options: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Democrats have a small progressive, Keynesian faction that supports high taxes on the wealthy, universal health care, either cheaper or free higher education, and LGBT legal rights. But when it comes time for consensus and to pick a president, they go with "moderates" who make slight concessions to the demands of more "radical" progressives. The Republicans are a coalition of evangelical Christians, pro-lifers, social conservatives, businessmen, and people who think that an increase in income and property taxes means socialist dictatorship.

Both parties serve the bourgeois class and use all their might to prevent revolutionaries, socialists, communists, and anarchists from having a voice in the media. Social dems occasionally get a few minutes on some radio shows. They have the police at their will to crush opposition, as has been evident over and over again in the state's suppression of strikes and protests throughout the country's history. They use the military to wage imperialist wars abroad and assert U.S. cultural, economic, military, and political hegemony.

There is a culture of consumerism and obsession with getting rich. There is a strong history of puritanical male chauvinism, racism, and homophobia. There were massive campaigns by the government to crush socialist, communist, and anarchist movements, parties, organizations, and uprisings that have crippled the left and left us with the "red terror."

The school system is in place to keep children in line and teach them to obey authority. They don't teach critical thinking skills. There are immense contradictions within all levels of American society. These are our barriers.