It's 100% this. I get in arguments with my friends (most of whom are middle aged) all the time because they say they want "socialism" but despise the idea of revolution. And as much as I'm personally not into revolution pr0n, it's clear power will have to be wrestled from the bourgeois. And they're not going to give it up easily.
We're not going to be able to vote our way to a better world. And that goes against everything anyone has been taught in the West since Kindergarten. There's still hope among many who buy into this bullshit that the system will somehow allow champagne libs to have their cake (keeping their class privileges in tact) while eating it too (creating some sort of more equitable world).
I think that the nature of violence has changed so dramatically in recent years that a potential revolution is hard for people to imagine, and that makes it a lot scarier - especially as you get older and your youthful anger turns into cynicism.
Not that it excuses this half-hearted approach to socialism... I just get where these people are coming from. Change is always scary, and your average American has never had to fight for their beliefs. We need to find a way to get these people to log off and join an organization in order to gain new experiences and perspectives, but that is obviously much easier said than done.
Since the pandemic I've had way more luck pointing out social murder and the violence inherent in the running of society as it is. People I know are watching their material conditions deteriorating in real time and I am having more luck than ever explaining to them why. Its a shit silver lining, but I think as more people grasp the everyday violence wrought on them by the state, the less people will oppose a 'violent' revolutionary action
It's 100% this. I get in arguments with my friends (most of whom are middle aged) all the time because they say they want "socialism" but despise the idea of revolution. And as much as I'm personally not into revolution pr0n, it's clear power will have to be wrestled from the bourgeois. And they're not going to give it up easily.
We're not going to be able to vote our way to a better world. And that goes against everything anyone has been taught in the West since Kindergarten. There's still hope among many who buy into this bullshit that the system will somehow allow champagne libs to have their cake (keeping their class privileges in tact) while eating it too (creating some sort of more equitable world).
I think that the nature of violence has changed so dramatically in recent years that a potential revolution is hard for people to imagine, and that makes it a lot scarier - especially as you get older and your youthful anger turns into cynicism.
Not that it excuses this half-hearted approach to socialism... I just get where these people are coming from. Change is always scary, and your average American has never had to fight for their beliefs. We need to find a way to get these people to log off and join an organization in order to gain new experiences and perspectives, but that is obviously much easier said than done.
Since the pandemic I've had way more luck pointing out social murder and the violence inherent in the running of society as it is. People I know are watching their material conditions deteriorating in real time and I am having more luck than ever explaining to them why. Its a shit silver lining, but I think as more people grasp the everyday violence wrought on them by the state, the less people will oppose a 'violent' revolutionary action
You're so right. But that's an awful big hurdle.