• Wheaties [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    This is true, but I think there is an important addendum that people organizing in the States should keep in mind: Belief alone does not make you into something. You have to act on it.*

    Americans are great at belief. We believe in all sorts of things, and we pick up and discard new beliefs on a whim. A lot of those are contradictory. Doesn't matter, we believe them all the same. Even harder, if anyone points out the hypocrisy. But we seldom act on belief. Don't mistake someone who merely believes something heinous for someone who acts on heinous belief. For one thing, they're not worth worrying about. Their belief changes with the wind of public sentiment, though it is anchored by their material conditions. The aim isn't to change that individual's mind. Change the conditions, and you make it easier to believe in a better world. Change the wind, and they will follow. Justification comes after, not before.

    *

    This is true for communism as well. Believing in the left does not make you a leftist. You have to act on that belief.