Non-Yank with a question for Yankie comrades.
I've recently been going back over Lenin's writings, in particular What is to Be Done?:
We have said that there could not have been Social Democratic consciousness among the workers. It would have to be brought to them from without. The history of all countries shows that the working class, exclusively by its own efforts, is able to develop only trade union consciousness, i.e. the conviction that it is necessary to combine in unions, fight the employers, and strive to compel the government to pass necessary labour legislation etc
What do USAmerican Marxists think the current correct organisational strategies are, given the particular conditions of the US? What are the limits of activity within trade-unions, compared to other countries?
I mean, I think you're on to something but I'd go one further.
You just need a lot of time with people before you incorporate them into a reliable friendly organizational setting. And so much of young life is atomizing. We change schools every four years. We don't have large families anymore, so we have limited sibling relationships. Our careers scatter us to the four winds and slot us together as contractors on a temporary project rather than team members on a multi-generational local industry.
Even before you get to forming an organization, you need a squad of friendly people you know who will support you. So much of modern American life works against that.