Holy shit, one of the comments on that post is just "Vote." Imagine seeing what happened to labor movements in the 20s and still thinking the establishment will save you.
"You know voting cures my ED! Nothing turns me on more than voting in compromised corporate shills! Emmm, yess! LICK THE BOO...I mean...please vote." - Libs
But again:
The US/capitalism is so cartoonishly evil that when you try to explain their actions people find it too crazy to believe it.
Particularly they like to make movies about how their mercenaries felt bad when were killing 3rd world civilians, not because of killing them, but because those people were mean to them.
"Can you believe they shoot us? We were all making a big effort bombing their cities so they could have freedom and they shoot us! That's why I now think all sand n*****s are the same, the 'innocents' like to be ruled by bad guys."
"violence begets violence" so you agree it's only natural the rioters respond to the violence done upon them with violence?
"Bowing down to fascists is the only solutions" -A fascist in sheep's clothing
we settle discourse at the ballot box
Yeah, everyone knows about the Revolutionary Election in 1776.
Pointing out hypocrisy is never a winning strategy against right wingers in the long run, but it is still a good chance to make them look dumb.
The brain worms in this libs head have now made a plantation with slaves working overtime to spew out this cursed shit. Holy shit, just how?
Protests work
Yeah the past 4 years of Trump protests have really made some real change /s
If someone from the region wants to chime in (over there), it might be a good idea to point out a couple of the contradictions exposed by this thread.
1: "Riots aren't protests"
2A advocates rest their position firmly on the belief that the only way they can have a government which is responsive to the needs of the people is if the people are capable of intimidating their government. We have seen multiple armed rallies within the past year which employ this tactic, from coast to coast. What makes BLM different from a gang of MAGAs marching into their statehouse with rifles? The aim of both is to instill fear in the government to force them to listen to the demands of the people.
The MAGA people get let off without a scratch because they are generally privileged within our hierarchical system. The cops let them walk right into the statehouse unharmed, and walk right out again without any trouble. The BLM protesters get met with teargas and rubber bullets before they even reach the threshhold, and then they get blamed for fighting back. They get mocked because the situation necessitates them to have medics on hand, and armor to defend against the weapons the police use against them daily.
2A people masturbate all the time about fighting against an overbearing tyrannical government, but it seems the government really doesn't have a problem with them, and even welcomes their interventions when constitutionalism and procedure gets in the way. Meanwhile, here you have people actually rebelling against the tyrannical conditions in their cities. Why would opinions about this suddenly be so sour? Are right wing 2A folks jealous they'll never be able to live out their misguided fantasy? Are they scared that black people might win some autonomy for once?
Second, what is a riot other than a protest of private property relations?
2: But they're destroying businesses?
Tell me, who do those businesses support politically? Are they rooting for the reformers? Are they providing material support to the campaigns of people trying to fix these cities? Or are they funding candidates who will cut taxes and reduce services while driving gentrification, raising rents, and using the police to crack down on anybody who doesn't fit into the model of a perfectly clean, yuppie paradise?
Businesses (particularly of the Walmart and Target variety) and real estate developers are extremely plugged into the political systems of these cities, and are more responsible than any individual for supporting the status quo which these people are rebelling against. No one sheds a tear when a homeless person is evicted from their tent, or when spikes are installed under the overpass to prevent them sleeping outside of the rain, but it is a tragedy when a business gets smashed while the owner sleeps comfortably in their bed.
The focus on businesses is a distraction. Businesses have only been struggling for months. The people have been struggling since time immemorial. The focus on jobs is a distraction, the jobs were obliterated by Covid, and now it is a buyer's market. Nobody gives a shit about the minimum wage jobs offered by CVS or Wendys, or Uber. Millions of people are out of work, and hundreds will line up for any job available and accept the lowest wages they can get. That shit is slavery.
Yeah, but it is always better if someone has some relevant post history and can back up their arguments with other local references - rather than someone like me with a cursory understanding of Appalachian life and a username which literally references living in one of those "coastal elite" states. It is not hard to spot somebody who has never posted in a sub before who is suddenly promoting an ideological agenda.
This might not be the best place to get a response, but this is pretty relevant to a question that I've had in my head for the past few days.
Is there a book that someone can suggest that compiles stories like these about the history of worker uprisings/labor rights in US history? It's something that I feel like I should read up on more so I can give examples to people about how we weren't just gifted a 40 hour work week from the gods themselves and that people had to fight and die to get to the point where that became the norm.
People's History of the United States, probably, but I haven't actually gotton around to reading it.
it's a great book for learning the entire history of the us from the perspective of common people and marginalized groups.
i do think it is just a starting point though (for any period) because by zinn including shit from 1400s to George bush, it inevitably lead to the book not being able to go into as much detail as you would get looking into any number of books on the topics it addresses
The labor history definitely runs deeper than what Zinn covers, but Zinn's book is about as good of a starting point as you're going to get. It covers a very broad range of social struggles through out US history, but this limits its ability to dive too deep into any particular struggle. Still, it dives much deeper than a lot of the pablum that gets published about this country, and does a good job of connecting them - which is harder to pull off in any particularly focused book.
Yes - sorry my intention for “and more” is about more than just labor history - any book of that scope is necessarily a survey of events.
No need for the apology. What you said is correct. I was just adding some more detail.
i heard her interview in Coffee with Comrades and it was fantastic. I got a pdf if you want a copy.
https://pca.st/episode/10f68e75-0ae6-47d7-8478-6591d1424fcb
settlers is written as very radical opposition, but nonetheless features a pretty detailed chronology of american labour
Awesome. I like that they have it available in its entirety on a web page, makes it a lot easier to access. Thank you for the suggestion.
I saw that "Worker Class History" is about to print a book witj a collection of all stories like this. Follow them on FB or wjatever, they are cool.
But surely are a fuckton of books like this already that the smarter chapos would suggest.
Thanks! I will keep an eye out for that release. I'm not on any social media (apart from this board of course.) But I'll keep it in mind and keep an eye out for that book release.
They're actually a podcast! I was following them on social media for a long time before I discovered that. They do deep dives into stories like this. It's really inspiring stuff!
The Working Class History podcast does a story like this every few weeks. It's really good.
I'm surprised it wasn't erased. Playing the national (WestVirgina) pride card works with average people.
Democracts could legitimately win these states by playing on the rich labor history of Appalachia, but they'd rather run neoliberal transplants like McGrath or monsters like Joe Manchin. To them, these labor struggles are like a resting golem they would rather not awaken.
lol no, they prefer to dig everyone's grave by keep doing neoliberalism until the fascism-seasoned climate-apocalypse famines kill us all.
alot of people seem to be taking umbrage at the factuality of events.
Listened to the rev left radio episode on the battle of Blair mountain the other day and it left me astonished if anyone hasn't heard it yet I recommend it. Don't wanna spoil it but it did give me a new view on Debs and Mother Jones.
