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Anti capitalist rallies seem to also have representation in the older age groups, that is, 60+
What is missing from a lot of them is people with young kids. Because of (in my opinion) 1) potential for violence from the state and 2) potential for longer term non-violent repercussions from the state.
I won't take my kids to a rally that might incite police vience or arrests, and I can't go without them because I can't afford the time to be arrested overnight.
Saying that, lots of people with the young kids help in other leftist ways, like soup kitchens, community group organization, and in government.
edit: I'd also like to add that house ownership isn't in of itself against the path to communism. In fact, communist countries have extremely high home ownership rates because people aren't owning multiple homes and renting them out: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_home_ownership_rate
This is why I kind of want to get into offering childcare for comrades with young children. I get on really well with kids like 3-9 especially and really, I don't have a lot of other skills so I feel like this is the best thing I can do to support comrades. Its also the role I imagine myself having in a revolution.
Imagine you could afford only one can of beans to share between yourself and your child and you needed to make that meal last through the weekend.
It's not lib to make sure your child can eat and has an alive parent growing up.
There’s just no time left. Kids are extremely time consuming. And the free time parents have is fragmented. You have an hour here, a couple there. But don’t stay up late because it’s an early morning every morning. Chud parents are probably more likely to have a hands off father who can focus on stupid shit like right wing politics.
Having a stake in the system and especially dependents means you have a lot more to lose if the system becomes destabilized. Hell this was the whole logic of FDR federally subsidizing mortgages and home ownership after the New Deal was enacted - workers with mortgage payments are less likely to go on strike.
Also keep in mind the historical fate of those who joined insurgencies against the US military or US-backed dictatorships. Committing to such a struggle essentially means you and your entire family are doomed to a violent death.
They can't threaten your family if you don't have a family. taps forehead
In all seriousness though the big lesson I took away from the Godfather trilogy is that 2/3 of your problems disappear if you don't have a wife and kids. More helpless loved ones means more hostages for a powerful enemy to leverage against you.
Yeah I stopped going to BLM protests after a protester got shot in my city. I have a four-year-old comrade to raise. But trust me, I help in other ways. Some people can't be on the streets, but still want to build a better system for their children.
Yes, material conditions will drive people's political attitudes exactly like this. You can even see some of the responses from comrades in this thread. The doesn't make any of them good or bad people, (if you're a materialist, your analysis must transcend "good" and "bad" anyway).
Sounds like you're on the path to understanding third-worldism, if that's not something you're into already. A third-worldism approach doesn't mean that you sit around and do nothing of course, but it will shape the way you approach organizing, and you expectations thereof. This is still something I'm factoring in myself.
Is this just pushing for revolution in globally poor areas instead of areas where the contradictions of capitalism are the highest? Or, for the latter clause, at least thought by Marx and company as would happen in Germany since it was thought to be the most developed?
Bourgeois class traitor with kids here, I have run as a fuck-the-police Marxist in local elections and garnered thousands of votes and sometimes even won. I have established a leftwing local press (really just a blog but it’s still light years ahead of anything else around here). I’ve managed to bring together a small group of leftwing activists who hate the Democratic Party. I abandoned electoralism when Bernie lost the last primary.
What have we achieved? Nothing. It’s fucking hard. You’re right that bourgeois areas are bourgeois. That being said, there’s always hope. I work hard to radicalize everyone I speak to. My lib family members have been saying shockingly radical things lately. I had a good talk with a dad I met at the grocery store yesterday, where I’ve been wearing a mask that says UNIONIZE. The workers there definitely notice. I’m not sure I can do more without putting their jobs at risk.
It’s true that I hesitate (sometimes) to do cool shit because I can’t get arrested. Not a single person I know of around where I live has done anything in the cool zone, however.
They seem unafraid of being domed even if they have a family.
Half of this is having a poor understanding of risk/viewing oneself as invincible, half is "if I die it's god's plan," and half is being shitty at fractions.
Also don't forget that many of them have explicitly apocalyptic beliefs and think that the world will end soon. They're already completely convinced that they will go to heaven, so dying early just means they'll get there sooner.
I've got kids. I'm radicalized and anticapitalist. I'm too tired for real praxis. Just stuck doing shit jobs with 1 year contracts. I don't own a house or a car. I ride a bike to work or take the subway.
On one hand people that have a family are more likely people who buy into the common narratives of society. Then family creates obligations that sometimes mean you have to mellow out or tone down your anti-capitalist stances at least for a while.
Another thing is that a lot of people I know have moved really to the right when getting a child. Given they were never lefties in the first place, most of them really went hardcore chuds after the kid...
I have a family and am involved in organizing and stuff. Seems pretty common to me.
The people who live in the neighborhood you're describing have most likely bought into the system since they were born. Having a family is just another prescribed step.
Funny side note is that I went to a dsa meeting (yes it sucked) a couple years ago where they claimed to have childcare available. It ended up just being some dude sitting in the back of the room with a puzzle. My kid was the only one there. Perfect example of why people with kids have a hard time getting involved.
Yo, I have a family and I don't have any of this shit, except the kid:
You have some kids, bought a relatively expensive house in some middle class neighborhood. Now you have to take care of your children for 18 years and hope you don’t regret buying the house.
I'm still fucking poor despite having steady work. My material conditions keep me from being in any way complacent with capitalism. That said, I definitely have less time for activism and do have to consider the impact me getting arrested/injured would have when I go to protests.
If you can afford a middle class existence beyond what the Simpsons can, I imagine you feel some sort of gratification. I bet you're more likely to believe in some meritocracic nature of capitalism. You feed those people lines about the US being the most ethical player in geopolitics and BAM! why would you ever think about the merits of socialism?
