To be clear, I support other options like a general strike and unionizing (though I think forming a union is only a bandaid on top of the evils of capitalism, it's better than nothing).

I don't think "just vote for the democrats in 4 years" is a viable strategy on its own.

But even so, these have to be backed by might. If you do a strike and they send police to do violence to you, you have to be ready to fight back.

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I see the workplace benefits of a global union (specifically the IWW) as a bonus, with the real meat being that it teaches people how to organize, and how much power they truly can wield collectively, as many people still feel quite powerless despite the potential they hold, they need only be taught how to use it.

When the Spanish Civil War kicked off, it was the Syndicalist unions (CNT-FAI) that were able to organize their communities effectively to resist Franco and transform Catalonia when the existing government crumbled. That type of organization doesn't necessarily have to be from a union, but I feel the ability to engage in a general strike would be far more encouraged if people were in a union and became used to flexing that muscle (and build up a strike fund to be able to sustain it) and would drastically help in effectively resisting.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 8 points 6 days ago

This is a good point. I hadn't thought much about how some of the skills and such from unionizing might transfer to other things. Thanks

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 2 points 5 days ago

It's also important to remember that there is no magic bullet. Nothing is a viable strategy on it's own.

It's my own personal conspiracy theory that our natural hesitance to throw resources at unknown variables is being amplified by the ruling class and fed back to us in the form of the all-or-nothing perfectionism I've seen a lot this past election cycle.

We need to be building with the blocks we have, and Theil et al are using the fear of failure to encourage us to fight each other about whether we should use square blocks or rectangle blocks.