this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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Yall realize many of the rights we have as laborers now we're won with force... Right?
Like, yes collective bargaining, labor solidarity, etc. is super important (which is also a form of force) but there were literal armed conflicts between laborers and the police on behalf of companies.
I'm not saying we need a civil war, but let's not pretend we won our rights today without bloodshed.
Edit: Left out a key word, whoops.
Oh, I didn't mean it like that. More that using force as the tool of overthrow is fundamentally a mistake. Obviously in any sufficiently powerful labor movement there will, inevitably, be those who attempt to use both legal and illegal force to disperse them. Force is thus necessary to defend the other processes of labor solidarity - forming unions, protests, strikes, lockouts, etc.
Many people, not all of them unreasonably, will side with the system in the case of a violent revolution, though. When a shooting war starts, you can't un-shoot the bullet once you realize the death toll will reach the millions - it will be carried on to its gruesome end, and that may not be to a left-wing victory.
For those who think that a revolution would have overwhelming popular support, for God's sake, a third of the country still believes nonwhite and LGBT folk are inferior, and another third doesn't fucking care. Supporting a violent leftist overthrow is not gonna be on the agenda for them, no matter how much theory you've read and how solid your arguments about their exploitation are. The last third will be difficult to convince - not unreasonably, considering the value placed on democratic ideals and processes.
And the situation is similar, if less severe, in other developed countries at this time.
Fwiw I did mean to say, "I'm not saying we need a civil war." Though, honestly, I'm not saying we don't either. It just wasn't really the point I was trying to make in that moment.
I think I more or less agree with you though. Violence is not necessarily my first choice, but it's naive to think the opposition will listen without it. Or at the very least the threat of it.
The reality is that our power structures heavily favor the owning class, and they're not going to hand over that power laying down. Collective action and such is of course the first step, but as you mentioned force will be used to dispurse labor movements.
And they're definitely willing to use force to protect their entrenchment. If you've got a different way to get power back please start working on it now because we're running out of time to do anything other than kill them all.
No they don’t realise.
People have been propagandised to so much they have no comprehension how much blood was spilt in pursuit of barely tolerable working conditions.
If we can't keep them without killing each other then we are just repeating a cycle. But freedom of choice is more important than forcing politics and beliefs on people just so they cooperate. Me nor anyone I know is going to engage in murder just to get my way. I did my part, I have no kids to perpetuate the cycle. Stop providing the machine with fodder and the issue solves itself.
My guy, who do you think shot first?
I'm sorry but if you're saying when people trying unionize or collectively bargain for better conditions start getting shot at they should just give up or lay down and take it you're a fool.
There's no cycle. That's the whole problem. They made money the most important thing, required for life, then took all the money and sat on it. There's no cycle. Yesterday they had the money. Today they have the money. Tomorrow they will still have the money unless the people of this world do something about it.