If the state is the problem along with capitalism then we have to organize against it while we take immediate action and responsibility. Just as we saw in Minneapolis this past winter, people came out to protect their neighbors and organize against the state. They showed up, everyday. That is the model we must adopt for our movement. All of it.

In every neighborhood we come out. We don't get to skip it. We treat it like the emergency it is. And we come out of our homes and our comfort zones and we organize.

Murray Bookchin was organizing and writing about our social ecological crisis in the 1950s. He described, in detail, the way that we could organize in our communities to challenge capitalism and the state while we created a radically democratic and ecological society from the ground up. This is the method adopted by the Kurds in Rojava, directly inspired by Bookchin.

What are we waiting for?

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#SocialEcology #Organize #Anarchism #Politics

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut4ZRVYde6g

You can get his texts for free. Also, lots of folks have written about his ideas so read those too. Start organizing, find others and create the solutions in your neighborhood, town, community.

No, it won't be easy. It won't be easy. It won't be easy. But is letting the world burn into an authoritarian hellscape the answer simply because you can't be bothered with making an effort?

Tell me again about how much you love your children or your grandchildren. Uh huh.

Make this your life. That's the kind of change we need. It's not a side hobby. This is where we are at. You don't have to do all of these at once but each can be a part of a larger longer term community system:
- Organize a weekly study group. This can help you finds co-organizers. If I can do this in deep read rural Missouri you can do it.
- Organize a mutual aid project
- Organize a community garden
- Organize a community bike co-op
- Organize a repair cafe
- Organize a community assembly
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https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/murray-bookchin

@bss I think you miscalculate the average human level of awareness, self or otherwise. I think this because I did the same until about 25, when I got my hands on the science and realized that no, actually, humans are variable AF and that definitely includes awareness be it self, situational, environmental, or however else you want to define it.

Most will follow but never initiate more because at core, monkey want to sit in tree with banana and sun on head. Maybe leaf for when sun mad. 🖖

@bss I'm not saying it's hopeless. It's not. I'm saying lecturing humans turns them off, not on. No matter how accurate your data.

Reciprocity starts with giving and often looks like altruism initially. People get confused, I think. But trust over time is a thing and if you have the energy and resources to organize, you should. Maybe assume less intention and motivation of others. It's rarely there or that. 🖖

@seedsignal

I appreciate your appeal to science! And I agree with some of your observations but only to a degree. Lecturing humans is one interpretation of my posts here and I'm okay with that. I'm on the soapbox and I think that's what we need to do. The folk that are not organizing, not putting up an effort need to be lectured. Whatever words we want to use, the point is that generally speaking, we are not acting but are, rather, remaining fairly passive in the face of several crises.

It's more complicated than monkey want to sit in tree with a banana, lol, though I get that point. But be careful in describing human nature too generally. What humans? Where? What time period? What context?

We are a social species that is conditioned by context. So yeah, it can be difficult to discuss simply because, well, context changes. But, for the sake of a social media post, I'll simply repeat, more of us have got to take initiative. More have to join in to support initiatives.

@bss It is interesting that your scope changes in defense, but I think that just makes the point. "Deserved to be lectured" is an occlusion not to mention a waste of effort you could better spend in/on the community who is active. Especially as it's well known that approach doesn't work more often than not.

But, you admit you're doing what you enjoy, and that's as valid as any other human choice.

I don't require agreement. Was sharing perspective. Appreciate the exchange. Good luck.🖖

@seedsignal
Well, to be clear, you wrote "deserved to be lectured" in quotes, I did not say deserved. I said need to be. Nor did I say that I enjoyed it. I organize because it is what my ethics in our context requires it.

Also, just to clarify, I speak differently to people I'm in direct relation with. Again, context. Communication style and content varies based on situation. My posts here are directed in a general way by my observation that the majority of people in the US, a vast majority, do not initiate action. Many often don't even support the action of others. The majority sit on the sidelines. This is why we have the word "activists" to describe the folks that do act when, in fact, everyone *should* be sharing in the responsibility of acting.

The culture of the US, especially since the 1950s, is an especially passive, consumerist culture with far less willingness to engage in organizing of any kind...

Anyway, yeah, complicated. I do appreciate your comments!

@seedsignal Agreed about generational conditioning to obedience! But "self-activate" is a problematic term simply because the "self" is an intelligent person making observations of their environment. Every moment of everyday, being in an environment. I would suggest that "self" is incomplete because we are social beings. Self is gradient of experiences over time. Self is changing. Repeated interactions and observations with others brings the knowledge, change of perceptions and views and eventually the flip.

I organize on the premise that when I interact with a person, especially one in my community, that they may not be the same person the next day, the next week or the next year.

But yes, being there, agreed. That's a part of the organizing. To always be around and accessible in a community. That's what I try to do.