As long as we don’t forget that many human rights issues have been mislabeled “culture wars” to detract from their importance. The first battle in the class war will ever be the battle for solidarity, for we cannot stand together unless we all stand equal.
This is the solution, and the place to start is your local comic shop if you have one. Almost all of them run gaming clubs in the back.
I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it did, and Japan would be a likely culprit.
Tech has the right of what I was getting at though. I’ve been a member of several organizations and every one has made an attempt to turn me out to events. Most recently I’ve been working with a local Democratic Socialists of America chapter which got me out for canvassing and socials, which lead to protests and neighborhood cleanups, and now includes mutual aid events and tabletop gaming. All of this happened after I was laid off and moved half way across the country. Not all organizations are the same, but a good one can practically create a whole social life from thin air.
My brother in Christ, that is just a club! You pay dues to belong and everyone elects the few most organized and functional people to plan events that everyone can enjoy. You can even kick it up a notch and make it a civil organization so that you’re accomplishing good works while hanging out with likeminded people. Society used to be full of such organizations, and it’s time we brought them back.
Xitter* (pronounced shitter)
Hard to believe there was a time when Catholic priests fought for progress instead of standing in its way.
If they’re willing to say and do anything to convince government to advantage large corporations at the expense of workers and consumers I don’t think they’re “pretending” to be republicans.
A very good point, and one I wish I had included in my response.
There does seem to be a non-trivial difference there though. In one the article is failing to state the orientation of the victims which was a motivating factor for the attacks, in the other it is suggesting that the orientation of the accused is a cause of their criminal behavior.
If they don’t already think we’re nuts for wearing clothes.
I swear, every James Woods post I’ve ever read is the text equivalent of watching a seasoned philosopher very carefully, and methodically shit their pants.
I hear you. There’s a serious lack of grand scale organizing, and with all three branches of government captured there’s not even the consolation prize of legislative or judicial obstructionism.
That said, there is resistance at the local level, and it needs people badly. Those hands off protests aren’t being organized at the national level. The national org is calling for protests on a specific day and unaffiliated local groups are organizing the individual events. Those local groups could really use your support in whatever form you can give it. They’re almost always handing out flyers and info on their projects at protests. Most don’t require membership to help out and you almost never have to rsvp to just attend. Odds are there’s an organization or two near you that you can support, and if not most of the national orgs have organizing instructional materials on their websites for free.
It’s easy to be so worried by what’s happening nationally that we forget the difference that local orgs make. I was a part of a canvassing effort for an abortion rights amendment last year that knocked on over three thousand doors with no more than ten people every Saturday. We didn’t get the amendment passed, but it did get majority support and we saw a huge surge in new members. We’re now using our newfound numbers to help push for a city council recall and explore candidates for school board. Ours isn’t even the most well established organization in our city either. We regularly collaborate with four, more established, orgs and we’re working to build relationships with three more.
This knitting together of smaller orgs is the process of resistance building. It is unfortunately slow, but it is happening, and I promise it isn’t just happening here. Even in the middle of nowhere I have a friend in a town of two hundred who’s been auditing the town budget to show the incompetence of the “maga moms” on their town council in an attempt to get them removed. You’re right to be frustrated, but for all our sakes I hope you find something to do with that frustration.