Post Election Thoughts #2

It is important that we recognize the reality of our position, and understand exactly how and why our movement died down. The first reason is obviously a lack of structure and organization, though powerful, were not at all organized; there were no radical organizations that made sure the protests would be protected from bourgeois corruption. Because there were no such radical organizations, there were no voices powerful enough to challenge the reformist ideas spread by liberal opportunists and infiltrators. 

The second reason, which is related to the first, was in a sense also the reason that the protests were as successful as they were (even though they ended up failing). However, it also contributed significantly to the corruption of the movement by lies, slander, and pacification. I am speaking, of course, of the internet. Though the internet allowed people on the ground to circumvent the mainstream media by talking to people directly on sites like twitter, it also led to serious confusion and obfuscation. This is in part related to the first reason, seeing that there was no large, powerful voice that helped organize the movement and was willing to represent it and espouse radical ideas unapologetically.

The third reason is the fact that so many people put too much emphasis on the presidential election and Donald Trump, which caused people’s fervor to die down once Joe Biden had been declared the President-Elect. This, again, is related to the previous reasons; so much emphasis was put on the election and Trump because there were no strong voices to oppose liberal opportunist rhetoric and show people an alternative to the milquetoast reforms that they were advocating for..

The fourth reason is that we, as revolutionaries, simply were not ready. We as revolutionaries have been further and further isolating ourselves into specific milieus and groups cutting ourselves off from each other over petty squabbles that could very well be worked out later. We had no party; we had no united front; we didn’t even have a united labor movement. This fourth and final reason is, fundamentally, why the movement failed.

However, it is also important to recognize the things that were done right. The speed and spontaneity with which the protests rose was beyond impressive; the insurrectionary fervor of the Minneapolis protests led to them setting ablaze a police precinct, and the fervor of the DC protestors set the city aflame, literally. 

Not only that, but the temporary armed occupation of Seattle Capitol Hill is evidence of the revolutionary potential that exists among students and working class people. If the Seattle Insurrection had had more manpower behind it and had expanded to take more of the city (supposing that the people of seattle were either mostly in support of it, or indifferent enough to not get involved), and people in surrounding cities had also risen, the insurrection surely would have been far more impactful, and maybe even spread to other large cities.