I read this with dread because I know you're right: posting/tweeting is not organizing, and it does not have any impact comparable to direct action. But so many of us truly don't know what to do, and of course we're also scared of the consequences of direct action, given how governments have doubled down on police power in response to the protests against police brutality. I don't mean to sound defeatist; I think we *have* to act. The question is how.
There is nothing you can do as an atomized individual. You *must* join an organization that has a thriving internal democracy, accountability to membership, and ability to act on a scale above the individual. Good labor unions/tenant unions fit this description though may have narrower goals than you want to achieve.
Depending on your location, the first steps to this could be as simple as finding your local DSA chapter, and joining the next "New Member Orientation".
Thanks. I'm on the steering committee of a union, but it's a faculty union, and it would seem that unions comprised of people acculturated to white liberalism have pretty limited horizons of action. But yes, I agree with your point.
Carrie, there’s a ton of organizing that is without consequence of harm that you can do instead of direct actions with police. Being part of a union is a great start, and yes joining an organization can be a great step. You’re right that many are white liberalism — that seems to be dependent on your location. I’m in Central Appalachia and that’s very much the case here.
The posting/tweeting is an arm of organizing because civic education is vital for growing any movement. If you have one/some issues that are really important to you, find an organization to coalition that you can advance — OR — find a city, county, or statewide elected official that you align with and can support. We can get so much more done with city councils and state legislatures that we can in Congress.
agreed! The worst version of this argument just sounds like Luddite/ Unabomber bait but it’s hard to argue that social media has helped comparable on the ground efforts like union organizing. Jane McAlevey have been saying for awhile now, that there’s never been a successful union campaign without some restriction on social media
Caught up with this after your episode on Born into Flames with Antifada. It's interesting to read this one year later. Now Jimmy Dore reveals himself to be an antivaxxer. FHL held a "general strike summit" where only a few people came.
It's an issue of people wanting mobilization over organization. Mobilization is ephemeral, emotional, and most importantly to the grifters: increases viewership and listenership.
It took a pandemic for workers to be in the position to demand $14/hour. The Fight for 15 accomplished nothing. It takes deep structural work for workers and oppressed people to be in the position to make their demands.
Anyway, good thoughts Aaron, always a joy to read and listen to you.
Excellent article! I did local organizing work in the Bay Area (not around M4A, but other issues) back in 2011-2013 and mostly left that space due to burnout, though I continued to work behind the scenes in hyper-local electoral campaigns. Your article is one of several pieces I've read this year which has helped motivate me to get back into the mix. The "online left" has been great for finding like-minded people and helping me feel a sense of solidarity, but you're right, Twitter Discourse is not a major part of what organizers do day in and day out. Solidarity from Seattle and hope you heal up from your injuries smoothly and soon. <3
Completely disagree. Twitter is where the public debate is held, why should the Left withdraw from it when the truth is on our side? And I disagree with your point that Twitter isn't "real life", isn't effective: first of all, think of MeToo: a social media pressure campaign that has been hugely consequential in "real life". Then, you praise the BLM protests as an example of real life politics, but how effective were they? They didn't bring about any policy change, didn't get any cop fired. Don't get me wrong, I fully support it and I do think it was meaningful to shift the narrative. But Twitter is instrumental in that as well. I think the force the vote debate was extremely interesting in how it exposed a split in the Left, a sign that we actually need to think and engage in public debate more, as well as direct action. Characterizing it as simply "Team AOC vs Team Dore" completely misses the substance of the debate.
Agreed. Not only that but the point is we need both, inside and outside - and we need to pressure ALL politicians, regardless how much people like them or think them "allies" to DO what we put them there to do which is fight the establishment. They need to be Pressured if they don't do it willingly. Pressured from all sides, Twitter, phone banking, letters, media, from everywhere. Whichever form is used to organize pressure campaigns or on the ground marches etc it all counts. Like @cmkshama says, they should and could be using their enormous platforms to get us moving and organizing, but they aren't. So we need to also push them and hold their feet to the fire as well. People having lesser standards for politicians is nonsensical, like being content with *them* tweeting while doing nothing when they have actual power.
Unfortunately Medicare for All will only makes things worse. Nothing run by the government has any accountability. Take a look at a VA hospital. It's government workers shuffling around lacking a sense of urgency. We need to get insurance out of the equation for all but catastrophic expenses. Insurance has just created a curtain that surrounds the true cost of medicine. Nobody questions what the charges are, they just pay whatever the insurance didn't. You don't even know how many bills you are going to receive when you have a simple procedure such as a colonoscopy. Would you leave your car at a garage and not asked how much it would cost, what exactly was going to be done to it and who was going to be providing the service?
The VA has a 90% approval rating from people who use it -- notwithstanding the fact that conservatives (and some Dems) have been underfunding it and trying to privatize it for years. Also "Medicare for All" is not the VA system. In the VA system, with the exception of a tri-care (a publicly subsidized private insurance component) and care in some rural areas (a problem in the private, market driven system as well), the payment system is public, and the medical providers and facilities are also public, genuine not-for-profit systems. In a single-payer system -- similar to what exists in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, South Korea -- the insurance is publicly funded, but most of the facilities and medical providers are privately owned and operated. Even countries like France and Germany, with heavily regulated, not-for-profit "private insurance", get a much better value than the U.S. We have the worst of all worlds. It's a great system if the only thing that you care about is profit-maximization for private investors, it's a terrible system if the priority is public health. We pay a lot more than anyone, for average outcomes, and to have massive gaps in coverage. No wealthy developed country has followed our lead. To the extent that anyone is even trying too -- as is happening in the UK -- conservatives have to lie through their teeth to the public about their intentions. Our system is infamous. It's fine of your rich, or if you're a private investor. From a public health perspective we get a terrible return on investment.
I’m ready. Great read!
I read this with dread because I know you're right: posting/tweeting is not organizing, and it does not have any impact comparable to direct action. But so many of us truly don't know what to do, and of course we're also scared of the consequences of direct action, given how governments have doubled down on police power in response to the protests against police brutality. I don't mean to sound defeatist; I think we *have* to act. The question is how.
There is nothing you can do as an atomized individual. You *must* join an organization that has a thriving internal democracy, accountability to membership, and ability to act on a scale above the individual. Good labor unions/tenant unions fit this description though may have narrower goals than you want to achieve.
Depending on your location, the first steps to this could be as simple as finding your local DSA chapter, and joining the next "New Member Orientation".
Thanks. I'm on the steering committee of a union, but it's a faculty union, and it would seem that unions comprised of people acculturated to white liberalism have pretty limited horizons of action. But yes, I agree with your point.
Check out "Days of War Nights of Love" from CrimethInc, I think it may provide an introduction to the tactics you seek
Thanks!
Carrie, there’s a ton of organizing that is without consequence of harm that you can do instead of direct actions with police. Being part of a union is a great start, and yes joining an organization can be a great step. You’re right that many are white liberalism — that seems to be dependent on your location. I’m in Central Appalachia and that’s very much the case here.
The posting/tweeting is an arm of organizing because civic education is vital for growing any movement. If you have one/some issues that are really important to you, find an organization to coalition that you can advance — OR — find a city, county, or statewide elected official that you align with and can support. We can get so much more done with city councils and state legislatures that we can in Congress.
agreed! The worst version of this argument just sounds like Luddite/ Unabomber bait but it’s hard to argue that social media has helped comparable on the ground efforts like union organizing. Jane McAlevey have been saying for awhile now, that there’s never been a successful union campaign without some restriction on social media
restriction on social media?
Caught up with this after your episode on Born into Flames with Antifada. It's interesting to read this one year later. Now Jimmy Dore reveals himself to be an antivaxxer. FHL held a "general strike summit" where only a few people came.
It's an issue of people wanting mobilization over organization. Mobilization is ephemeral, emotional, and most importantly to the grifters: increases viewership and listenership.
It took a pandemic for workers to be in the position to demand $14/hour. The Fight for 15 accomplished nothing. It takes deep structural work for workers and oppressed people to be in the position to make their demands.
Anyway, good thoughts Aaron, always a joy to read and listen to you.
Excellent article! I did local organizing work in the Bay Area (not around M4A, but other issues) back in 2011-2013 and mostly left that space due to burnout, though I continued to work behind the scenes in hyper-local electoral campaigns. Your article is one of several pieces I've read this year which has helped motivate me to get back into the mix. The "online left" has been great for finding like-minded people and helping me feel a sense of solidarity, but you're right, Twitter Discourse is not a major part of what organizers do day in and day out. Solidarity from Seattle and hope you heal up from your injuries smoothly and soon. <3
Completely disagree. Twitter is where the public debate is held, why should the Left withdraw from it when the truth is on our side? And I disagree with your point that Twitter isn't "real life", isn't effective: first of all, think of MeToo: a social media pressure campaign that has been hugely consequential in "real life". Then, you praise the BLM protests as an example of real life politics, but how effective were they? They didn't bring about any policy change, didn't get any cop fired. Don't get me wrong, I fully support it and I do think it was meaningful to shift the narrative. But Twitter is instrumental in that as well. I think the force the vote debate was extremely interesting in how it exposed a split in the Left, a sign that we actually need to think and engage in public debate more, as well as direct action. Characterizing it as simply "Team AOC vs Team Dore" completely misses the substance of the debate.
Agreed. Not only that but the point is we need both, inside and outside - and we need to pressure ALL politicians, regardless how much people like them or think them "allies" to DO what we put them there to do which is fight the establishment. They need to be Pressured if they don't do it willingly. Pressured from all sides, Twitter, phone banking, letters, media, from everywhere. Whichever form is used to organize pressure campaigns or on the ground marches etc it all counts. Like @cmkshama says, they should and could be using their enormous platforms to get us moving and organizing, but they aren't. So we need to also push them and hold their feet to the fire as well. People having lesser standards for politicians is nonsensical, like being content with *them* tweeting while doing nothing when they have actual power.
Follow the March for Medicare for All on Facebook and Twitter (@M4M4ALL). More info coming soon.
Unfortunately Medicare for All will only makes things worse. Nothing run by the government has any accountability. Take a look at a VA hospital. It's government workers shuffling around lacking a sense of urgency. We need to get insurance out of the equation for all but catastrophic expenses. Insurance has just created a curtain that surrounds the true cost of medicine. Nobody questions what the charges are, they just pay whatever the insurance didn't. You don't even know how many bills you are going to receive when you have a simple procedure such as a colonoscopy. Would you leave your car at a garage and not asked how much it would cost, what exactly was going to be done to it and who was going to be providing the service?
You're right we should have the NHS system. Let the government take over every medical facility.
The VA has a 90% approval rating from people who use it -- notwithstanding the fact that conservatives (and some Dems) have been underfunding it and trying to privatize it for years. Also "Medicare for All" is not the VA system. In the VA system, with the exception of a tri-care (a publicly subsidized private insurance component) and care in some rural areas (a problem in the private, market driven system as well), the payment system is public, and the medical providers and facilities are also public, genuine not-for-profit systems. In a single-payer system -- similar to what exists in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, South Korea -- the insurance is publicly funded, but most of the facilities and medical providers are privately owned and operated. Even countries like France and Germany, with heavily regulated, not-for-profit "private insurance", get a much better value than the U.S. We have the worst of all worlds. It's a great system if the only thing that you care about is profit-maximization for private investors, it's a terrible system if the priority is public health. We pay a lot more than anyone, for average outcomes, and to have massive gaps in coverage. No wealthy developed country has followed our lead. To the extent that anyone is even trying too -- as is happening in the UK -- conservatives have to lie through their teeth to the public about their intentions. Our system is infamous. It's fine of your rich, or if you're a private investor. From a public health perspective we get a terrible return on investment.
ridiculous as European healthCARE (as opposed to U.S. healthPROFIT)...wife is nurse, Europe...it's the $$$$ corruption--based upon LIE: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/corporations-people-adam-winkler/554852/?fbclid=IwAR0fUTrMu8PoSZf9ue3_IcyrK0ekD03k2j1u0FEEHfRWN05yb1xR4H933Jg