This is another pivotal moment. WE can speak out and make our elected officials (wherever we are in the world) KNOW that their political careers and their parties future depends upon their actions.
Are you saying that we—collectively—don’t bear any democratic responsibility for the people that we elect to office? Or are you cynically implying that the original poster has no power over the situation?
I don’t get the sense that you’re trying to attack that person, but what do you gain from public displays of cynicism to remind people that they are powerless?
You only ever had the illusion of power. Power resides with capital, and as long as capitalists are allowed sole ownership over the means of production, the people will only ever be able to expend titanic effort gathering enough power to gain a temporary reform.
No it doesn’t, that’s just propaganda to make us feel weak and controlled. If capital was all it took, then the American Revolution and the French Revolution would have been won by those with the most money, along with many other insurgencies throughout history.
There are many, many examples where those with money lost their power to those without.
Both the American and French revolutions were bourgeoise capitalist revolutions… and neither led to significant gains of power for the people of the nations, just for the bourgeoisie who led the revolutions.
Not the point. The assertion was that power comes from capital, and as wealthy as the Founding Fathers were, their wealth was NOTHING compared to what the British or French governments held. Being outnumbered by an angry violent mob is far more powerful than money.
And I don’t think your statement holds with the French Revolution. The elites didn’t launch the revolution, they lost their heads to it.
My point is that while capital certainly helps, it is not the only factor in the success of a revolution. America has nearly unlimited resources, and yet we lost both Vietnam and Afghanistan to guerilla insurgencies. Nearly all successful revolutions consisted of the powerful corrupt being crushed by their victims.
And not all revolutions are about giving more power to the people, many are just about kicking out the corrupt criminals who are exploiting the nation. They don’t always expect that they will benefit with more power, they’re just happy that people aren’t being snatched off the streets, or tortured, or drafted into wars of economic opportunity, or starving, or the economy looted, etc. Most don’t expect to have a say in who the leaders are, they just feel like they have to be better than the current psychopaths.
This is another pivotal moment. WE can speak out and make our elected officials (wherever we are in the world) KNOW that their political careers and their parties future depends upon their actions.
You do not govern their careers. They know it and they do not care
That commenter said “we”, not “I”.
Are you saying that we—collectively—don’t bear any democratic responsibility for the people that we elect to office? Or are you cynically implying that the original poster has no power over the situation?
I don’t get the sense that you’re trying to attack that person, but what do you gain from public displays of cynicism to remind people that they are powerless?
If nothing then please reconsider. 🙁
This. Democracy is no more
Only because we have abdicated our power. We can take it back.
Yes, but you and I have to organize in our communities where we live to make that happen.
You only ever had the illusion of power. Power resides with capital, and as long as capitalists are allowed sole ownership over the means of production, the people will only ever be able to expend titanic effort gathering enough power to gain a temporary reform.
No it doesn’t, that’s just propaganda to make us feel weak and controlled. If capital was all it took, then the American Revolution and the French Revolution would have been won by those with the most money, along with many other insurgencies throughout history.
There are many, many examples where those with money lost their power to those without.
Both the American and French revolutions were bourgeoise capitalist revolutions… and neither led to significant gains of power for the people of the nations, just for the bourgeoisie who led the revolutions.
Not the point. The assertion was that power comes from capital, and as wealthy as the Founding Fathers were, their wealth was NOTHING compared to what the British or French governments held. Being outnumbered by an angry violent mob is far more powerful than money.
And I don’t think your statement holds with the French Revolution. The elites didn’t launch the revolution, they lost their heads to it.
My point is that while capital certainly helps, it is not the only factor in the success of a revolution. America has nearly unlimited resources, and yet we lost both Vietnam and Afghanistan to guerilla insurgencies. Nearly all successful revolutions consisted of the powerful corrupt being crushed by their victims.
And not all revolutions are about giving more power to the people, many are just about kicking out the corrupt criminals who are exploiting the nation. They don’t always expect that they will benefit with more power, they’re just happy that people aren’t being snatched off the streets, or tortured, or drafted into wars of economic opportunity, or starving, or the economy looted, etc. Most don’t expect to have a say in who the leaders are, they just feel like they have to be better than the current psychopaths.
You do not govern their careers. They know it and they do not care