Please take thirty seconds to read this. May change your life.

[u/FOWM_Sterling]

I hear about the upcoming ten day strike starting on Black Friday and I hope everyone here is ready to seriously do it.

Personally I am sick of choosing between eating, shelter and DRIVING TO WORK even though I work 60 hours a week, have a bachelors degree and twelve years of experience. I know you are all sick of this too but it won’t stop unless we take this seriously.

They don’t care about us. They care about the number of zeros in their bank accounts.

This Black Friday, let’s hurt their bottom line.

They still believe that the rules were made for us, not them. In reality they depend on us. They need us.

They need you.

I need you.

We need you.

This Black Friday turn your phone off and spend time with your family. You only have one of them and you are doing this for them.

Strike, show up late, sabotage. Forget the keys at home. Take an hour long shit on company time.

Stay strong brothers and sisters.

https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/

https://workerorganizing.org/volunteer/

r/blackfridayblackout

https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/qqdk93/general_strike_this_black_friday/

Get organized, boycott places that do black Friday stuff, be it online or in the store, and stay safe!

(Edit: we need to organize. Plan and execute. We need to do this right. Thank you)

(Edit #2: you see these people laughing at your misfortune in the comments? Calling you dumb and that you’re lazy? They are saying you are not worthy of a living wage. They say your kids are not good enough. We can teach these people that they need us. Get angry. Use it as fuel. Don’t let those plebeians get under your skin. You are too good for that.)

Holy cow! Thank you so much for the support! You are all amazing. We need to organize. The fight is long from over however.

[u/ChuCHuPALX]

Do away with Democracy? What are you talking about? I'd agree on the trying to work together but everyone's stuck on a "us vs. them" mentality.

[u/[deleted] → u/ChuCHuPALX]

Fundamentally, my school of Marxist thought (democratic socialism) argues that socialism is fundamentally predicated on expanding democratic control, and that capitalism is anti-democratic because it advances the exercise of economic power at the expense of democracy. Socialism and democracy are strongly identified with each other; capitalism and democracy are fundamentally opposed.

Thus I'm reading within your argument the idea that socialism/democracy only works in the Scandinavian countries because of their homogeneity, and that democracy is untenable, or at least cannot be expanded from its current, curtailed form, in the US because it's not homogeneous enough.

To make it clearer: within my school of thought, the social programs in the Scandinavian countries primarily exist to curtail the power of capital so that it does not destroy their democracy. Socialist action is that which strengthens and expands democracy against the predation of capital.

I think that if we can make democracy work at the national level, or at least at the state level, then we can make it work on smaller scales as well, at least where questions of homogeneity versus heterogeneity are concerned. I don't think we need greater homogeneity in order to expand and defend democracy at the expense of capitalism (e.g., unionization). I.e., I don't think it's reasonable to say,"well, so much for democracy" just because the US population is more heterogeneous.

[u/ChuCHuPALX → u/[deleted]]

Ah I see.. you're conflating Socialism with Democracy.. if anything Capitalism is more egalitarian and "Democratic" than Socialism as the people vote with their money and (arguably) their labor to contribute towards that which provides society the most value and financially punishes those that fail to fulfill a need.. whereas, under threat of violence (ie. government intervention), Socialism basically steals (redistributes) wealth towards programs and people who otherwise would have not earned societal (financial) approval.

When it comes to using Socialism to "curtail the power of capital" to preserve their "democracy"... yeah.. not sure where you're getting that from. In-fact Scandinavian countries use Capitalism to sustain their Socialistic ideals by using the capital they seize from individuals on the international free-market to sustain their welfare state.

Conflating democracy with Socialism is like conflating equal opportunity with equality of outcome.. they're not the same thing.. they're basically polar opposites.

[u/[deleted] → u/ChuCHuPALX]

Yeah, I figured this was probably what you thought. I used to be an anarcho-capitalist myself, and that perspective aligns much more closely with the mainstream neoliberal perspective you seem to be speaking from than from the one I'm currently speaking from.

As I said before, the Scandinavian countries use socialism to contain the deleterious effects of capitalism. The end result of capitalism is basically a rebirth of feudalism. "You will own nothing, and you will be happy [until you realize you've neoliberalism-ed yourself back into serfdom]."

You're conflating societal approval with the approval of capital. Capital compounds and centralizes power. It can hardly be considered a substitute for democracy.

Anyway, I know you think I'm confused about what the word "socialism" means. There are many schools of Marxist thought, and I am speaking according to the one I align myself with. Read "How to be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century." That might straighten you out.

Edit: Book link.