• PugJesus@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    20 hours ago

    That’s why I qualified my remark with “mainstream”. I’m talking Bernie-like figures who are widely known and respected by liberals.

    But Bernie constantly calls for people to organize at the grassroots level, to join unions, to seek alternatives to oligarch resources?

    As I said above the problem is that the right people aren’t providing those instructions, but also: strike, strike, strike. I’m getting past the point where I can make authoritative-sounding statements, but I find it really weird that what is arguably the strongest weapon in the working class’s arsenal is barely being talked about. Yes I know groundwork is necessary for that (though I’d argue it’s not nearly as much as commonly thought), but still someone needs to get the conversation from “strike? But my job/insurance/whatever!” to “how do we make it possible,” and at least from my position outside America I haven’t heard of anything on this front.

    Bernie has spoken in support of strikes as a tool for pressuring not just employers but the oligarchy more broadly numerous times. If you’re talking a general strike, that’s a nice idea, but as you yourself note, there is a problem of needing groundwork (and support) for that. Groundwork which people seem disinterested in.