:hexbear-retro: Time to organize, libs

We’re going to create a guide on how to start organizing by doing so as a group. We’ll use the experiences and questions of participants to form a living document (likely a wiki) that will bring people from start to finish on getting a community network up and running.

:arm-L: Challenge :arm-R:

Do at least one of the following by August 8th:

  • Search for existing org chapters in your area and contact one of their members expressing interest
  • Find to a single person you know who is politically aware and would dedicate a couple hours a week to organizing with you
  • Plan a small gathering of people where you can get together, eat, and pitch the idea of starting to organize

:what: How does this help?

With sufficiently large groups of people coordinating with each other, we can achieve large effects with relatively small individual actions. However, organizations will often be very small for extended periods of time and consist of people only donating a few hours a week of their time. If an organization already exists in your area, this work has been done for you and you should be thankful. Otherwise, an easy start is a good way to beat decision paralysis. “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

:gigachad: Goals

What goals do you have for organizing? Do you have a hard time understanding how organizing can help you accomplish those goals?

:blob-help: Barriers

Are you having trouble with this week’s challenge? Are you having trouble with other projects you have going on?

:picard-excited: Successes

People who are currently organizing, what successes have you had over the last week?

  • GVAGUY3 [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I think my best advice is to assume good faith in a vast majority of the people you interact with socialist or not and learn to read the room. This will make your mental heath better, and will make it easier for people to actually listen to you. Also try not to invent someone and get mad at them.

    • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      This is legitimately great advice. I've seen too many comrades fall into the trap of writing people off way too soon. The goal of organizing is to educate and radicalize. If they were already educated and radicalized, we wouldn't need to organize.

      Lots of people who have certain opinions don't actually know why they have those opinions, if you ever run into that, don't correct them, ask them why. Make them defend their opinions and then when they're unable to, offer them a hand and guide them in the right direction.

      The best thing you can do is to elevate contradictions. Keep bringing up things that don't make sense and listen to people when they have grievances. Don't lock yourself behind books, you don't need to cite Lenin at everyone even if it's relevant. Use Lenin, reword Marx and Gramsci, take the ideas contained within those theories and make them accessible to people.

      When they're upset enough and when they are able to understand and see the system that's oppressing them, that's when you can start recommending reading. When they have an unquenchable thirst for understanding of what lies they've been told and why.

      That being said, the end goal isn't to have everyone reading books, it's to overthrow the established order and revolutionize our mode of production. Getting people on the same page and then getting them to act as a collective is the primary goal. If you're literally all alone, getting some people to read theory and be able to help you with that is useful, but there comes a point where the theory takes a backseat.

        • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          If anyone else is curious about this, I found some study notes on the street epistemology book How to Have Impossible Conversations that seem to summarize the major points of the text rather well: https://railean.net/index.php/how-to-have-impossible-conversations-notes

          Further, I would also like to, again, recommend everyone read Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. And to remember the Zapatista slogan "lead by listening". That is all, thank you for your attention