51 years old and ready for a General Strike

[msatty99]

I am 51 years old and have seen a lot. I hate the Afghanistan war. I abhor the predator drone attacks that kill children as collateral
damage. I once saw a graph that showed the amount by percentage of GNP of money the USA spent on 'defense' compared to other nations and it was shocking. That was back in the 1980s. God knows what it would show now. I am nauseous at the idea of how much money we spend
there when the people of this nation...good people ... are screwed, losing their homes, jobs, healthcare etc.,

When I hear the nauseating news about how we have been screwed on the financial bailout....I seethe inside because I see the middle
and lower class being raped. What to do?

I would like to see a General Strike by the citizens in the country. Left and Right are, I think, joined in a disgust for the
ineffectiveness of government to solve the real problems in our society. In antiquity, the plebians of Rome conducted what amounted to
a general strike by leaving the city and refusing to serve the patrician class...by doing so they wrested real rights from the
'establishment'. Other countries through history have had non-violent strikes to various degrees.

I do not believe that demonstration or 'petitioning the government' is effective in changing the status quo. The one thing that
the 'establishment' or "PTC" (people that count) require from "US" is our service, our work our consumption. I would like
to see a general strike where the enraged citizens refused to work..refused to consume...refused to go to jury duty, refused to
do ANYTHING to support the 'system'.

I don't know how to organize such an event. But, I am in if were to happen.

[tabatha]

1. This started under Bush.

He was given 8 years with two stolen elections, and no-one organized a general strike.

Obama was handed SHIT ---- I think he should be given more than a year to try and fix the shit.

[flyarm]

14. AND HE KEEP THE SHIT GOING..LIKE THE ENERGIZED BUNNY!

the screwing keeps on ticking..and we the people are forgotten and fucked!

[dysfunctional press]

16. it started a LONG time before bush- and BOTH parties are culpable.

and obama isn't even trying to 'fix' anything.

[Occulus]

2. Regrettably, I don't think a General Strike can happen

I say this with one caveat, which I will address in a moment.

How many times have you seen "March on ____ May 50th at _____"? Obviously, I mean that to indicate any date at all. That's not the point. How often has it been May 40th that you first saw the notice of the march on _____?

For there to be any sort of meaningful general workers' strike, the intent for the strike has to be publicized. This entails either an utterly massive grassroots movement, or publicity from the very same entities that would be adversely affected by the strike itself. The news media most likely wouldn't mention even very serious plans to foment a general strike for that reason.

That leaves organization at the level of the local citizen, and I have noticed time and time again that these sorts of actions pop up on the radar of even the most informed of citizens only when the march or whatnot is just about to take place. The only reason such things become known at all these days is because of the internet, which is the caveat I mentioned at the beginning. The Powers that Be at DARPA would never have pushed on with their networking project if they had known it would so completely escape their control.

The internet makes such publicity possible, but I don't think we're using it effectively from the standpoint of organizing marches and protests and such. The only time I hear about a "March on Wherever" lately is when the said march is within a week or two of happening. For most people, planning a multistate trip that quickly so that the march or protest will have any real effect (owing to the sheer number of participants) is simply impossible due to job constraints- or, lacking a job, raising the money to get there and back.

It's not that I don't like the idea of a General Workers' Strike; I do, I just don't think it's possible to pull it off.

[msatty99]

3. Probably you are right...

although I like to think that "anything is possible". The idea would have to have a compelling leader and he or she would have
to have their message go viral on the internet...with other 'leaders' piling on. Who that would be I do not know.

[Occulus]

4. You would need someone charismatic that has a WHOLE lot of cash at their disposal to publicize it.

They would also have to be dedicated enough to the idea to spend whatever needed to be spent to make it happen.

If I won the Powerball, I'd try doing it myself, but absent that, I can't think of anyone with the warchest necessary to pull it off as well as the willingness to use it that way.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on this, because it really should happen.

[msatty99]

6. Howard Dean could do it. n/t

[galileoreloaded]

5. That is soooo sweet!!!!

How do you like your Mocha-frappe-chino?!?!?!

[msatty99]

7. uhhhhhhhh...

I usually drink coffee staight up. But, this thread could be about YOUR coffee preferances...how do you like your coffee and
what do you think we could do to shift the direction of the country?

[galileoreloaded]

8. Actually I agree with you more than you know...

I just have little faith in a rational public and populist uprising.

All the best,

GR

[LoZoccolo]

9. "I don't know how to organize such an event. But, I am in if were to happen."

lol

[msatty99]

10. Yeah...

Laughing my ass off too!

[Juche]

11. How does France do it

I thought they did one day strikes to protest government policy. I have no idea how it'd work in our society.

A big problem is the working and middle class have been put under so much pressure that many can't risk being fired or losing a day's wages by going on strike.

[msatty99]

12. I don't know how people in France pull it off

But I do know that they couldn't fire you if the majority of the people at your workplace walked out with you...or if the
owners also walked out.

I am an employer and my guess is in small business, most small business owners would join in given the right circumstances.

[dysfunctional press]

17. their citizens are much more involved, politically...

and much of it is very organized at the local level.

http://www.understandfrance.org/France/Society.html

[cutlassmama]

18. Wondered about France too. Thanks for the link

[Juche]

20. I worry US politicians would ignore us

I'm all for getting involved politically, but don't know the effective methods.

Progressives and unions helped get the dems elected in 2006 and 2008. Not only that but we supported Obama over Clinton because he was seen as the more progressive, anti-corporate candidate. So the 2008 presidential election was for all intents and purposes a 'primary from the left' of a more progressive candidate against the shoe-in centrist incumbent. I voted in both the primary and general in 2008, donated money to various politicians (president, senate, rep, progressive orgs) and volunteered at the campaign headquarters.

It'll be a decades long hard road and we are barely just beginning, but you can argue that in these first few years of a progressive ascendancy there have been some reforms. But it still feels like politicians feel comfortable ignoring progressives and unions. I think strikes, civil disobedience and more primaries from the left are the best tactics. But I really don't know.

Apparently the French are even more rabidly partisan than we are according to that. Also according to that France has a very weak labor movement.

[reggie the dog]

19. we got one coming up next Thursday or Wednesday

I have to check the date, I will be in the street. Fuck the establishment, they work for the rich.

[HughBeaumont]

23. It's called unionization and Universal Health Care.

This is why they don't fear arrest or backlash - they'll still have their jobs come Monday. We wouldn't, because we wouldn't have ANY of their perks unless we were gainfully employed. We would have to use a vacation day or two to do it. Oh, and one arrest would haunt us for years.

[lib2DaBone]

13. Did you hear that Richard Trumka speak the other day? He's the man...

Head of the AFL-CIO. He's got his sh_ _ together...

[Artie Bucco]

15. There is precedence in recent protests in the States.

We shouldn't forget that the pro-amnesty marches that drew millions to the streets were largely organized by Social networking sites.

[katkat]

21. do it and I'll show up in the streets n/t

[RFKHumphreyObama]

22. The right are NOT your allies

<Left and Right are, I think, joined in a disgust for the ineffectiveness of government to solve the real problems in our society>

Remember how the Right was up in arms about the ineffectiveness of government and its lack of solutions when the * Administration was in office? No? That's because they weren't

They marched lockstep with the administration even during its deepest moments of incompetence and ineptitude, much of which got us into this mess in the first place

But suddenly a Democratic President comes along -an African-American Democratic President at that! -and the right is moaning and whining about how disgusted they are with the government. What a coincidence!

Any disgust that the American Right has in the ineffectiveness of government is purely opportunistic and only magically appears when a Democratic Administration is in office.. If you really think they will join you in an alliance for the common good of the nation, you're only asking to be disappointed

[HughBeaumont]

24. Good post.

It's patently unbelievable that some of these threads are suggesting "we may have more in common with the TeaBirchers than you think".

Yeah, that's a quaint notion . . . until you start actually talking to some of them. Sorry, it's a deal-breaker when they start saying any of the following (and they DO):

"I pulled myself up by my bootstraps."
"Poor people are just LAZY."
"The problem is that the free market right now isn't free ENOUGH."
"Taxation is theft (by thugs with guns)"
"Both liberals and conservatives are close-minded Nazis"
"Why should I have to pay for other people's (code word for minorities) health care?"
"You want to legislate altruism and trickle-up poverty"
"Your way would never work because then some people (code word for the Poor) would 'game the system'"
"(insert quote from Atlas Shrugged here)"