Occasional writer on socialism, anarchism & the ins-and-outs of left politics. Raised in CA Bay Area, based in the south. Member of @BRRN_Fed. 🔴⚫️
- Tweets 779
- Following 120
- Followers 134
- Likes 7,860
“Scientific socialism” but this is what happens every time
You guys realize the entire goal of progressive Democrats is to rehabilitate the image of Kamala Harris right? Have Abdul El Sayed do some events with her and talk about her resume as a “fighter”
Have Zohran Mamdani openly praise her. All while telling their dumb supporters that they are playing the “long game”.
Then have AOC 2028, which if doomed to fail, and when it does you have AOC endorse Kamala Harris and form a unity ticket for her with DSA
This is how progressives plan on rehabilitating Kamala Harris, and the most disgusting thing about it is they will use the blood of Palestinians to do so. Using fake criticism of Israel to manufacture political support for the very person who was VP during the genocide in Gaza
72
The leftist version of a “I just left a hipster coffee shop and overheard…” rage bait meme.
I never really liked the “leftist” exaltation of the worker as some rallying point of unified solidarity. It still implies the most important quality someone has in relation to her fellow humans is the ability to produce labor
1
137
This tweet is giving the “I just left a hipster coffee shop and overheard…” rage bait vibe. Lmao
2
54
Here is one of our Brazilian comrades Felipe Correa.
youtu.be/Mo5JIekqysE?is=OCRx…
1
16
Check out an audio interview with the author here.
youtu.be/S8AHDXSGymc?is=0B7w…
1
1
29
I think he offers the best in materialist analysis of capitalism and other structures. He fulfills the promise of Marx that most Marxists don’t.
Highly recommend Historical Capitalism. Very accessible + 100 pages of historical summary that covers his key framework.
1
1
12
638
“The kind of Parliamentarism we now have in France, Italy, and Germany provides the soil for such illusions of current opportunism as overvaluation of social reforms, class & party collaboration, the hope for pacific development of Socialism, etc.”
The full page:
2/
2
5
109
Good commentary thread re: current debates on candidates/SIO in DSA. So many historical lessons playing out before our eyes in this moment.
1) If the best that SIOs can do is demonstrate the upper ceiling of capitalist reforms, why not leave the task to progressive capitalist politicians?
2) How "crucial" is this for electoralists? Zohran didn't. AOC didn't. It's absent in every piece of DSA candidate lit I've seen.
2
7
276
Do you know about Martin Sostre? He mentored Komboa in prison. Obscure until recently but this is a new biography about him.
1
3
65
Oh and if people want to know more about our specific take on worker organizing and unions, start with this page and then at the bottom you’ll see a link to a 2019 position paper “The State of Labor: Beyond Unions, But Not Without Them” 10/
blackrosefed.org/labor-organ…
2
4
119
I also hope folks get a chance to read the "Limited Term Strategy" section at the end. This is where we answer the opening question in detail and layout our short term strategic focus. 10/
2
2
9
263
If folks want to begin exploring some of the concepts of especifismo this article I wrote (20 years ago!) is a good start. I wrote it based on early translations from my comrade Pedro Ribeiro. Its out of date but I hope to craft a new version soon. 8/
blackrosefed.org/especifismo…
1
4
18
326
So far I've given a broad sketch of a bunch of different concepts & ideas. I'll include links below for those who want to dive deeper but please feel free to ask for more.
Hopefully tho I've shown that while labor will always be highly important, our approach is much deeper. 7/
1
3
8
260
Looking in the US in recent history we can point to tenant struggles, neighborhood assemblies & anti-ICE formations, which are all place based struggles.
We could also look to students as actors in struggle and communities effected by the carceral state as another. 6/
1
2
9
236
While we might answer those questions differently in different periods and places, we do know labor/workplace struggles involve millions of people and militant strikes have the power to hit at the heart of capital. But what are other "sites of struggle" we might look at? 5/
1
2
10
276
Popular power is an approach that starts by asking, what are the sites of struggle that bring ppl together based on their common needs & in conflict with dominant power structures of society?
And how can we expand & cultivate these movements into seeds of a future society? 4/
1
2
12
283
What is popular power? One place you might start with is this piece "Tipping the Scales: Popular Power in an Age of Protest and Pandemic" by @Eglopez109 & @ceepadraig. It's a great article but I'll add my own take ... 3/
blackrosefed.org/tipping-the…
1
2
9
312
I'm not looking to pick on my friend NLH but their tweet about only joining labor unions brings up a common misconception.
I want to begin with what platformists/especifists *do* believe. First, we need to begin by understanding the our core framework/goal of popular power. 2/
1
2
10
406
Was anyone realistically expecting anything different?
More important tho: while this strategy might short term build the numbers of DSA (while increasing contradictions), it’s not a long-term strategy to build towards a classless socialism where the working class is in charge.
1
6
191
Everybody lock in & read this. This is the reckoning the vast majority of the left needs with itself.
4
6
43
1,273
Great thread. For anyone looking to learn more about Mujeres Libres, I would def recommend this recent video interview with Martha Ackelsberg, author of “Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Emancipation of Women” sponsored by BRRN.
youtu.be/8piUXSuKph8?is=qEUV…
1
10
335
Really love reading this analogy of plowing the fields of anarchism that I wrote back in 2013.
From: "Thoughts on Political Organization for Our Time: A Rejoinder to ‘Fighting for the Future’"
miamiautonomyandsolidarity.w…
1
5
16
632
“Not one single work of remotely objective historical scholarship”
This is from mainstream liberal historian Paul Preston.
2
3
84
This is a position adopted In Resolution 31, “Class Struggle Elections,” at the 2019 Convention.
This is what I’m referring to when I say Mamdani is throwing DSA under the bus — he’s explicitly breaking from a core part of their electoral strategy. 2/
sfarchive.dsausa.org/issues/…
16
It’s funny how “this betrayer of radicalism now in power was once a militant radical” story about Mamdani is a story as old as time.
Yet no one seems to take any lessons and it will quickly be memory holed.
1
7
35
824
Frame this tweet on a wall.
And then check this reader published nearly 8 years ago that makes all these arguments and more:
blackrosefed.org/socialist-f…
1
9
23
565
This type of self-induced delusion & anti-intellectualism is sadly so widespread in the left — from demsocs to anarchists.
If u think vibes (whether electoral popularity or burning cop cars) are a substitute for a theory of change & doing the work then you’re playing yourself.
1
3
10
247
Watching Martha Ackelsberg author of Free Women of Spain speak on Mujeres Libres & women in the anarchist movement during the Spanish Revolution.
2
3
15
1,138
Watching Danny Evans speak on the @BRRN_Fed spanish civil war & revolution talk.
Right now he’s speaking on the socialization of industry and how the debates and tensions within the CNT played out around state collaboration. 🏴
2
19
2,652
I think there’s a number of misunderstandings in your comments around the nature of democracy in organizations and this specific debate between factions in the DSA including LSC. Too long to make a thread so made it into screen shots.
2
5
341
… From the Junius Pamphlet or “The Crisis of German Social Democracy” written in 1915.
Anarchist figures like Rudolph Rocker & Johann Most both started as SPD activists & were expelled for very similar criticisms 20+ yrs earlier in the 1880s-90s before turning to anarchism. 2/
1
9
117
The sobering lessons of the SDP in power and the analogy to be made with the current electoral hubris of many in the DSA around an AOC presidential run are worth repeating.
This tweet is actually a paraphrase of Rosa Luxemburg’s words… 1/
1
3
15
556
Rosa would like a word with you…
"why do you support DSA if you're a leftcom"
my brother in christ, 2 things can be true.
- the US needs a communist party, and DSA breaking away from the dems is the best chance we have for that
- there is no socialism without global revolution, SIOC is capitalism
1
63
The calls to rework the constitution & create a new republic are an explicit commitment to work within the legal framework of the capitalist state.
Leaving aside the question of how insanely impossible this would be (by design ofc) — this pushes off proletarian revolution… 1/
1
1
68
Some, yes. Personally I consider Marx a foundation for critique of capitalism.
But far too often we see these very poorly argued attempts of “affinities” & “synthesis” such as with Revolutionary Affinities and Wobblies and Zapatistas. Trash takes overall imo.
44
The problem with this take is that the actual writings of Lenin and Kautsky say otherwise. This is from the classic essay “What Is To Be Done?”
Read more here: blackrosefed.org/from-theory…
1
2
3
285
This new piece from @Three_Way_Fight is helpful and on the money in assessing Trump and the question of fascism in the current moment.
threewayfight.org/notes-on-t…
32