On Uniting

In short, we must unite all those who can be united, so that we can reduce the enemy’s numbers to a minimum... For us, the more friends we have, the better, and the fewer enemies we have, the better.

• Mao Zedong [https://redsails.org/unite-all-the-forces/]

[Now]

That was 1956 (at a CPC Politburo speech). Let's take a look at the current conditions of nature.

Ah, yes, 2022 (speaking from NY, USA). Pandemic, wildfires, hurricanes, people dying of the heat, and people dying of the cold.

Homelessness and hunger are around. They always are, but look at the prices and look at the people and do some quick addition to draw your own conclusions.

People die preventable deaths due to perverse incentives within the pharmaceutical industry. The disabled have been ignored completely as they struggle to navigate an uncaring society in precarious positions. Racial minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and women have all long-been oppressed in a variety of harmful, lasting ways.

There's fast-moving and scary technology that nobody understands, with dangerous profit motive and lack of regulation. There's been stark polarization between people, extreme disconnection and isolation; families who can't talk to each other anymore. From my vantage, many seem to be drowning.

Kids are interacting with porn and twitter and tiktok and Disney Avengers media (ie. propaganda) at ages I don't want to think about. The coming generation will be developing their understanding of the world in a very different way than I did, as I developed mine very differently than the generations before me.

Everyone is being shaped by new technology, disease, and conditions that very few people (if any) fully understand.

And of course (for those familiar with history and what happens outside the continental US): the rampant imperialist extraction of labor and natural resources; the expansion of fascist forces (both within the US and globally); the sanctioning and violent sabotage of any anti-imperial or socialist threat (from Fred Hampton to the people of Korea and Vietnam to the po; the settler-colonization of Palestine (with US aid); the propaganda war against China [link - xinjiang atrocity blitz]; the aggression and provocation of Russia; the current unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa...; the $800B spent yearly on the DoD, dedicated to a militant defense of International Finance Capital; the long, blood-stained history of profit-driven slavery, settler-colonialism, neocolonialism, and war.

Oh yeah, and back in Cap Hill, Seattle, cops teargassed me in my apartment for 2 months straight a couple years ago. They got me with teargas and pepper spray and a whole lotta flashbangs outside my apartment. Lucky enough to avoid the rubber bullets and lucky enough to avoid the real ones. That whole experience is why I'm here in the first place.

I could list for days and I'm forgetting much, but hopefully I've painted an adequate picture. We are seeing all of the long-predicted ruthless downstream effects of our current economic system and its correlated political superstructure.

[Focus]

So what are we trying to accomplish? What's the focus here?

In the words of a comrade, "I don't know a fuckin thing, my guy" - keep that in mind as I muse on my worldview. [link - RedArmyDuck]

My perspective is that we are (very fucking obviously) observing collapse. The only logical conclusion to be drawn from that is that we must build as hard as possible in order to salvage. Figuring out how to do that is the focus.

[Unity]

How does this tie back in to unity?

Maybe you've got some concept of "left unity"; maybe not. But just for a sec, look at it like this: My perspective is that every person I know (and I have 8 million nearby) would agree with most of my observations.

If they were willing to have the serious conversations (+ maybe do some reading), they would agree with almost all of them. (also, to be clear: not everyone is willing)

I'm looking at this as an "us vs the problem" situation (a healthy relationship technique!)

If the problem is "the earth will exterminate humans", then the "us" is every human on earth. That's who we're uniting.

[Enemy]

I want to be clear about who the enemy is here. I am talking in terms of people.

The enemy is the person in pursuit of individualistic success (ie. personal safety, security, survival) at the expense of societal ruin.

Many people don't understand history well enough to understand the current trajectory we're on. They don't understand what's going on. They don't have a useful understanding of social classes. They just don't know what we have to do. We need to show them, so that they can let go of individualistic ideals and understand that we're on the same team here.

(This is the time to reread that Mao quote up top). We need to turn people away from individualism, towards collective survival. That is how we unite. That is how

Unless you're actively, intentionally working towards the destruction of the planet by actively, intentionally working towards the maintenance of capitalism - well, we probably have something we agree on.

If you don't have effectual power within your current position; if you care about the future; if you have kids and care for their futures - we can easily be allies.

If you think everything's doomed and you've given up, we're enemies right now; but if I can convince you to care, about anything, I think we can be united in an effort towards some end. We can become allies, even if we aren't yet.

[So]

So let's kill the invasive lanternflies and eradicate the invasive kudzu; while remembering that the bees and the spiders and the fruits and the vegetables are all playing a valuable role. Some bad actors have to be cut from the bunch, but we should take care to try to salvage as many good actors as possible. And in the case of humans, we should be working to make as many bad actors into good actors as possible - many of them are well-intentioned but ill-informed and misguided! We must guide them.

[consider moving stuff to On Charity, linking here]

So why don't we talk to our friends and our neighbors and start having those conversations? Maybe just check-in with folks you care about?

Maybe foodprep some stew and go tabling with literature? Give a bag of necessities to the houseless person on your block if you can afford it? Reach out to local groups who share similar ideals as you, see what they're up to?

Maybe take a leaf out of Mr. Rogers' book and look for the helpers around you. Try to follow the lead of the good role-models you find. Look for the folks still masking, if that's rare in your area.

Maybe find the ways you can help throw lifebuoys to the people struggling, before the water fills their lungs. They'll thrash and they'll hold their breath, I see people fighting HARD, but nature will run its course. The lifebuoy is the difference in outcome, and someone needs to throw it. Quickly, accurately! If you miss, don't fret - just try to find the next lifebuoy and the next place to throw.

Maybe join a union. Take training to become an EMT or medic.

Take training to understand how weaponry works, and familiarize yourself with the tools available to you. Understand that power grows from the barrel of a gun, understand what technology is [On Technology]. Think about all modern tech through that lens, see how you can reclaim our modern resources for good use! [tiktok teens blowing up polls - a great example of a community fighting for good together!]

Volunteer to firefight. Read to the elderly; read to the children. Build safety nets for yourself and your community in every way possible.

Start a mini bookstore [TANKIEPILLED]. Find ways to get books to others cheap [RedPrintsPublishing].

Run errands with your friends. Offer to babysit for the parents who need it, it gives them a break and kids share lots of new, unique perspectives if you're willing to engage with them.

Pay kindness forward. Buy the next person in line a coffee. Generating goodwill is a positive force! Many have said it, you must generate goodwill among the masses if you're to succeed as the vanguard of anything! (Che, Mao) - whether or not you have others to work with yet, generate that goodwill!

If you've got any concept of "mass line work" - what do you think that is, in your current situation?

Maybe try to parse all the possible learnings you can, from every place you can.

• "don't want stupid soldiers or cowardly intellectuals"
• study the enemy [Art of War - Lao Tzu], and remember
• Form reading groups with people you want to learn with? (or just read some books yourself?) [link - resources]

Start small. Find people, converse. Start noticing all the small issues you see day-to-day and start figuring out how to fix em. Just set good examples, if that's all you can do. Hold the door open for someone.

Maybe just try to build better habbits. Floss more, stay healthy. Get sleep. Test varying levels of social media usage to figure out what works best for you and your mental health ([On Logging Off and Touching Grass]).

Carry around a reusable bag, tip well. Put your shopping cart all the way back.

Figure out your strengths and leverage them wherever. Identify your weaknesses and work towards improvement.

It won't always work, but that's fine. Iterate. Repeat. Science is research-hypothesis-experimentation-observation-analysis-understanding, all on a tight loop, ever-improving.

[Reach for the Stones to cross the river - Deng]

[Einstein - trying the same thing on repeat is insanity]. So try something different once you've drawn current

Trust yourself. Learn! Grow! Find ways to feel meaningful. If you practice your skills with discipline and seriousness, you will see yourself able to achieve improvement in all facets. Make friends, allies, comrades! Build respect, for yourself and for others. That's the good stuff, that's why we're around.

[End]

And if the end result is that we fail, and we just live through ever-worsening conditions until we can no longer survive, then you may as well at least try to spread some positivity while you're around.

So it goes [kurt vonnegut - slaughterhouse 5]. So fucking what? We're all dying anyway; whatever happens, happens [cowboy bebop].

You're here and you're now, you're the only one who can make it happen. I encourage you to try.

[PS]

Remember, put your oxygen mask on first. Don't overexert, don't burn out. Be responsible, be smart, and prioritize being able to approach the problem again after some much needed shut-eye. You're most helpful healthy, and alive.

If you need help, reach out - I'm looking out for you. My name is Aaron and I speak for the trees; I speak for the kids, and the earth, and the future; I speak for the downtrodden, the dirty, the dispossessed; I speak for what's right, and I speak in the hopes that you will too.

You'll find me here, at entropicemailaddress@protonmail.com or github.com/aaronsteel, and on NYYCL communication channels. Here in NY, you may find me at headquarters here [Communist Party Headquarters] or walking about Astoria, or really anywhere around. Elsewhere, you might find me visiting old friends at VACPUSA or FRSO Seattle.

And if you liked this, maybe check out my thoughts On Organizing. ~AS

index tags: Uniting, Mao Zedong

category tags: Personal Writings