Living in the States has me genuinely frightened. I’m not so naive as to suppose it’s not always been rough, but it’s clear we’ve entered a qualitatively different era. The moderate wing of fascism has died, and barbarism is all that remains.
I want to fight back in a substantive way, even if it’s small. I want to participate in institutions which protect the vulnerable, myself included. I don’t want to lock my doors and peek out the windows, but I know better than to engage in adventurist, individual “resistance.” I also don’t want to be in a social club where we sit and congratulate each other on having the right opinions. I’m past wanting to be on the “right side of history,” where I content myself with personally disagreeing with the nightmare we live in. Something needs to be done; the window for taking action is swinging shut.
I have almost no experience in organizing. I’ve attended a handful of protests which mostly felt like a venting of frustrations for everyone there. I’ve associated with a few comrades who had good intentions, but never accomplished much. That’s about it.
How do I actually go about being a part of something effective?
Learn about the community around you. Ask innocent questions to your bosses, family, friends, neighbors and gauge their reactions. Some of these can be “Hey, what do you think about the shootings in the city on X street?” to “You ever go hunting?”. The first question can profile those around you on their opinions/feelings towards other members of your community, for example if they say racist shit you know what kind of person you have around you and who you can rely on for that if shit hits the fan. The second question tells you either or not they own guns, have experience, etc. Those kinds of questions help you understand the actual situation you’re in.
Next, you ask yourself two questions. What is around you? This tells you your options and either or not you have the ability to choose. DSA, IWW, etc are all socdem or soft-socialist orgs but they often have more radical parts if they are in areas without dedicated ML parties. You can network, learn, volunteer in those. Otherwise, if you have a communist org near you, you can likely contact them and ask about recruiting and they’ll lead you down the path you need to go. Next, you ask yourself if you want direct action or if you want to commit yourself to something more dedicated. A lot of organizations like FNB for example have the ability for you to learn more about the people around you and once again, network. Don’t stop learning, probing and profiling people either. Personally, I think you should always be learning about the people around you.
Other than that a lot of it really does depend on what your local scene is like. It’s truly different in every city.