Would a national general strike bring the republican controlled government to its senses on tRump

[Augiedog]

and the need for a special prosecutor? There can be only one reason that the majority of republican legislators refuse to acknowledge the need for and act accordingly on this issue. They, too, are complicit in the criminal activities that tRump has been engaging in.

It's time to stop taking this crap from our elected officials. Period, fucking period!

[Chasstev365]

1. I am so in!

[underthematrix]

2. If it was economic. If consumers stopped spending money, the

#GreedOverPeople party would tale notice because their donors would notice.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. No

It would work in Western Europe but not in the USA.

Do I like the idea?

Yes Sir!

Would it work? Nope. It would have to be an all or nothing event.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Beat Me To It!

I'm adding one more factor; the R's would just chalk it up to "professional" agitators and ignore any impact it had. It wouldn't change their attitude one bit.

[socialist_n_TN]

14. They could and probably would TRY to chalk it up.........

to professional agitators and George Soros "employees" , but a true GS that disrupted the economy in a significant way would mean it would be hard to sustain and maintain that attitude.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. Then We Disagree A Bit

I think it would have to essentially paralyze the country before they would give it a second thought. And i don't think the american people have the attention span, in the majority, to sustain it to paralysis.

We're in the same book for sure. Probably same page. We're reading a different paragraph i suppose.

[socialist_n_TN]

19. Well, if it doesn't disrupt the economy in a significant way........

as an example in Brazil on April 28th, then it's not really a "general" strike. That was a one-day event and I think that is doable if not easy. Enough people haven't felt the sting of the right-wing agenda yet.

The problem is actually one of organizing. You have to bring the unions in as leaders and primary organizers of the event. Then you can get supporters on-board with it. A bottom-up GS without a national organizing base is probably a no-go even for a one day event.

Now an indefinite GS is another beast entirely. That's one that actually questions who has power in society. It's an actual revolutionary act.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Back To Agreeing!

Harder to fully organize in a less homogeneous culture and such large regional distinctions.

[socialist_n_TN]

23. Well the Brazilian GS in late April is analogous to what it would take.........

here. There are a lot of similarities between the two countries.

http://fifthinternational.org/content/general-strike-brazil-unions-social-movements-and-students-all-out-together

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Been There

Four times in my career.

Yeah, i think that's a fair comparison, but it's a very different culture overall. They had decades of oppression, exploitation, and governmental corruption on a grand scale.

The people are a little easier to rile into action in an anti-establishment action.

[socialist_n_TN]

12. A general strike is, by its nature,...........

an all or nothing event. An indefinite general strike is even more of an all or nothing event.

[JustAnotherGen]

24. We are too diverse in America - even by region

To get together on something like that.

[bettyellen]

32. We don't have enough men participating in activism so far- the marches, the calls to congress, the

Lawyers showing up at the airports immediately after the Muslim ban- big majority of women. Men need to start showing up in equal numbers. A strike won't work if it's 70-80% women.

[Alpeduez21]

4. Workers do not have enough

job security in the US for a strike to work.

Also, strikes and unions are very frowned upon in America.

[socialist_n_TN]

15. The job security in the immediate term comes from.........

an unemployment rate in the mid-4s. And if it's truly a "general" strike, then a significant portion of the population would have to support it, so it would NOT be "frowned upon".

[eShirl]

28. ya but the shit is hitting the fan like it's 1974

[dembotoz]

33. people will not jep there jobs

too many gop bosses just looking for a reason to dump dem employees

[HughBeaumont]

5. It works in other places because their social safety nets aren't tethered to employment.

Unlike here.

They can protest because they have security. Rights just ARE there. Over here, human rights are tied to gainful employment; it's all about "dues paying" and "deserving of". That's never going to change, barring a massive deprogramming in the rural and suburban areas.

[Bucky]

6. Nope. Because they've already come to their senses about where the money comes from.

It comes from shutting up and playing along.

[Lurks Often]

8. No since there won't be a national general strike

Just because, you, people you know and DU are outraged doesn't mean the rest of the country is outraged.

Besides a lot of companies would be thrilled with a general strike, it would give them an opportunity to fire a lot of employees and either get rid of under performing employees or older employees close to retirement.

[socialist_n_TN]

10. Is that because Trump is so popular?..........

And what are those companies going to do for employees with the unemployment rate showing full employment?

[socialist_n_TN]

9. If done correctly, a nationwide general strike is the ONLY thing...........

that will truly resist the right-wing agenda. It's not really about the Comey firing, although I suppose that could be the primary focus. It's about the entirety of the attacks on the rest of us by the wealthy ruling elite.

But the trick is doing it correctly. Brazil's recent GS could be something of a model, but it didn't really go far enough. Firstly, the attitude of the strikers has to be that nothing else matters other than the goal of the strike. Not getting fired, not getting arrested, not getting people who want to work and shop pissed off at them, not their credit score, not any possible repercussions in the future. ONLY the strike and its immediate goal. Firing, arrests, people pissed off, credit score dings are ALL things you would have to accept as a consequence before you went into it.

With the official unemployment rate in the mid-4s there would be less of a chance of getting fired for striking, so that's a positive. If you lose your job because of the strike, other jobs should be easier to find. And credit score dings from NOT paying bills are really only temporary and would recover. Even arrests, for most people, are things that can be recovered from. And if someone gets pissed about you striking, then they are likely happy with the status quo anyway and actually support Trump.

The thing about a GS that everybody should realize though is that it's only a tactic. A militant, last ditch tactic, but still just a tactic. There needs to be a primary goal that you hope to accomplish with the strike and then some secondary goals like amnesty from consequences for striking. So what do you want to accomplish with the strike? Re-instatement of Comey? Most people on here were calling for his head just a few short weeks ago. Getting Trump to resign? You're left with the theo-fascist Pence. Getting both to resign? Paul Ryan is next up. A "re-do" on the election? That ain't happening without an INDEFINITE GS, and it's unlikely even then. So what are you striking FOR?

Also organizing a GS today is not going to be easy. You would need union involvement and unions today are notorious for not wanting to challenge the state OR their bosses. A "bottom-up" cross class GS will be even harder to do without union involvement because there's no organization that is national in scope with enough clout among workers to argue for and organize such a massive economic undertaking. The Democratic Party won't do it because a true GS would negatively affect THEIR corporate sponsors too.

So there's a lot more than just calling for it. Still it's not a bad idea and it IS the only thing that will actually make a difference. I would suggest that people start supporting the "GS" calls that have already been out there. There have been three so far this year, in February, in March, and on May Day and, although there has been some participation, it hasn't been widespread enough to call them "general" strikes. Still the momentum is there. So support all of the ones of these that you run across and hope you can build some momentum.

There are other things that I feel are needed, but I can't post them here. None are "violent", but they are against the rules.

[brooklynite]

11. Pure fantasy...

...the US political environment won't support a General Strike. The average voter cares, but doesn't care enough.

[LanternWaste]

16. No mountain is climbable

No mountain is climbable until someone climbs it; until that happens, it too is 'pure fantasy.'

[brooklynite]

18. Very well then; explain how you'll climb the mountain...

...or is that someone else's job?

[socialist_n_TN]

20. To climb that mountain first you're going to have to have repression......

and attacks on the rest of us on a MUCH wider scale. That will dialectically increase the resistance. And that's coming. Right now, the only ones whose oxen have been gored are the ones that are more marginalized, immigrants mostly. The repeal of Obama's health insurance reform is the start to widening out the attacks. Social security and Medicare "reforms" will piss enough people off to do it. Maybe. And then there's the next recession within a couple of years. When they bail out the banks again, there'll be a LOT of pissed off people. IOW, there's enough anger that all it will take is a spark.

Then you have to have a national organizational framework. The Democratic Party won't do it because their corporate donors will be affected too, so that leaves the unions, who are NOTOROUS for not wanting to rock the boat. But they are SLOOOOWLY becoming more militant, so it's possible that they could be brought on board to organize the event IF enough of their member pressure the bureaucracy into thinking they HAVE to do something. If the unions get on board and call for a day of strikes and rallies on a particular day, then that WILL bring on board all of these other folks who are OK with the idea, just don't want to do anything by themselves.

And that's what would go into organizing a one-day event. It's not easy, but it could be done. Organizing an indefinite GS would be much harder.

We're not there yet, but I see no stopping the attacks on the rest of us, short of this most militant of tactic.

[MineralMan]

13. A general strike is impossible in the United States.

So, that is not going to work at all. We are too large and too diverse, politically, to support any such general strike. It will not occur.

[socialist_n_TN]

22. Here is a report on an actual General Strike......

in Brazil on April 28th. This is what is involved and this one was initially called for by socialist groups and picked up on by the trade union federations. There are a lot of parallels between Brazil and the USA.

http://fifthinternational.org/content/general-strike-brazil-unions-social-movements-and-students-all-out-together

[lapfog_1]

26. I was just thinking that

I'm in... can't afford the time off work... but F' it. I'm in.

[BainsBane]

27. I observed the last one

but few others did.

[Lee-Lee]

29. I wonder if people who call for this kind of thing are just wealthy or or if touch

Most Americans, especially your more marginalized populations, are one paycheck away from a financial disaster.

They don't have the luxury of saying screw work for who knows how long or the job security to skip work and not get fired.

When people throw ideas around like a general strike I wonder if they live in the same reality as most Americans.

[Augiedog]

35. Your point is well taken, but I am neither wealthy but not one pay check away from financial

ruin. Maybe two paychecks. I was at one time a union steward and a trustee. So I suppose there is a certain part of me that has this reaction to our government failing and being sold to the Russians.

It probably is unfair for me to have suggested this, but it is that, just a suggestion. I'm calling for a conversation. Obviously I have no power beyond that.

But I wonder what will be left of our paychecks when tRump and his un indicted co-conspirators have finished wrecking the social fabric and undermining the safety net that a significant portion of Americans have been forced to rely on, due not to their own actions, inactions or morals, but due to a rigged game in favor of the real takers and eaters.

If you think I am callous and unthinkingly wishing harm to those who are least able to stand up to the demons that have come to possess our national structures, please disabuse yourself of that notion, I would never advocate for that. I can see where you would believe otherwise and for that I applogize.

[beachbum bob]

30. this is america, we have no national conscience...

[LanternWaste]

36. when it runs on NYT or washington (sic) Post let me know...

"that sounds like breitbart (sic)....when it runs on NYT or washington (sic) Post let me know..."

[lpbk2713]

31. If Gingrich and Turkey Neck can shut down the government ...

they should have no problem with those who were affected doing the same on their end.

[haele]

34. We're too spread out as a nation. A general strike will have to last a week to work...

...and that's a bit much to ask the majority of workers and citizens who are already living on a shoestring.
Europe, where you see general strikes affecting government policies, is far more compact; most people live within two hours of a large economic center of some sort.

Here, you might get a general strike going in most of the big cities, but nothing will happen in the sleepwalking suburbs and the rickety economy rural towns - because the rural areas don't have any large manufacturing or agricultural base anymore that will be impacted in a general strike, and suburbs were developed to decouple the better-off workers from society in general so they can "evolve" into good consumers and disposable corporate tools instead of retain their identification of citizens.

Maybe a shopping strike would work, but from what I see regionally, if a general strike is called, there's too many desperate paycheck-to-paycheck families who would rather go scab than sacrifice if they can't use paid vacation or leave hours to cover the time off.

Haele