So I’ve found myself really having a lot of resentment building up recently against my fellow USian citizens. It’s a very weird combination of genuine care + love for my working class future comrades, and serious anger with the way they think and behave.
I really want to avoid being the elitist intellectual asshole, but at the same time it is just so disgusting watching people not care about real issues, dismiss things, and just lack understanding or the effort to try. Just today I had a friend ask me sarcastically “so what’s the news today, comrade?” and I responded with the Joe Biden story about how he’s funding the fucking southern border wall. They acknowledged that it was bad for like 3 seconds and then said something along the lines of “Biden’s going to do what he’s gonna do, but I still get to go home and do X enjoyable thing tonight. We all woke up this morning. That’s good news!” He then turned to my other friend and started talking about rep clothes they buy, like it didn’t even phase him. Like he needed some distraction.
While I appreciate the sentiment as I’ve obviously been having a rough few months and he’s trying to keep things positive, he has a long history of this even before my struggles. Constant disengagement with serious topics and overall apathy for making positive change. They all make fun of me for being educated on what’s going on in the world and being a communist, as if either of those are bad things. They’re frankly pretty ignorant when it comes to real world things. I’ll reveal my age here (I probably already have anyways) but these are legal adults, granted some just turned 18 this year, doing this shit. And I don’t know how to feel about it.
I should make a distinction here. I completely understand that many people’s material reality prevents them from being educated on the matter or are simply too tired from being worked like a dog to develop critical thoughts + be exposed to good ideas about the system. But this is not the case with these idiots and most of my city at the moment. We are a relatively well off community with plenty of free time and are university-age. I constantly bring up absolutely abhorrent things that happen in society and they are just unaffected. They bathe in their relative privilege and can’t understand that not everyone gets to just go home and play Minecraft under this system. They can’t seem to demonstrate an understanding that things have real impacts on people’s lives, because to them, status quo has been just fine under either/both party’s rule.
The other day he talked about “I can’t believe people have REAL BEEF over politics bro that’s so crazy.” I looked at him like he had 3 eyes while my blood boiled. This is how these people think. Like politics is some separate entity or a video game. I tried to explain that I’m not going to associate with someone who’s blatantly racist or anti-LGBTQ+ and supports a party/system that has those mindsets.
Basically this ranty post is just asking what the fuck Americans who aren’t politically aware think about, and how they do it? How do these people know the planet is being blown up for the sake of profit and do fuck all? Know that the global south is in unfathomable poverty because of us and not care? Know people IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY are in unfathomable poverty and go back to consumerist bullshit? Are they stupid? What the fuck are they thinking?
This is where you come in if you made it this far. Calm me down and let me know if I’m being elitist. Validate me in some way if I’m right in any way. I feel so surrounded by lunacy. Lunacy I tell you.
Sorry for typing so much lmao
I largely agree with this, but it’s a little overly pessimistic. Don’t expect your bougie friends to care, but don’t stop mentioning the problems of the world. I’m pretty comfortable and still care, but a lot of people may just plug their ears and stay in their bubble. There’s no point in suffering on behalf of others. It’s possible to care, but not be angry all the time. Maybe I’m just numb. Focus on what you actually can do, educate, agitate, and organize. You’re not going to stop anything Biden’s doing tomorrow, but you can bring socialism closer and bring up those around you.
To address where I disagree, things are changing fast and I honestly believe most of the world will have to be socialist in my lifetime (assuming I don’t die young), if humanity is not going to go extinct. The US does not have much longer before it will be Balkanized or whatever will happen. I have “pessimism of the mind, optimism of the will” in that I see the dire situation but I can’t accept that there will be no future. I must fight because that’s the only way I can see a real future happening. There is not a binary between consciousness and apathy. We can see the ills of the world and still be stoic about and use it to compel us to action. Also, 10,000 well disciplined and organized people could do a lot of good work.
Yes, I totally agree with you. It’s just hard to articulate because you have to sort of be of two minds at all times. Or switching between them maybe.
If you’re always “on” you will burn out. If you’re always in a mindset of “focus on enjoyment. Make my life less depressing” then you’re just the same as all the people who are ignorant willfully or not. It’s a “pick your battles” thing, I suppose. It’s a “know what is realistic and push where you can push” thing. It’s all fundamentally a compromise, which sucks, but there’s really no alternative currently.
And on the future of the world/US, I’m just observing it from where we are now which is basically at a standstill. It will break at some point, and none of us know when or how it will happen. I’m just remembering that Lenin quote about weeks and decades and just here for the ride until then…
I don’t find myself making such a compromise. I can learn more and more sickening things and just get more interested and a bit in awe. I feel a bit of indignation, but not real frustration or burnout. Basically hate reading/watching. More pleasurable than desperate. Of course it depends wether it will make me feel more optimism or pessimism. I’m reminded of the part of ‘We are the Weather’ where a bunch of facts are laid out about the direness of climate change and it’s kind of fun to read, but the author recognizes this. There is a “fight your battles” thing, but mostly so people don’t think I’m totally annoying or insensitive. There’s definitely some people im more willing to spend my time trying to convince than others. I usually keep a shitposty, but convicted attitude rather than that of desperation.
Have you been watching what’s happening? US sanctions don’t work anymore. Major powers have decided to circumvent them. Russia and China are working with the DPRK, Syria, and Venezuela. The US financial system is on the verge of collapse.
We are in the those weeks that feel like decades and things are only speeding up. We can’t just wait around for a revolutionary situation. We need to organize and strategize so we can take advantage when the time is right.