this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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This is a genuine question I've been asking myself for a while now, and I would love to read your takes on it. I feel like big corps have too much control over the general population and tools at their disposal that are near impossible to combat from my perspective, like the media for example.

I will say that I am very little educated on the matter and have just recently began to more conciously think about the whole situation. Would love to see other people's take and maybe some reading recommendations on the topic if you have any!

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago

You have framed the question correctly, which means you are already 80% of the way to knowing! How do we oppose capitalism? Well, together! Individuals can do very little against the dominant system, but in an organized group we can use tried and true means - of organized withholding of labor, of takinh direct action, of increasing the size of our ranks, of educating ourselves and each other, and, usually out of necessity, arming ourselves.

So the question then becomes: okay, duh, we need lots of people working together, but how do we do that, what are better ways of doing it than others, and how do I get involved? This is a very important question because historically there are examples of success, failure, and outright counter-productive movements that all had this same stated goal. This is every dedicated anticapitalist's biggest thing to fret about: which lessons from history apply to us and which do not? What is best in your locale may not be what is best in someone else's and there may be many pathways that are better or worse than the other. How do you choose which to avoid and which to embrace? Where do you, personally, fit into the equation?

The othet answers have the right gist: personal education and joining and contributing to an organization.

There is a substantial catalog of political theory, history, philosophy, media criticism, and practical organizing skills that are almosy entirely untaught in capitalist-dominated school systems. Reading a good chunk of that catalog is important for choosing the right actions personally as well as contributing to the decisions made by an organization. You don't have to read all of it before you begin work in an organization, but you should start reading ASAP. I recommend reading Blackshirts and Reds first, it is very short and digestible and provides a good framing by which to question the modern history of capitalists, socialists, and fascists. From there I would gravitate to Marx and media criticism, such as Heinrich's explainer (which I would eventually compare to works criticap of Heinrich) and FAIR.org or the podcast Citations Needed. Add some Engels as well. From there you can branch out in any direction you would like, but an understanding of the October Revolution, its precedents, the USSR, and a critical approach to its critics is helpful for understanding what the hell everyone is talking about in a given organization (and people are often saying incorrect things on these topics). There is a recent Liberation School series on the topic, effectively by PSL, that I recommend. Others to look into after this: Goldman, Gramsci, Mao, Che, Kalecki, Amin, Fanon, Freire, Bobby Seale, George Jackson, Michael Hudson. This will provide some of the "Greatest Hits", albeit Western Centric. Dedicating time to the history of every socialist revolution is valuable. It will take yeara to read all of this and this is normal.

The other step is to join and organization. This gives you the opportunity to learn practical skills for getting people involved, educating people, being educated by others, and taking action. Not all anticapitalist organizations are created equal and there is a tendency for infighting between them. Some are actually highly counterproductive, so this isn't just pointless infighting though a lot of it is pointless. So long as you avoid abusive organizations that burn you out (or worse), being in any org is better than trying to pick the best one to join on your first try. I will suggest avoiding these kinds of organizations: Trotskyist, non-profits, Maoists that are up in each others' business, liberal identity politics groups (socialist/Marxist identity-focused groups can be good though!), and any group that spends most of its time on things like electoral politics and letter writing campaigns, i.e. what capitalists want their opposition to waste their time on. The first 3 groups are the most likely to be abusive and burn you out. The last is basically not actually anticapitalist at all even if they claim to be. To find options for local organization I recommend using a combination of attending events that sound cool and wors of mouth recommendations. "Anti-imperialist" is a decent indicator that a group is fairly cool, though it is not a guarantee. Go to a few events and feel them out. Protests, teach-ins, hosted political movie watching events, rallies, etc. You want to focus on the groups organizing these things, not just attending them, and only rule them out if they meet the above ezclusionary criteria. If they can't be ruled out, ask them how you can get involved. Any good organization will be very excited to loop you in and get you attending meetinfs and reading sessions within a few weeks.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago

Make a federation of worker owned co-ops and offer a better product and workplace.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

If you are in a country where left ideologies are not exactly popular, a low risk option is also joining a union or forming one in work. Here is a link to a post with some unions listed but google search will also work.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Thankfully, the situation in my country is not too bad in that regard, so there are a decent amount of orgs to join. Thanks for the link tho, it's a great resource to have and I saw there is info from my country so that's great! Edit: typo

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago

Organize and educate yourself. Develop an understanding of Marxist Historical Materialism, especially by reading Lenin and Mao.

The first thing to understand is that there is nothing valuable you can do as an individual to advance Communism. Communism is not an Individualist ideology. The first step is to find or build a local group of like-minded individuals. Once you've done that, you can ask, "What should we do?". There is no substitute for meeting real people in real rooms in real life.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

Welcome! Becoming aware of the problem and seeking a solution is the first step, so you're already on step 2! The shortest, most oversimplified answer, is organizing the working class and overthrowing the Capitalist system, replacing it with a worker-run system. So, joining an org, like a Socialist party, is the answer.

But why is this method correct? How can we best organize? What conditions are getting in the way of that, where is the world turning? How did we get here, and where are we going? All of these questions are going to be better able to be answered with reading theory. I made a "Read Theory, Darn it!" introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, designed to take you from no knowledge to a firm, grounded understanding of Marxism-Leninism, as quickly as possible. I recommend checking it out!

Feel free to ask any questions, comrade!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago

Start local. Check the local orgs (DSA, food not bombs, etc) and see if they're doing any real organizing (instead of endless pointless meetings and recruiting at other orgs' protests, like CPUSA). If so, join and see if there are useful ways to resist.

If not, or in addition, form a tenants union, a library of things, a mutual aid, or a group of neighbors to resist ICE. Start a reading group with friends and neighbors.

It will take a mass movement to really combat capitalism. The skills of mutual aid and solidarity will be absolutely key.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Well I could link you What is to be Done by Lenin and leave it at that but while much of it holds up to this day we have learned much since it was written. You should absolutely still read it but I would understand not doing so. Ultimately the best form of resistance is collective. Look for leftist organizations near you, join them and honestly engage with them. Personally I am partial to PSL but it is not everywhere. If there aren't left wing orgs with a major presence near you then join other forms of community action like soup kitchens or community gardens. If your work doesn't have a Union try and make one if you feel safe enough to do so, the IWW can help with this if you are inexperienced. If none of this is possible then atleast meet your neighbors, find likeminded people in your area and talk about your political passions, maybe something can come of that.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Look for leftist organizations near you, join them and honestly engage with them.

Personally, I found Palestine protests and similar ones to be a great way to find multiple parties, ask them basic questions, and separate the junk ones (e.g. idealistic ultra-left sects) from the ones with a viable strategy. I first went to the unionists there and asked them if any of the socialist orgs actually worked with them and only two of the four locals were mentioned. Notably, one which was mentioned and one which wasn't were both, on paper, followers of the exact same strain of Trotskyism, in fact one was a split from the other party, but on the ground it's night and day, apples and oranges; one works with&within unions to make sure its members are on board with picket actions before they happen, the other has fresh college students recite an evangelical recruitment script at protests and end up asking Palestinians at a Palestine protest with family still in Palestine if they're aware of the ongoing conflict.

In a word, if you have choice, check them all, and you don't have to pick one just for their theoretical tendency. Being correct isn't enough.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

This is a great suggestion! I agree something looking good on paper isn't enough, that's the reason I've been skeptical about some of the local orgs around me. But I do think this is the way of approaching said orgs and see how things really are

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Preach brother. Orgs especially outside of major cities can be so hit or miss. I also sifted through them by participating and speaking with members of pro-palestinian protests.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Let's just say that voting and strongly worded tweets never worked.

Every socialist country had a revolution.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

Every socialist country had a revolution.

[* there are a couple of small exceptions, but their situation doesn't apply to countries like the US and still required a mass movement to be built]

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Recently found this may be helpful. I am still not sure about the quality of the info because I haven't read much from there, but there seems to be sections on organizing and marxism 101 that may help you.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

This seems like quite the place to start, thank you very much. I'll have a read and see where it leads me

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Oh damn they really improved the look of rhat website