Ep112: The Belden Program w/ Brace Belden
Added 2020-09-09 10:00:00 +0000 UTCSean and Andy are joined with Brace from @trueanonpod to talk workers power, past and present: how unions are still central, how communist organizers like Harry Bridges, leader of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, exercised this power in the past, and how we can fight to bring it back today. We end with a call to Build The (not necessary electoral) Party.
Stay tuned for a bonus episode on life as young punx later on in the week!
Outro music: Harry Bridges - Rancid
Comments
As one of the leaders of that moving company struggle, I hope you don't mind a little petty nitpicking. 1. The people who were most resistant weren't the ambitious graphic designer types. They were almost entirely made up of a) drug addicts who couldn't pass a piss test at another company (the boss somewhat encouraged this by actually doing drugs with this contingent) b) ex-cons who couldn't pass a background check and c) almost everyone involved in occupy wall street, who were to a man scum bags. 2) The ruining of the trucks was very much a real thing but I doubt intentional (the boss was a fuck up moron). However, as the person most in a position to move those trucks for him, I regret not doing it. It wasn't clear that they would be drowned. I wasn't asked to do it but felt that stepping up would be another example of working for free. So, I allowed ideology to trump strategy at a key moment. I take that as an important lesson, which leads to: 3. The organization was very much successful up to that point. We had the support of at least 80% of the movers and most of the office staff. I actually do take it that under developed class consciousness is a major problem. That just wasn't the case here.
PrinceVocalFry
2020-12-30 20:59:33 +0000 UTCWow. what an episode. all hail Brace :)
Charlie
2020-12-21 23:30:45 +0000 UTCeh, my post is a bit of a mess, and there's a leap halfway that goes probably goes too far. With BLM organizing there's an issue that doesn't exist with labor or tenant organization, in that with work to do and homes to be filled the bosses still need people. However, this is not true of the cops. Sure, they need enough people to live in a city and pay property taxes that pay their contracts, so property and business owners have leverage with them, but the rest of us are just fodder. It seems like applying a metric of 20th trade unionism doesn't fit this moment.
Christopher Price
2020-09-10 01:37:11 +0000 UTCThis current wave of BLM protests has learned something from Occupy. Tho there's not some grand national demand local movements are putting up concrete demands. But how do you make the movement from movement to party when the movement is directed against organizations who are more than willing to kill and lie with impunity in order to preserve their status? How do you move from horizontal to vertical organization when leaders from places like Ferguson have been murdered? Not demanding you three to answer and solve these questions, but more like if the theory doesn't line up with the struggle, then maybe the problem is the theory.
Christopher Price
2020-09-10 01:16:32 +0000 UTCVery fun and informative episode!
Erik~
2020-09-09 20:36:31 +0000 UTCI've kind of sat out of a lot of labor stuff thinking my union can handle everything and I'm just going to do the bare minimum at work, be as detached as possible and put my energy into other activism. Listening to this made me want to get more involve in my own workplace and do more than just try to survive the job and get a paycheck.
Matt
2020-09-09 20:29:23 +0000 UTCinterested to hear more about this
The Antifada
2020-09-09 17:38:56 +0000 UTCI think it was a little pessimistic on the future of organizers at the end. I live in Kenosha, and from the recent protests that broke out, many new radical and local leaders have emerged. Obviously it’s still early, but the whole new left is super young. We are in the infancy of this revitalized movement.
GoomyHD
2020-09-09 16:43:48 +0000 UTCNow that was a fckn epic podcast
FTW ALL DAY
2020-09-09 12:57:08 +0000 UTC
