Tl;dr, ultimately a commentary on a documentary regarding Christian Nationalism, but also provides a pretty tidy summary of the movement in the US

Nice to hear :)

Not that there have never been successful revolutions, of course, but I think it's a good point to consider that a societal blank slate simply doesn't exist.

But y'all already know I exist on the anti-revolutionary side of leftism, so, take what I say with a grain of salt I guess

Or don't! I have dearly held reasons for being anti-revolution!

Given that I don't think I've talked about them in a while, here are my points. Note that this is primarily directed toward fellow Americans.

Revolution has to be considered in two paradigms, partial or total, and let's address them in turn.

Total revolution (i.e. overthrow of the US gov) is, frankly, delusional, at least at this current point in time. If you genuinely believe leftism has progressed in the US to such an extent that an immediate counter-revolution wouldn't immediately rise to power, and if you don't think the people in charge of that counter-revolution aren't better armed, better trained and more numerous, I have a bridge to sell you. I have less objections to trying to build coalitions in our current time with the idea of revolution as an ultimate, (very) long term goal, but I do have to wonder if, at that point, your time isn't served better otherwise.

As for partial revolution, do you really think you're going to be left alone? That the US gov is simply gonna wash its hands and say "well, they're free now, I guess?" Civil wars go on for year upon year, and unless you're under the impression that you can weaken the operational capacity of one of the most powerful war machines in history into submission, and that it isn't going to escalate its operations with each year the conflict goes on, you're clowning. I'd rather not deal with endless attempts of the fed to try to reestablish control, thanks.

I do, however, believe the goal of leftism, at the time, to be something addressed in the first point: coalition building. More than that, I believe the goal of leftists should be to build alternate means of survival, outside of the capitalist system. Shared food networks. Hyper-local means of addressing community problems, town councils. Build resilient systems such that the people don't have to rely on corporations to sustain themselves. If, ultimately, violence becomes the only way to defend those systems, then so be it. But, first, those systems have to exist, because without a net to catch people and those ideals already *being* in the public consciousness, I have EXTREME doubt they'll emerge powerfully enough in a vacuum of power to survive.

Anyway, I am prepared for the onslaught of clown reacts, and go boldly into their pale-faced cruelty.

Oh, and on a finally note, perhaps contrary to some of the more libertarian-leaning preferences of my followers, I DO believe participatory, overarching government can be useful, and, ideally, serves as a means of protecting from the abuse and incursions of corporate interests and other malevolent entities. The US government has, in large part, failed massively at performing those duties, however.

I don't think that, in this current state of the world or anytime in the near future, we will be free of powers seeking to abuse others for personal gain, and we do need an overarching means of expressing popular power, such that those can be fought.

I made a tiny, shitty little butterfly garden full of grass and weeds and hardly any flowers. I really sucked at building this butterfly garden, but it had milkweed and cilantro and a bunch of different tall flowers.
After just one year, there is so much more life. So many more birds. It doesn't take a lot to make a big difference.