Like I won’t say that absolutely everything about the USA was bad, necessarily, and I of course have my own biases at play here… But the point sparing the details is really just like, I’ve spent the past month thinking practically every day about how every single US-based communist really must be working in incredibly trying circumstances, if even just visiting had me feeling lethargic and kinda wanting to go home within a week. Now that I’m back home again, that time in the USA is already starting to feel like a strange dream again.
So, uhh, what are your secrets, basically? Like I’m sure that all the nonsense of the USA feels like less of a burden to put up with if you grew up with it and have spent little to no time in other parts of the world, but still. I honestly do not think I could live in the USA until it is decolonized, but when that happens, it wouldn’t be called the USA anymore, anyways.
It’s a weird mix of resignation, anger, sadness, and depression most days, but sometimes you’ll have an off-the-cuff conversation with someone and they’re a lot more clued in than you’d expect. Stuff like that keeps you going.
At my old apartment I used to run into my 70-ish year old neighbor every few weeks or so. His main source of income was from selling scrap metal he’d scrounge from dumpsters around town. He still believed in the Democratic Party, but had sharper analysis than I think a lot of people would give him credit for, just from looking at him. He definitely had some real class consciousness.
There’s opportunity for agitation out there, but I think ultimately a lot of us are relatively comfortable and have a lot to lose, which stifles a lot of potential activity here in the belly of the beast.
I’d like to add that I do union work as well, and that’s about the biggest source of sustenance in my day to day life. At work I can barely have a conversation more than a few minutes without turning it to wages, our benefits, and general working conditions. A lot of people are pretty receptive, although often hesitant (tying into the comfortability I mentioned above). Homelessness is bad in my city and it’s definitely functioning as a threat to a lot of people (as I think it’s pretty much intended).