The Liberation Garden
@resistancegarden.bsky.social
1.9K followers 13 following 240 posts
Revolutionary leftist politics, decolonization, intersectional feminism, queer liberation, gentle parenting, and even a little agroecology and earth skills. https://www.facebook.com/share/1U2gSPbS3Z/
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resistancegarden.bsky.social
The scope of what needs to be done is daunting and we'll only be able to do it together. Don't give up before you even get started.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
But acting like it's all you can do? That's completely undermining the power of our collective action to solve problems and influence our material conditions. It surrenders our power to institutions outside of our control. It's fundamentally undemocratic and authoritarian.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
Confining oneself to electoralism as the sum total of political activities, or even its pinnacle, is probably the most nihilistic and disempowering belief. That's not to say you should or shouldn't vote. You can decide on a situational basis when it's appropriate for you to take the time to do so.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
The most basic social technology of organizing is meetings. That includes revolutionary organizing.

It's never too late to learn how to hold productive meetings.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
I used to grow these awesomely huge pumpkins that would be like 20-30 pounds each and still delicious, but then I'd have to deal with an entire one of those pumpkins at once.

They're less impressive, but sometimes it makes a lot more sense to just grow more reasonable sized squash like a butternut.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
"I'd die for the revolution"

Okay but would you organize and facilitate meetings? Cook for people and take care of childcare so community members can attend? Do the dishes?
resistancegarden.bsky.social
Having interacted with liberals.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
And the deeper, longer form media is necessary to address anything beyond an introduction. Otherwise, all you get is slogans repeated as if by reflex with no real understanding of a concept, and probably a reactive defensiveness about it.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
It's often a way to mask unwillingness to engage with the deeper and more complex parts of the subjects.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
There's actually a ton of short and accessible media that conveys leftist theory. So whenever someone demands that we need more of that anytime they're presented with anything more challenging, we should be skeptical of the motivations.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
They're unwilling or unable to consider the fact that poverty and deprivation is supremely oppressive.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
Liberals will repeat the phrase “When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression” and within minutes also insist that socialist revolutions that dismantle literal slavery and feudalism somehow create worse circumstances, with no sense of irony.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
When people invoke "common sense" it should be a big red flag. What it means is that the individual in question hasn't considered their own biases and assumptions and possibly can't tell the difference between that and valid, informed opinions.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
We can debate and refine our concepts of how to build society differently and strive for truly horizontal social structures, but it's dishonest to accuse an imperfect but successful revolution of creating worse conditions when it objectively improved material and social conditions.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
If we understand that manufactured poverty is the most violent and authoritarian institution, then any system that dismantles it is necessarily less authoritarian.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
Liberatory economics will necessarily include creating ways to subsist that don't rely on extracting resources and labor from elsewhere, not simply distributing imperial spoils more equitably.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
In their conception of direct democracy, the Zapatistas have a term that translates roughly to "bringing each other to greatness".

With intentions like these we could do a lot better with our organizing.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
What some folks call "lazy gardening" is generally just applying the concept "work smarter, not harder" to your gardening tasks.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
They have no clue what they're talking about, just a desire to sound moral without developing understanding. It's all vibes.

Developing an analysis of these power structures is how one moves past milquetoast reformism and towards actual liberatory ideology and practice.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
You can claim to oppose imperialism, colonialism, patriarchy, or capitalism all you want, but without having an analysis of any of those things what does that even mean?

This is why every liberal will claim to oppose white supremacy or colonialism or whatever but go on to promote those structures.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
There's actually a really good solution to us mean, mean lefties criticizing you: stop engaging in apologia for settler-colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism.

Most of the time, it works 100% of the time. 😎
resistancegarden.bsky.social
Let's not mince words: if you think someone resisting in a manner that doesn't meet the standards of your precious settler-colonial sensibilities justifies state or quasi-state violence, you are a fascist.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
Essentially reactionary politics combined with narratives of "good v bad" protesters and the demonization and scapegoating of the latter, illustrates how readily the ideology embraces the repressive authoritarianism their parades claim to oppose.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
Liberals have been quick to show how much they actually believe in cop logic: that it's okay to just open fire if you feel even the littlest bit threatened. The response to the SLC protest shooting highlights it.
resistancegarden.bsky.social
If you want to be involved in resistance, you need to know V=IR