Like these people aren't a problem anymore.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

The main issue I have found about progressive movements and effectiveness is fracturing. You got the LGBTQ peeps, the feminists, the anti-racism, the class struggle movement, the anti capitalists and despite the fact that they all intersect and want essentially the same things, on a base level, and even within these movements there are many different ideologies that we are too busy arguing amongst ourselves to unite and face our opponents down. I listened to a podcast today about violence against women in activist groups, and the fact that it seems to get covered over or victim blaming occurs.

The spectrum ranges from those wanting to change the system from within, to those who want to affect change via revolution or armed struggle.

The issue with trying to change the system from within, is that the system changes you.  The problem with violent struggle is that once those participating in this for a long time find that their struggle and it's methods change, you've been associating with violence and criminal elements so long that you cannot go back to being something other than a person who uses violence and illegality, such as ex IRA operatives that now deal in drugs. Of course there are always notable exceptions to this, but affecting change without a consensus is fucking hard work.

It's a catch 22 situation, and I'm not really sure that without making links to all the different groups fighting for something less shitty than the setup the world has now we can do anything.

But they're not fighting The Man™, they're largely fighting each other.

Yes, this IS the big fucking problem. Which is why I think we have moved ever so slightly to the right since the early 80's especially in the US and the UK.

Even socialists in this country have fractured. We have the Labour Party, the Socialist Worker's Party, the Respect Party, and the UNISON Party, who used to be tied to the Labour Party, but they sold workers rights down the river when Tony Blair got elected.  I was a Labour supporter in my teens, but I felt sold out by the whole New Labour rhetoric. I'm not sure how socialist the Green Party is, but they only have one MP so it's hardly even relevant, despite being the party of choice for my vote if I can do it without getting a Tory MP. 

Me personally, I'm anti-racist, feminist,, pro-LGBTQ, for disability rights and want to live in a country where if you have a run of shitty luck, I won't have to starve, deal drugs or heaven fucking forbid, sell sex (I'd rather starve than hook.) When I get sick, I want some treatment. When I try to look for work, I don't want to have to LIE and say I've been off with depression rather than voices in mah head crazy because one is more socially acceptable or less stigmatised.  But all these interest groups are fractured, I've had to pick my battles, so I'm involved with some feminist groups, am about to start volunteering at a youth group for seriously economically disadvantaged teens and also am the secretary for a community group that tries to promote a healthier lifestyle, both physically and mentally for the same geographical area, the state-housing estate hell hole that I grew up on.

Hell the only reason I'm involved with 2 local feminist groups is that some of the Radical Feminists are being assholes to the Trans and Genderqueer members on a point of fucking ideology. The Trans-Excluding RadFems (TERF'S) completely reject the gender binary, but they seem to have forgotten that we live in a society that actually, right here, right fucking now enforces a gender binary. So the trans and GQ friendly people have split off and formed a new group, but the original group does a lot of activism, and the splinter group has only just formed.

The community group has only just set up it's office, is having trouble with gaining and keeping volunteers, but has been set up almost a year and has no phone or internet access in the office!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yes, this IS the big fucking problem. Which is why I think we have moved ever so slightly to the right since the early 80's especially in the US and the UK.

No, that's the reason nobody's trying to STOP the slide.

The real reason everything is going right wingnut everywhere is this:  The world gets more and more complex every day.  This is frightening to people.  When people are frightened, they turn to The Tribe.  The tribal structure is by definition conservative...So it isn't a function of intelligence, it's a function of the ratio of neophiles to neophobes, and you can't really alter that ratio.

[navkat]

It's funny, I actually got into a conversation about this very same poster this week. Y'all summed it up nicely but I was working on a shoop of TWO of these: This one and one by the left, making rash generalizations about the right. I was going to place them side-by-side and watch the fight.

I ran out of give a shit.