general strikes?

[firsty]

has anyone here had any experience with organizing or participating in a general strike? good idea? bad idea? waste of time? impossible to coordinate? fun for all? effectiveness?

[FrankChodorov]

has anyone here had any experience with organizing or participating in a general strike? good idea? bad idea? waste of time? impossible to coordinate? fun for all? effectiveness?

the latest really big one - the 1886 general strike in Chicago for 8 hour work day - led to some police officers being killed and some anarchists being hung (Haymarket).

[Russell Kanning]

I don't know. How about a don't pay income taxes for a month holiday?

[firsty]

I don't know. How about a don't pay income taxes for a month holiday?

heh. well, i could do that. but it would be hard to organize because most people have their federal tax deducted by hunchbacked slaves with blue hair, dentures and a crabby attitude sitting in tiny payroll cubicles.

i was thinking more along the lines of the recent immigration day protests. having an entire city and its surrounding suburbs go on strike for one day, along with the obvious protests.

it would be good to do in on the anniversary of the patriot act's signing, or something like that. thats what i was thinking of.

[FrankChodorov]

I don't know. How about a don't pay income taxes for a month holiday?

heh. well, i could do that. but it would be hard to organize because most people have their federal tax deducted by hunchbacked slaves with blue hair, dentures and a crabby attitude sitting in tiny payroll cubicles.

i was thinking more along the lines of the recent immigration day protests. having an entire city and its surrounding suburbs go on strike for one day, along with the obvious protests.

it would be good to do in on the anniversary of the patriot act's signing, or something like that. thats what i was thinking of.

on what basis would the strike be called?

[maineiac]

I don't know. How about a don't pay income taxes for a month holiday?

Hi Russ,

I was meaning to ask you if you are a non-filer with the IRS, and if so, why didn't they hammer you with various baloney charges during your recent stay in the pokey?

[Lloyd Danforth]

That might have put them in the position of having to keep him

[Osborn F. Enready]

I am very interested in the national, general strike idea.

Nothing shows unity more than people refusing to contribute to the system for one day.

Even if 50% support could be mustered, it would be astronomical.

The thing is, the purpose would have to be VERY clearly stated, as would the common threads to all to encourage participation.

What are those common threads, and how do you break them down to easily understood goals?

I think the common threads are Life, Liberty and Property.

How do you convince people that a strike like this would serve those goals?  What goals to set?

[tracysaboe]

It's not my bosses fault so much of the money gets confiscated.

I don't see the point.

Tracy

[Lloyd Danforth]

The idea of a general strike has a 'Lefty' sound to it.  You will notice Frank chimed in right away.  It is easy to organize people who don't work, collect wellfare, have government jobs, or love to screw their employer, to take a day off.  Not so with most working people.

[Russell Kanning]

Hi Russ,

I was meaning to ask you if you are a non-filer with the IRS, and if so, why didn't they hammer you with various baloney charges during your recent stay in the pokey?

I have not filed a 1040 form since 1998. That is a very good question. One that I have asked myself. Since they know who I am, why don't they try me on tax evasion? If Lloyd is right, then many people can do as I am and not be wanted .... by the fed jailers.

[firsty]

The idea of a general strike has a 'Lefty' sound to it.  You will notice Frank chimed in right away.  It is easy to organize people who don't work, collect wellfare, have government jobs, or love to screw their employer, to take a day off.  Not so with most working people.

well, i guess i'm sorta lefty. i took a quiz and i'm leftist libertarian or somesuch.

i dont believe in false demonstrations, however. i see what you're saying.

my reasons for promoting a general strike in one city or a group of cities (or beyond) would be:

to protest:

1. our payroll tax dollars going to an illegal war that the citizens only supported at first because of lies, and now the majority of whom dont support (now that we all know the real reasons). (this would be the main point - making it an anti-war protest, with the emphasis on the fact that, by giving up one day's pay, we are demonstrating our opposition to funding the war.)

2. a national ID card that would complicate the rights of people to gain employment, keep employment and engage in a free market.

3. a flawed capitalist system that gives jobs based on class and government economics, and ignores the problems within the communities of either its markets or its labor force.

4. call for bush's impeachment, again, with the idea being that losing a day's pay is the equivalent of a no-confidence vote for what he is doing with our tax dollars.

[Lloyd Danforth]

#3 indicates your truthiness about being a lefty. I understand what you are saying about the strike, i just don't know how it could be manifested.  Figuring out how to get people to deny the pigs a day of taxation, even symbolically, would work better than losing a days pay. I don't know how that could be done either.

[FrankChodorov]

if you look at recent south america/mexican elections - many of the contested ones and corrupt politicians have been protested/ousted by a general strike.

[firsty]

#3 indicates your truthiness about being a lefty. I understand what you are saying about the strike, i just don't know how it could be manifested.  Figuring out how to get people to deny the pigs a day of taxation, even symbolically, would work better than losing a days pay. I don't know how that could be done either.

i do believe that any govt with the power to collect taxes must have as one of its mandates a responsibility to protect its citizens in time of need. i dont mean general welfare. my problem right now is that the govt is imbalanced. it helps large businesses much more than it helps the individual, and the large businesses are in business to take advantage of as many individuals, both labor and consumer, as possible.

another example of imbalance is the no child left behind - a completely cloaked in wool tactic that is destroying our educational system. if the govt cant do it right, it needs to get the hell out. i'd be less lefty if i thought the govt wasnt getting it right due to some manner of incompetence or inability, but it seems that the govt is getting it (and everything else) wrong because it's simply got its priorities all twisted.

in this age of population explosion, there is something to be said for govts assisting with its most needy people. hezbollah has already done more (relatively speaking) for southern lebanon since the israeli air strikes started than the bush administration has yet to do for the gulf coast displaced.