On Fri, Sep 25, 2026 at 10:50 AM, John Reimann wrote: > > I've been to just about every No Kings march here in Oakland. Some of them > were huge. You want to know who wasn't there? The unions!Maybe they had a > contingent of ten or so, but that was all. And what was the result of > those marches? Zero. They didn't influence Trump at all. So, if you call > yourself a socialist, please don't hide behind No Kings as if they will be > our savior.
Historically, there have been many mass demonstrations and other forms of protest which had very little or no effect in changing government policy. The huge marches which failed to stop the 2003 invasion of Iraq come immediately to mind. However, that is no reason to criticize them on that account or to abstain from building them. Even where they have only a limited effect on government policy, they have generally had a transformative effect on mass consciousness, a necessary precondition for realizing more fundamental change. The Palestine solidarity, anti-ICE, and No Kings rallies over the past two years are the most recent examples. It is illusory to believe these mass movements can be outflanked by the still very limited forces of the DSA and other socialist groups associated with the left-wing publications cited by John Reimann acting independently. To the No Kings protests, he counterposes that "the main strategy should be to organize mass work stoppages to stop Trump’s planned theft." But such a strategy presupposes a higher level of class consciousness and militancy, well-organized Communist and other Marxist currents within the trade unions capable of exercising leadership, and more favourable employment conditions for walking off the job - conditions which existed during the rise of the industrial unions which are no longer present today. My understanding is that DSA is encouraging its members to build the No Kings demonstrations, and while the national unions and labour federations may not be doing enough to promote and build these mass actions, this is nothing new and there remains the same opportunity outside the workplace for socialists to interact with union activists at the local level as there has always been. At last year's No Kings demonstrations, which turned out millions in thousands of communities, for example: "The rally organizers also partnered with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Nurses United and the American Federation of Teachers, as well as labor coalitions May Day Strong and Labor for Democracy, to drive turnout of union workers and their communities. In New York, a coalition of the city’s biggest unions turned out thousands, including the Communications Workers of America, 1199SEIU, 32BJ SEIU, the United Federation of Teachers and the Professional Staff Congress." https://inthesetimes.com/article/no-kings-march-union-organizing-trump-democrats-ice -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#43518): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/43518 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/121405050/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
