>>497964Missed you saying this - no, I frankly beg to differ.
Forget "hoarding ammo," there is a high probability that anyone on the left in the U.S. who I make this recommendation to has
no ammo whatsoever. The U.S. left lacks guns and does not know how to shoot
to this day, and that is a baseline which is easy and cheap to fix
for now, but which could become way harder at any time. There isn't a choice between "hoarding ammo" and "organizing mass action," there is a dire situation where the American left will not be prepared for even tiny strategic amounts of revolutionary action or even the most basic self-defense in the amount of time necessary to do any good whatsoever. Hoarding ammo and organizing mass action (of the kind which will adequately address the problem at a large scale) are
ambitions, and both are
completely valid ambitions, but anyone who thinks either of these is attainable within a reasonable amount of time is living in a fantasy world; these aren't the options in front of us any more than hoarding a nuclear stockpile is.
With this in mind, my step one is to arm, because I know that many people are not doing this. In fact, in the United States, it's very common for "socialists" to spend what little money they accrue on hedonism - treats, drinks, drugs, luxuries, games, movies, art, fancy stuff. Anyone who is really concerned about the state of things in this country will get
nothing out of all that, but
will be more equipped to deal with the worsening situation if they are armed. An organization made up of
armed people is automatically more powerful than an organization of disarmed people, regardless of whether those people armed first and then joined the organization - and so, I recommend that those who have not yet joined an organization, and who may not live where an organization already flourishes,
to arm. I recommend that they also start or join an organization, and express solidarity towards those other workers who oppose the state of things, but
they must arm. There's no excuse not to, and the better armed they are, the better, and the more practice they get shooting, the better, so their aim will be improved.