Raising the Ante: A proposal for a grassroots education and organizing experiment

Hypothesis: That many workers are open to more advanced explanations for the current economic crisis and remedies for it.

The experiment: Conduct door-to-door canvasses in a variety of working class neighborhoods to determine the extent to which this hypothesis is correct. Map next steps from accumulated experience.

Initially, this proposal is for a limited duration and scope to determine the degree to which workers might be open to more advanced analyses and solutions to the current economic crisis and to learning why the capitalist system causes reoccurring crisis. Should a significant number of workers respond positively, it is hoped this organizing practice could be expanded and become a catalyst for elevating demands and a corresponding level of struggle to win working class solutions to the economic crisis.

At this time, I am asking for feedback from 30 or so activists and colleagues about one-half of whom are labor union activists. Next steps will depend on the feedback. Should interest grow in this approach I would hope that some collaborative effort might take shape to develop materials and talking points. Some of the solutions I raise may or may not be on the mark and others could need modifying. Like the other activists who have written on this subject I am offering this for further discussion.

This spring, once warm weather arrives in Minnesota, I plan to recruit a few people to conduct an initial canvass to see what we can learn. Thank you for reading and I hope you will take the time to comment, critique and add to the discussion. Please feel free to comment anonymously. For now the blog is only accessible to those on the list. If you would like me to include a colleague or friend on the list send me her/his email address and I will add them. I have several premises from which I am working.

Premise #1: A necessary ingredient to widen the constrained public discussion on solutions to the economic crisis is for workers to learn how the capitalist system works. This knowledge will make is possible to open the debate to include a wider range of solutions and focus people’s anger and frustration toward the system and the powerful who are in charge. To continue to avoid discussing capitalism is to keep people ignorant of the knowledge and tools they need to understand their circumstances and act to change them.

Premise #2: In order to win the type of advanced solutions discussed here, social change organizations and leaders need to resolutely articulate a goal and strategy for building the political power necessary to win. If it might take changing 20 percent of the members of Congress to win certain demands this should be clearly communicated. This will focus people’s attention on a concrete strategy and the actions needed to succeed. People will then be less frustrated when Congress does not act immediately and will tend to become more determined and work harder to win because the goal and strategy is clear. These steps are necessary in order to build and sustain workers’ confidence for what might be lengthy struggles.

To be clear, I am not against incremental reforms or small victories, but the best way to fight for them is to challenge the assumptions and prerogatives of the system by raising the level of demands. In fact at this juncture in capitalism’s evolution it may be the only effective means of defending workers tenuous grip on a middle class standard of living. To create a fair, full-employment economy requires millions of workers (blue and white collar) becoming conscious and knowledgeable about the workings of the system they live and work in. Imagine the trajectory of a movement that in the course of building power to win systemic solutions like those suggested here (in the section, Raising the ante) is able win incremental concrete improvements in people’s lives. This project is designed to experiment with what might work to jump-start moving in this direction.