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"Where do correct ideas come from? Do they drop from the skies? No. Are they innate in the mind? No. They come from social practice, and from it alone; they come from three kinds of social practice, the struggle for production, the class struggle and scientific experiment.
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It is man’s social being that determines his thinking. Once the correct ideas characteristic of the advanced class are grasped by the masses, these ideas turn into a material force which changes society and changes the world."
-Mao
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-9/mswv9_01.htm
-Mao
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-9/mswv9_01.htm
This is important to grasp. There are material ramifications to this question. Ideas come from the material conditions and ones relation to productive forces. Organizing to shift consciousness does not work.
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We need to learn to think deeply. Occupy Wall Street has been celebrated for its ideological gains: raising the consciousness of the masses and introducing the concept of the 99% vs. the 1%. A decade later we see how little that has gotten us.
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CHAZ has been declared a success by many. However it was shut down w/i three weeks. What was materially gained? I don’t fault comrades who didn’t get to choose their conditions. When the pigs withdrew, they took advantage. However, we need to learn to think strategically.
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What are the end goals? Who is the enemy? What are the demands? What pressure is being placed if they are not met? What is an encampment in a park going to do? What is a semi-autonomous zone going to do? We need to think deeply.
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If we understood that ideas come from the material world and specifically in relation to productive forces, we’d know that raising political consciousness in a society dominated by capitalism-imperialism is largely a waste of time. We need to reverse this process.
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Conduct social investigation and class analysis in your community. Build political and social power. Organize strategically. The struggle is over the economic base. It is a material struggle. The ideological gains will flow out of that.
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