One person is significantly easier to kill or imprison than a thousand. What I would hypothetically be willing to do [in the video game World of Warcraft] as part of a 1000 person raid is very different than what I would be willing to do as an individual.
Well, true, but that’s an enormous hypothetical, and not really a realistic course of action. Even in that hypothetical, if a mob of 1000 people started firebombing government officials house, the police and then the national guard would deploy and start shooting. And who begins the raid? There needs to be someone to make the first move, without surefire knowing that 1000 people are about to back them up.
Next time you’re at a protest see how you feel about throwing a Molotov - let alone throwing one at a government official. I’ve been in crowds where people have done so little as lobbing bottles, and that crowd immediately got kettled by armed and mounted police, and the people who threw it got singled out, dragged out, and put in the van.
Militancy happens when people’s lives are made utterly miserable. That’s why militancy happens in exploited countries. That’s why trade unionists and anti racist groups were militant in the 20s-70’s in America, but not anymore. The conditions don’t necessitate it right now, and it’s not yet a rational response to risk your life.
It seems like those conditions will come back, but it hasn’t happened yet. If that time had come already, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
One person is significantly easier to kill or imprison than a thousand. What I would hypothetically be willing to do [in the video game World of Warcraft] as part of a 1000 person raid is very different than what I would be willing to do as an individual.
Well, true, but that’s an enormous hypothetical, and not really a realistic course of action. Even in that hypothetical, if a mob of 1000 people started firebombing government officials house, the police and then the national guard would deploy and start shooting. And who begins the raid? There needs to be someone to make the first move, without surefire knowing that 1000 people are about to back them up.
Next time you’re at a protest see how you feel about throwing a Molotov - let alone throwing one at a government official. I’ve been in crowds where people have done so little as lobbing bottles, and that crowd immediately got kettled by armed and mounted police, and the people who threw it got singled out, dragged out, and put in the van.
Militancy happens when people’s lives are made utterly miserable. That’s why militancy happens in exploited countries. That’s why trade unionists and anti racist groups were militant in the 20s-70’s in America, but not anymore. The conditions don’t necessitate it right now, and it’s not yet a rational response to risk your life. It seems like those conditions will come back, but it hasn’t happened yet. If that time had come already, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
idk i think the crowd of 1000 is the bigger ask, if you’ve already got the numbers might as well do the cool thing