Decentralization has been the name of the game for at least all of my adult political experience — and in the 13 years since Occupy, what do we have to show for it? The harsh truth is our gains have been meager because our energy & experience have been scattered and disorganized.

The decentralized and ultra democratic tendencies of the US left arise from individualism and idealism. This outlook fails to understand that our ideals can’t be instantaneously realized outside history—rather they must be developed through the historical process itself.

The forms of organization we adopt must be suited to our historic tasks. Democracy and centralism aren’t inherently antagonistic; they form a dialectical unity. Democracy and centralism must be united in a form suitable to the particular circumstances of an org & movement.

Too many of us mistake decentralization for democracy. The absence of appropriate centralization doesn’t result in greater freedom, just less accountability, less sustainability, and less power. Where “decentralization” has worked, it’s due to a needed degree of centralization

Would you rather provide a thousand needle pricks or one bullet to achieve your revolution ?

A question

What should I do with this information

Embrace socialism or remain capitalist
But for the love of God, stop pretending to do one when you really want the other

I get it, it’s calling for more organization.
What a mouthful but I guess it gets the point across well

Timeline has schizoids saying "Don't join an org! Join a decentralized group of people with a common goal!"

Timeline

Dencentralizing what? I hear this buzzword in tech/crypto yet the wealth is more concentrated than ever and corporate power more concentrated than ever. As an organizational principal, breaking up labor as a rank and file class has been disastrous. It's atomization. Which decentralized movements have made tangible, durable political gains?

I think the op in the tweet is saying the left needs to centralize to actually be competent which goes against their decentralized individualist ideology

Decentralized individualist ideology? Maybe anarchists but not Marxists

Is there an argument for this in OP? Seems like a typical marxist ramble

It's not even pro-decentralization lol

wasnt that obvious tho

Anyways yeah decentralization really doesn't work for what we need. can't have a bunch of disconnected people all trying to work towards the same goal.

Yeah, I think "the left" (not anarchists/libs) have always had that in mind. It's the doing it part that has gotten harder since the 70s.

Workers are more "decentralized" now in general, and they all think of them as consumers anyway. The centralization has all been at the top.

Centralization is literally what’s killed populist left movements. Once the leader dies, or core membership gets imprisoned/killed/government infiltrated, the movement falls apart. There are also internal power struggles and corruptibility within these movements, and among leadership.

This is an infamous critique among ex-BPP members who turned to anarchism, mainly in reflection while doing a bid.

We've seen this happen throughout history time and time again, and to be stuck in the ways of the 1960s "New Left" is what will kill it a third time.

Also decentralized doesn't mean "not organizing", I don't get what that comes from.

Decentralized networking has its weaknesses, like all systems, because it's a bit harder to pull off with harnessing energy (you need to put in a bit more work to form networks) but it's resilient and leaderless.

Many anarchists/libsocs don't necessarily advocate for full-on decentralization (as people understand the conditions we are in), but rather for horizontalism, which still centralizes decision-making within an org itself, but rather with directly-democratic principles and consensus among the people.

I'd recommend reading about things like Especifismo, which is a modern form of anarchist organizing, especially in LATAM, but I think any organizer can learn from it.

nacla.org/article/definitions-horizontalism-and-autonomy

blackrosefed.org/especifismo-weaver

I want socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor