The year is 2016 and the United States has been over-run by [enemy ideology]. The people chafe under the yoke of [enemy ideologues], but are too numbed by propaganda to realise that they hold the true power in society. It is a dark time.
But even in darkness, there is light. YOU have realised the TRUTH and set out to bring real change to America!
(This thread is loosely based on Liberal Crime Squad, but you don't need to have played that game to participate and have a good time. The basic idea is that you're setting up a radical political cell with the intention of drastically changing the society of parody America.)
>Three replies pick the TRUTH
>>44433227
Arch conservativism
>>44433227
Troskyism
>>44433227
Trotters
While we sort out the TRUTH, some notes on the rules:
> Decisions are made by "shoutocracy" - if comments in favour of an action outweigh those against, the Crime Squad acts that way
> dice are a liberal/conservative/bourgeois convention and shall not be used
> I'll lay out standard options in each of my posts, but you can opt for something different
Trotskyism
>>44433399
>>44433419
>>44433691
Trotskyism it is.
The bourgeois carnival of consumption raged outside, but within the Headquarters of the Revolution the Founder found peace and solitude. A new year was about to begin, and with it, a Revolutionary Period.
>Taking stock
Party Members: 1 (the Founder, a freelance journalist - name and identity to be decided)
Supporters: 0
Contacts: 0
Assets: The Headquarters of the Revolution (a small apartment), extensive library of Trotsky's writings, limited cash, incidentals
What now?
> Write (Manifesto/Propaganda/Agitation)
> Street work (at the docks/outside a factory/in a working class neighbourhood/other)
> Work day job
Voting ends in half an hour.
>>44433447
>trots
>shoutocracy
>>44433852
Manifesto, we need a solid base to stand against the new year's challenges.
>>44433852
> Write (Manifesto/Propaganda/Agitation)
We must define the truth in our manifesto for the unenlightened masses! Only once they are informed, can the people rise up against the bourgeois oppressors who spit on the working man and grind him beneath their boots!
>>44434180
>>44434209
The Founder sets to work on a Manifesto, laying out the historical and international problems confronting the American Working Class and identifying the key strategic experiences that the workers of the world have been through in the last two hundred years...
Damn this is a lot of work. The Founder takes a few shortcuts and produces an introductory version by New Year's Eve.
>Draft Manifesto added to Assets. It's a 36-page document. Does it need a flashy title? (Default: Principles of the Internationalist Worker's League)
What now?
>Write (Theoretical Document/Propaganda/Agitation)
>Street work (at the docks/outside a factory/in a working class neighbourhood/other)
>Work a day job
>Other
>>44434351
>Work a day job
No-one who fails to understand the plight and life of the common worker can ever hope to lead the people in glorious revolution that shall sweep away the capitalist pigs and the proletariat jackals!
Title: The World of the Working Men, United!
>>44434414
>understand the plight and life of the common worker
Concerned that their relatively comfortable lifestyle separates them from the toiling masses, the Founder decides to get a regular job. Several interviews later, the Founder is working at a local SellMart, smiling at horrible customers and engaging in busy work because heaven forbid that anyone take a break on minimum wage.
While working at SellMart, the Founder makes contacts from among their co-workers - but barely manages to pay the bills.
>Taking stock
Party Members: 1 (the Founder, a freelance journalist/sales assistant - name and identity to be decided)
Supporters: 0
Contacts: 3 (Jesse Kimmons (19, Sales Assistant), Mirabel Fajardo (38, Sales Assistant), Serxio Acosta (22, Forklift Operator))
Assets: The Headquarters of the Revolution (a small apartment), "The World of the Working Men, United!" (36-page draft manifesto), extensive library of Trotsky's writings, limited cash, incidentals
What now? I assume that the Founder keeps their day job until the thread wants them to quit.
>Write (Theoretical Document/Propaganda/Agitation)
>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
>Other
>>44434906
>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
The good work of the People's Glorious Revolution begins in the hearts and minds of the common, working man! We shall invite our fellow workers drinking and over drinks, express to them the unfairness of the capitalist trap that ensnares us all... And more importantly, how fragile it truly is before the will of the people! Urah!
>>44435193
>drink with fellow workers
Mirabel leaps on the idea and helps cajole Jesse and Sexio into getting a beer after work. She even brings along her niece, Amaya, though the Founder suspects that Mirabel intends to fix the girl up with someone rather than get her into politics.
Drinks go OK. Jesse swallows the firebrand stuff and his first drink pretty quickly, talking up how the "1% have it coming to them!" while tying on a second beer. Mirabel keeps trying to change the subject, but she isn't hostile. Amaya sits quietly and listens.
Serxio talks back, though. "Yeah, I hear this stuff every year. There's always someone coming around who says they're going to give us a level playing field or restore the middle class or any of that other bullshit. What makes you any different? You talk about the will of the people, but the way I see it people just want to get on with their lives."
Awkward. How does the Founder deal with it?
>Let Mirabel brush things over
>Shout at Serxio, condemning him as a class traitor
>Start talking about the Russian Revolution
>Sing the Internationale
>Other
>>44435453
>Other
There is only so far that people can be pushed. Every year, the fat pigs on Wall Street grow more bloated on the fruits of our labour, the labour of the working men whom they owe EVERYTHING and give NOTHING! Soon, we will not even be able to meet the price of living, as inflation continues to climb and wages stubbornly refuse to meet that raise! Every year, the jackals and vultures on capitol hill strip away a little more of the liberty and dignity of the common man. The Patriot Act, the phone-tapping, random stops and searches... You only have to look at the rise in the frequency of urban violence and rioting to see that the centre cannot hold! It may not be this year, but rest assured my friends, within our lifetimes, we will see these United States either drown in fire and blood, or rise anew from the ashes. Who better to lead that rise than us? The very people who slave tirelessly to ensure the gears of this great nation continue to grind? America is a powder keg waiting for a spark... It only falls to us to see if that spark consumes everyone and everything we hold dear and leads to the rise of an age ever darker and more exploitative than this one, or if it is the flame by which we may yet forge a country TRULY governed by the people and FOR the people!
>>44436018
>Give a firey speech
Well, Jesse is impressed at least. Serxio rolls his eyes and replies that he has something else on this weekend, but wishes the Founder the best of luck before leaving. Amaya remarks that the Founder seems very passionate about all of this - but Mirabel cuts off her niece and changes the subject again.
>Taking stock
Party Members: 1 (the Founder, a freelance journalist/sales assistant - name and identity to be decided)
Supporters: 1 (Jesse Kimmons (19, Sales Assistant))
Contacts: 3 (Mirabel Fajardo (38, Sales Assistant), Amaya Fajardo (?, ??), Serxio Acosta (22, Forklift Operator))
Assets: The Headquarters of the Revolution (a small apartment), "The World of the Working Men, United!" (36-page draft manifesto), extensive library of Trotsky's writings, limited cash, incidentals
What now?
>Try to get more out of the evening
Or call it a night and go on to:
>Write (Theoretical Document/Propaganda/Agitation)
>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
>Other
>>44436158
>>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
Lets see if we can get Jesse on board.
>>44436851
Drinks dissolve more or less naturally after Serxio departs. Mirabel hugs the Founder goodbye, Amaya gives a sweet smile and says that she "really hopes the world will get better, too," and Jesse gives a high-five and a "Power to the People" on his way out.
It's now the third week of January 2016, and the Founder decides to
>get Jesse on board
Jesse Kimmons readily agrees to meet, though when the Founder presses a printed copy of "The World of the Working Men, United!" into his hands the young sales assistant is slightly taken aback. He says he'll give it a skim but can't promise to read the whole thing.
On the bright side, Jesse does turn up. On the other hand, it doesn't take much time at all for the Founder to realize that Jesse's pledge to skim was a bit of an exaggeration. He didn't even open the manifesto's cover. The Founder goes over the main points with Jesse but it starts to become clear that the same qualities that make the young man attracted to stirring rhetoric also make him a bit... uncritical.
At the end of the meeting, Jesse says to the Founder, "Hey, I'm all for workers getting a better deal, but I don't really know what you want me to do."
Come to think of it, the Founder's not sure either. What sort of help should they ask for from Jesse?
>A financial pledge to help with the party's expenses - it's not like we're going to get corporate sponsors
>He should join the party, we need more people like him
>Jesse should just be prepared to help out when the time comes.
>Other
(Note: Anyone can name or otherwise identify the Founder, they don't have to remain a cipher.)
>>44437179
>>He should join the party, we need more people like him
Open up Liberal Crime Squad and hit random 5 times for the name.
>>44437349
>Open up Liberal Crime Squad and hit random 5 times for the name.
"Adrianna Nagelburg"
Happy?
>>44437606
yes
>>44437606
>Yes
and
>He should join the party, we need more people like him
>>44437179
>>44437349
>>44437839
"Hey, I'm all for workers getting a better deal, but I don't really know what you want me to do."
Adrianna puts on her serious face and tells Jesse firmly, "You should join the Party. We need more people like you."
"OK, you got it!" The young man is clearly touched by the vote of confidence. Jesse beams and blinks back a tear or two of happiness as Adrianna walks him through the paperwork.
>Jesse Kimmons has joined the Party
It's now the fourth week of January 2016.
>Taking stock
Party Members: 2 (Adrianna Nagelburg (Party Founder, a freelance journalist/sales assistant), Jesse Kimmons (19, Sales Assistant))
Supporters: 0
Contacts: 3 (Mirabel Fajardo (38, Sales Assistant), Amaya Fajardo (?, ??), Serxio Acosta (22, Forklift Operator))
Assets: The Headquarters of the Revolution (a small apartment), "The World of the Working Men, United!" (36-page draft manifesto), extensive library of Trotsky's writings, limited cash, incidentals
What now?
>Write (Theoretical Document/Propaganda/Agitation)
>Have Adrianna teach Jesse (writing/history/political theory)
>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
>Other
>>44437861
>Write some propaganda and see if Jesse and us can spread it around and get some new similar minded contacts.
>>44437861
>>Have Adrianna teach Jesse (writing/history/political theory)
an overview of Trotsky's writings and some history of the movement.
>>44437938
>>44437941
I'll wait a little bit for a tie-breaker, but if one doesn't arrive these can be combined over a longer time period.
>>44437938
>>44437941
(Actually, rather than just bomb you with text, I'll do a little of each.)
Adrianna spends her weeknights working on a critical analysis of the bourgeois party primaries, seeking to warn workers about the traps being prepared for them in the electoral year. Jesse gets drafted in to help with some research, receiving something of a practical education in what it means to be a party member.
That weekend, the two take Adrianna's article and some copies of TWotWMU to distribute outside a local medical clinic. Jesse is still finding his feet and, although he manages to distribute some copy, doesn't get any contacts. Adrianna does a bit better.
Iris Sawyer was going into the clinic for advice on an abortion and hurried past the party stall in the belief that only the "pro-life" crazies would be leafleting. She picked up Adrianna's article while waiting for an appointment and came out to talk after seeing her doctor. The Founder's insightful article and confident manner impressed Iris, so she paid for a copy of the party manifesto and left her contact details.
It is now the first week of February 2016.
>Taking stock
Party Members: 2 (Adrianna Nagelburg (Party Founder, a freelance journalist/sales assistant), Jesse Kimmons (19, Sales Assistant))
Supporters: 0
Contacts: 3 (Mirabel Fajardo (38, Sales Assistant), Amaya Fajardo (?, ??), Serxio Acosta (22, Forklift Operator), Iris Sawyer (19, College Student))
Assets: The Headquarters of the Revolution (a small apartment), "The World of the Working Men, United!" (36-page draft manifesto), extensive library of Trotsky's writings, limited cash, incidentals
What next?
>Write (Theoretical Document/Propaganda/Agitation)
>Have Adrianna teach Jesse (writing/history/political theory)
>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
>Other
>>44438293
>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
Let's meet with Sawyer and get to know her better.
>>44438293
>>Contact work (socialise with all contacts/invite all contacts to political meeting/one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
>>44438386
>>44438434
At work, Mirabel has some unexpected news: an invitation to her niece Amaya's 20th birthday. It seems that Adrianna made an impression. But that can wait until next week, because the immediate objective is to:
>meet with Sawyer
Iris answers her 'phone and remembers Adrianna after being prompted. She's glad to have been called and readily agrees to meet. In fact, Iris offers to buy dinner - but she wants to bring her boyfriend, Sean.
Is that OK?
>No problem.
>The more the merrier! (Bring Jesse to the meeting.)
>It's not OK.
>Dig for details
>Something else
>>44438670
>The more the merrier! (Bring Jesse to the meeting.)
Might be good to bring Jesse along, makes it easier to get one on one time if we need to.
>an invitation to her niece Amaya's 20th birthday.
We should definitely go to that. Will be a good opportunity to expand our social circle and feel around a bit for sympathizers.
We need a party name before we go further.
Something like American Branch of the Internation Workingmens Revolutionary Party (Bolshevik-Leninist) ?
>tfw actual trot part of a trot organization
This is uncomfortably accurate
>>44438670
No problem, and bring Jesse, contact work can be easier if you can answer all their questions at once
Also, we should look into grabbing some basic literature for contacts to read alongside our work, like the Communist manifesto, or the Transitional Program
>>44438858
>We need a party name before we go further.
I'll assume that you have a name until it gets sorted out.
>>44438767
>>44438923
>meet with Iris & Sean, and bring Jesse
Adrianna agrees to meet Iris at a restaurant. There are a few surprises within. "Sean" is short for Shigeru, though he speaks with a California accent. A quick glance at the menu shows that Iris is either well-to-do or eager to impress.
Over a quite delicious dinner, politics are discussed. Iris and Sean are clearly intelligent and well-informed, so much so that Jesse becomes a silent partner. They're also full of ideas. In particular, Iris stresses how useless the Official Liberal Party are for defending women's rights, and puts it to Adrianna that the Party would be the ideal vehicle for advancing the interests of women and minorities in Washington.
How does Adrianna respond?
>Enthusiastically! We need to forge alliances with progressive forces.
>Calm but cold. The party is the historical vehicle of the interests of the working class. Defending democratic rights is part of that mission, but not the whole thing.
>Hostile. There's no room in the party for people who want to break up the working class.
>Something else?
>>44439126
>Calm but cold. The party is the historical vehicle of the interests of the working class. Defending democratic rights is part of that mission, but not the whole thing.
We have our agenda and they have theirs. We will stand by our principles but if there is common ground we can agree on, we can cooperate.
>>44439126
>something else
Try to bring her over to our side.
Tell her that the struggle for minorities and women, while important, can only be addressed by addressing the root causes- class society and capitalism. We can't let ourselves be sidetracked into identitarianism. True democracy is economic democracy, the democracy of communism. The party can tactically support other entities focused on those struggles, but our focus should remain on the working class.
If that goes over well, recommend some of Rosa Luxembourg's works on women, and a bit of materialism.
>>44439247
Seconded, true equality is impossible under capitalism, the struggle for womens and minorities rights is the struggle for communism.
>>44439126
Changing my vote from this: >>44439204 to: >>44439247
>>44439247
>>44439346
>>44439362
>Try to bring her over to our side.
Sean questions the "root causes" story, noting that there was sexism way before capitalism. Iris nods along with that and adds in that this whole "tactical support" idea is a bit vague. If your party is just going to leave minority rights for minorities to sort out - at least until some hallowed day - then you're going to be mainly a party of white men.
Jesse looks a bit uncomfortable at that but doesn't say anything. How does Adrianna respond?
>Conciliate. Explain that the party is looking for long-standing alliances with other progressive groups - the same way that feminist organisations work alongside gay rights organisations.
>Stand firm and insist that real progress is impossible in this stage of capitalism. Humanity's only hope lies in the working class and the founding of a new form of society.
>Something else?
>>44439530
>Stand firm
The struggles of minorities are the struggles of the people, and true liberation is only reachable through a people's revolution. Bourgoise feminism & liberalism is just that- bourgoise, and will only advance their 'causes' as long as it benefits the ruling class, and will only serve to divide us when we should be uniting.
We're Bolshevik revolutionaries, not soft left reformists, and we fight for all people, not special interest groups.
>>44439530
>Stand firm and insist that real progress is impossible in this stage of capitalism.also OP is suprisingly well versed in socialism and its squabbles
>>44439794
>OP is suprisingly well versed in socialism
Despite what the image might suggest, I did my research for all four "squads".
>>44439633
>>44439794
>Adrianna stands firm
Laying it out straight puts Jesse at ease. Hopefully he'll remember the importance of defending principles in the future.
Sean isn't so impressed. He shakes his head and talks to Iris like the Trotskyists aren't even there. "See? I told you it'd be like this. What a waste of time." He stands and looks at his girlfriend expectantly, but Iris doesn't take the transition from feminist ally to man of the house too well. She snaps at him that she can make her own decisions and that if he wants to leave they'll catch up later.
After Sean has departed, Iris offers a half-apology. "He shouldn't have responded like that, but I don't really agree with your politics either. Still... you're the only people I've met who talk about some important issues. Would you accept a donation from someone who is a bit bourgeois?"
Well, would you?
>Sure, why not?
>Yes, but be clear that you're only accepting it on the basis of the political agreement that you do have.
>No, the party is only interested in support from working people.
>Something else?
>>44440037
>Yes, but be clear that you're only accepting it on the basis of the political agreement that you do have.
>>44440037
>Yes, but be clear that you're only accepting it on the basis of the political agreement that you do have.
>>44440128
>>44440282
>Yes, but be clear
Iris makes light of the explanation, holding up her hands in mock surrender and telling Adrianna, "OK. You got me. You got me!" Still, she picks up the tab and pledges fifty bucks a month to the party fund.
We're now heading into the second week of February 2016.
>Taking stock
Party Members: Adrianna Nagelburg (Party Founder, a freelance journalist/sales assistant), Jesse Kimmons (19, Sales Assistant)
Supporters: Iris Sawyer (19, College Student, pledging $50 a month)
Contacts: Mirabel Fajardo (38, Sales Assistant), Amaya Fajardo (20, ??), Serxio Acosta (22, Forklift Operator)
Assets: The Headquarters of the Revolution (a small apartment), "The World of the Working Men, United!" (36-page draft manifesto), extensive library of Trotsky's writings, limited cash, incidentals
What next?
>Go to Amaya's 20th (specify any preparations)
>Write (Theoretical Document/Propaganda/Agitation)
>Have Adrianna teach Jesse (writing/history/political theory)
>Contact work (socialise with all contacts, invite all contacts to political meeting, or a one-on-one discussion with a single contact)
>Other
>>44440377
>Go to Amaya's 20th (specify any preparations)
Bake some cookies to take. Using our handmade hammer & sickle cookie cutter.
>>44440449
>Go to Amaya's 20th (specify any preparations)
Bring some beer
>>44440377
>>44440497
and we'll want to keep it toned down. This is a social event first, networking opportunity second.
We don't want to come off as a dick who showed up just to recruit people.
>>44440449
>>44440497
>>44440740
>Bring cookies and beer
Interesting combination.
Adrianna arrives just in time to meet Amaya's parents as they're leaving for the evening. Mr. Fajardo notices the beers and suggests trading them for cold ones from the fridge. He and his wife also remind the girls (? Adrianna's age is still a bit up in the air) to take it easy. Could have gone worse.
Amaya is delighted that her new friend came along and absolutely thrilled by the cookies. The party never really gets wild, with a dozen young people showing up, giving gifts to the birthday girl, and getting mildly drunk while socialising. All very relaxed, until Amaya puts Adrianna on the spot by announcing to everyone that the founder is probably the smartest person in America and really ought to have her own TV show.
Now what?
>Suggest that Amaya is being way too kind (and possibly way too drunk). This is not the time or place.
>Play it down a bit but take the opportunity to refer the guests to the party website
>Take the opportunity to make a speech. What could go wrong?
>Something else?
>>44440767
>Take the opportunity to make a speech. What could go wrong?
Nothing grand, just a short little thing about changing America into something great. Mention the website if it goes down well.
>>44440767
>Suggest that Amaya is being way too kind (and possibly way too drunk). This is not the time or place.
Suggest somewhere that could be the right time and place instead.
>>44440818
This.
>>44440818
>>44441015
>Give a short generic speech
It's probably just as well that everyone is a bit drunk, because that's a bit of a let-down after the build up from Amaya. Her friends applaud at the end and Adrianna drops in the website, but it's unlikely that she'll be getting a lot of hits from that performance.
What should Adrianna do now?
>Just relax and have a good time.
>Make sure to look after Amaya until her parents get home.
>Leave early, there's never enough time for the work of the party.
>>44441115
>Make sure to look after Amaya until her parents get home.
>Just relax and have a good time.
>>44441115
>Just relax and have a good time.
Try striking up conversation with anyone who showed interest in our speech. If no one bites, we'll just take it easy.
>>44441115
>Make sure to look after Amaya until her parents get home.
Ask her if she'd like to join the party, and ask her friends, the one that applauded, also.
>>44441127
>>44441148
>>44441157
>Have a good time, but keep an eye on Amaya
Adrianna tries talking to a few of Amaya's friends, but it's not the best atmosphere for political discussion so things don't get much past small-talk. It quickly becomes clear that Amaya doesn't really have a best friend here. It's not that the other guests don't like her, but none of them are particularly close to the girl and a lot of people are leaving early to go to other engagements. Next time Adrianna checks in on Amaya, the girl is clearly drunk - probably drinking too fast from nervousness - and nobody else wants to put up with it.
An hour and a half of babysitting, broken up by sobbing apologies from Amaya for being so terrible and useless and embarrassing, and then the Fajardos are back home to take care of things. Amaya's parents continue to be pretty cool and thank Adrianna for looking after their daughter rather than getting all blamey.
(That's almost all for tonight from me, as well. I'll pick up the thread again, or start a new one, in about twelve hours. If anyone has any last things for Adrianna to do at the party, I can handle those but week 3 of February will have to wait.)
>>44441326
Thanks for running OP.
>>44441326
Thank you for this. Looking forward to continuing.
