I’ve been reading about the development of resistance movements in WWII, and I noticed something that got me thinking.

Resistance in a unified front (i.e. among groups that disagree politically), seems to require some form of shared identity.

  • The fighting front in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (groups including Zionists and Bundists) shared the common identity of being Jewish.

  • The united front in the French resistance (nationalists and communists) shared the common identity of being French1.

I think we can all agree that identifying with American patriotism is entirely reactionary – as a settler colony, there’s basically nothing redeemable there.

Is there an effective shared identity for people in the U$ to resist from?

I feel like the 2020 BLM protests had a shared identity of anti-racism, but it feels like that energy has dissipated.

1: not an identity without controversy, but not as directly reactionary as a full settler colonial national identity.

  • Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml
    6·
    4 days ago

    I just want to point out that the two examples you brought up were in invaded countries, not in Germany itself, so it’s hard to compare them to the US.

    • Nondiegetic (any) @lemmygrad.mlOP
      4·
      4 days ago

      I think they’re pretty apt comparisons. Both were invaded, but a large percentage of the population were active collaborators. I think that collborators-resistance-invaders dynamic could be relevant to any conflict here (like the troops are from out of a given state and supported by local chuds).

      But importantly, the U$ is an invaded state supported by active violent oppression. It’s basically an unholy amalgam of Vichy France and the Nazi government, and only held in place by violence over the oppressed groups.

      (Edit - also those two are just what I read about most recently, not really intentionally strategic examples)