And when communists look at these protests and dismiss them outright, they ignore any of the material realities of these events. The reality is, people like the PSL are within these protests. Liberal protest does not build class consciousness on its own, spontaneous action does not spontaneously build a revolutionary movement, or become a revolutionary moment. This is exactly why you need a party actively engaging in these moments, even leading these moments, which in a lot of locations they are. PSL is involved in organizing some of these protests. This is done with the goal of educating the masses.

The reality is, the imperial core is the most resilient stronghold of capitalist ideology. Every revolution that has ever taken place and succeeded has been where the chains of imperialism were weakest. There is no blueprint, no existing and proven strategy, for building a revolutionary movement and succeeding within that stronghold. This stronghold has hundreds of years of playbooks, tactics, and strategies for crushing rising left wing movements. Absolutely demonic forms of physical and psychological torture at both personal and mass scale, built on the decades of imperialist aggression. Entire categories of Marxist thinking, founded by the intelligence communities, for the sole sake of castrating the revolutionary aspects of Marxism and folding into the “compatible left”.

Does it ever make you wonder why the gun culture exists as it does in America? It has deep roots in post civil war America and a drop in demand for guns. To make up for this dramatic drop in demand, new demand needed to be created within the civilian market. Most of this advertising was around hunting, but also included “riot guns”. Jumping on the post-war atmosphere to monetize racism and fears of radicalism, “riot guns” were marketed to business owners as a way to protect the “industrial life of the nation”. You can read more about that here: https://socialistworker.org/2018/03/01/the-political-economy-of-gun-culture

The reality is, after the Civil War, the reactionaries and business elites began arming members of their class, and those who shared their class interests. This is what attaches the conservative movement squarely with gun ownership, and why liberal and progressives then associate guns with all the characteristics of the conservative movement. This is why the progressives never armed themselves, and why they shriek about being peaceful.

I could go on, but the conditions required for things to change, are large, and one of them is breaking liberals of the idea that guns are evil, and not simply a tool for demanding and maintaining political agency.

"Liberalism manifests itself in various ways.

(…)

To indulge in irresponsible criticism in private instead of actively putting forward one’s suggestions to the organization. (…) To show no regard at all for the principles of collective life but to follow one’s own inclination. This is a second type [of liberalism].

(…)

To indulge in personal attacks, pick quarrels, vent personal spite or seek revenge instead of entering into an argument and struggling against incorrect views for the sake of unity or progress or getting the work done properly. This is a fifth type.

(…)

To be among the masses and fail to conduct propaganda and agitation or speak at meetings or conduct investigations and inquiries among them, and instead to be indifferent to them and show no concern for their well-being, forgetting that one is a Communist and behaving as if one were an ordinary non-Communist. This is a seventh type.

(…)

To regard oneself as having rendered great service to the revolution, to pride oneself on being a veteran, to disdain minor assignments while being quite unequal to major tasks, to be slipshod in work and slack in study. This is a tenth type." - Mao

In all seriousness, you’re more of a liberal than the people organising these protests.

You have advanced political consciouness, but if you refuse to use that to organise the people around you, it might as well not exist.