Erik Loomis

OK, first of all, to your first point, you're absolutely right. I mean, I often get people emailing me and stuff and say, oh, you know, what do we need to do to get the general strike? And, you know, there's a lot of sort of fantasies in the political world, I think, of what I would call politics without politics. Right.

OK, first of all, to your first point, you're absolutely right. I mean, I often get people emailing me and stuff and say, oh, you know, what do we need to do to get the general strike? And, you know, there's a lot of sort of fantasies in the political world, I think, of what I would call politics without politics. Right.

We're like people come together in some way without the messiness and dirtiness of organizing and the complexities of dealing with real people and just like good things are going to happen. It's like the general strike requires like the workers that you hate to also be part of the strike. It requires Trump voters to be part of the strike.

We're like people come together in some way without the messiness and dirtiness of organizing and the complexities of dealing with real people and just like good things are going to happen. It's like the general strike requires like the workers that you hate to also be part of the strike. It requires Trump voters to be part of the strike.

It requires your racist uncle on Thanksgiving that you can't stand to also be part of the strike. It's going to be messy. And I think that's really a really, really critical point to not romanticize the strike or romanticize labor or romanticize change, but rather to understand what it really takes to create that change. And that leads to your second point about the public.

It requires your racist uncle on Thanksgiving that you can't stand to also be part of the strike. It's going to be messy. And I think that's really a really, really critical point to not romanticize the strike or romanticize labor or romanticize change, but rather to understand what it really takes to create that change. And that leads to your second point about the public.

I think a lot of people would like to think, I mean, there's a kind of a... of a messaging around the labor movement today inside the labor movement that I don't think is very helpful. And basically it is the kind of quote that gets thrown around a lot is the strike gets the goods.

I think a lot of people would like to think, I mean, there's a kind of a... of a messaging around the labor movement today inside the labor movement that I don't think is very helpful. And basically it is the kind of quote that gets thrown around a lot is the strike gets the goods.

Like if we just go on strike, it always works and only the union can sell us out, you know, from our power going on strike. But historically that is not the case and nor is it today. Strikes could be an amazing political tool or they could be a complete disaster. And it depends in no small part on that issue of public support.

Like if we just go on strike, it always works and only the union can sell us out, you know, from our power going on strike. But historically that is not the case and nor is it today. Strikes could be an amazing political tool or they could be a complete disaster. And it depends in no small part on that issue of public support.

General strikes are actually technically illegal in the United States now. It's part of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. So it would be really hard to actually have a general strike take place in this country because it would be an illegal act. That doesn't mean it can't happen, but it would be illegal. But you have to have public support in some way or another.

General strikes are actually technically illegal in the United States now. It's part of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. So it would be really hard to actually have a general strike take place in this country because it would be an illegal act. That doesn't mean it can't happen, but it would be illegal. But you have to have public support in some way or another.

And when unions have had broader public support, when they've engaged in a kind of unionism that builds support through the community to understand that what's happening here is that we're going on strike and inconveniencing you in many cases for the benefit of us all versus we're doing that for the very small benefit of our personal desires and needs, it leads to two very different kinds of outcomes.

And when unions have had broader public support, when they've engaged in a kind of unionism that builds support through the community to understand that what's happening here is that we're going on strike and inconveniencing you in many cases for the benefit of us all versus we're doing that for the very small benefit of our personal desires and needs, it leads to two very different kinds of outcomes.

The famous story, and some of your listeners may be familiar with this, is that in the beginning of 1937, auto workers in Flint, Michigan took over one of the plants for General Motors and sat inside and refused to leave to force GM to come to an agreement with this brand new union they were forming called the United Auto Workers to bring unions into the auto industry for the first time.

The famous story, and some of your listeners may be familiar with this, is that in the beginning of 1937, auto workers in Flint, Michigan took over one of the plants for General Motors and sat inside and refused to leave to force GM to come to an agreement with this brand new union they were forming called the United Auto Workers to bring unions into the auto industry for the first time.

And workers were scared, right? I mean, like, because GM basically controls Flint. That was common in the auto industry. Ford controls the town of Dearborn, for example. And that meant controlling the police forces. And so this small sort of vanguard, I guess, of workers decides to sit in in this one factory. They're able to do so.

And workers were scared, right? I mean, like, because GM basically controls Flint. That was common in the auto industry. Ford controls the town of Dearborn, for example. And that meant controlling the police forces. And so this small sort of vanguard, I guess, of workers decides to sit in in this one factory. They're able to do so.

And the idea is, in part, that if the workers just go out on strike, the GM will be able to bring in replacement workers. This makes that impossible. So they're sitting down on the job. And there's been kind of a myth that forms around this in a sense that part of the strategy was GM would not have wanted the cops to destroy their own facility.

And the idea is, in part, that if the workers just go out on strike, the GM will be able to bring in replacement workers. This makes that impossible. So they're sitting down on the job. And there's been kind of a myth that forms around this in a sense that part of the strategy was GM would not have wanted the cops to destroy their own facility.