I know twitter is not real life but it's still a good sign. For a hashtag to trend on twitter it has to be more than just leftists tweeting about it.
In my city, the IWW is getting more people reaching out than usual, and not just leftist nerds. If it's like that hear it's probably also happening elsewhere.Workers are agitated.
Noah Fence told me that in the UK, anarchist mutual aid organizations are getting more members than usual, too, including from people who aren't anarchists or leftists of any kind but just see the good common sense in anarchist organization and action.
It's still very early to tell but hopefully the working class will emerge from this crisis more conscious, more militant, and more organized.
This coronavirus situation is tragic, and it has weighed heavily in my heart as I've been thinking of all the loss of life, loss of loved ones, economic hardship, loneliness, exacerbation of depression and anxiety, and other suffering that will come out of it. Trying to see that there may be some good happening, too.
The important thing is that
The important thing is that Comrade Britney's on board, so everything's going to be grand. The mutual aid explosion has been amazing - I would be wary of describing it as "anarchist mutual aid" even, we might have been among the first involved in calling for/setting up groups in some areas and Freedom News and QueerCare Network in particular have played valuable roles, but it's so, so much bigger than us. Take a look at the map and listings here, it's astonishing: https://covidmutualaid.org/local-groups/
For North America, see here: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/collective-care/
As for the general strike stuff, I don't know what that looks like in a situation where so many people are off work anyway - like Chuang said, "the subjective experience is somewhat like that of a mass strike—but one which, in its non-spontaneous, top-down character and, especially in its involuntary hyper-atomization, illustrates the basic conundrums of our own strangled political present as clearly as the true mass strikes of the previous century elucidated the contradictions of their era. The quarantine, then, is like a strike hollowed of its communal features but nonetheless capable of delivering a deep shock to both psyche and economy." Although having said that, of course there are still some people going to work, and there are work strikes happening in Italy and so on, as documented here: https://en.labournet.tv/i-stay-home
The rent strike aspect feels like it could be really big as well, maybe. The old slogan about "can't pay, won't pay" will be pretty relevant for a lot of people.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-FppKxAFxm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Some examples of strike
Some examples of strike action already happening: in Italy and elsewhere in the world.
Oh yes, Comrade Britney, how
Oh yes, Comrade Britney, how could I forget?
wojtek
At first I misread the last line as "communism moves beyond walls"!
Thanks for the links about the mutual aid groups and the various strikes. Let's keep posting positive updates here.