3 ms·

Socialist in the title means immediate death of the organization from having any traction (meaning there will be no backlash.) Also EveryTown is already a very

Socialist in the title means immediate death of the organization from having any traction (meaning there will be no backlash.) Also EveryTown is already a very very large organization counter to the NRA. The NRA is powerful not because of its donations, it rarely ever does that...it's because a lot of people own and like guns. Until people come to grips with that, we'll never have real reform.

jMyles 7y ago
> Also EveryTown is already a very very large organization. Is it? I have never once met anyone involved in it. > The NRA is powerful not because of its donations, it rarely ever does that...it's because a lot of people own and like guns. I think it's fair to say that a lot of gun-owners despise the NRA. Selecting Olly North as a figurehead is not a way to please a libertarian-leaning constituency.
- flyingfences 7y ago
  > Is it? I have never once met anyone involved in it. "Large" in terms of astroturf funding, they mean.
- Rebelgecko 7y ago
  >Is it? I have never once met anyone involved in it. Their website claims they have more than 6 million supporters, although I suppose that could include things like Facebook likes and change.org petition signers. I'd suspect that their funding is a bit less grassroots than the NRA's (since so much comes from Bloomberg) but I haven't really looked into it. However Everytown is drastically outspending the NRA in terms of campaign contributions, and looks on track to outspend them overall in the next year or two.
  - jMyles 7y ago
    I have met people involved in the NRA, GOA, and NAAGA just going about my routine - people at the grocery store, lyft drivers, sitting next to me on the plane, etc. If I see someone wearing a baseball cap or t-shirt of a political organization, I always ask about their involvement, and in several cases, people wearing a logo of these three organizations has turned out to be a fairly committed activist. But of the two people I have seen wearing Everytown apparel, neither were involved in any material way. I suspect that it is a tiny organization with a large budget.
gremlinsinc 7y ago
Why is that? Socialism is on the rise, and a very popular sentiment. Most people maybe are confused about what it entails on both sides of the argument - Most on the right think socialists want cold-war-era USSR-like government. Most on the left including self-described socialists just want social democracy and not true marxist socialism. There are some though who are devout marxists, which has never actually been put 100% into action. Most socialistic attempts have turned into dictator rule. I'm not an expert on the subject, I just know every argument about socialism spends half the time trying to nail down what socialism is, and then the other half is back and forth about how many people have died under one or the other when there's really no way to quantify it because fuck tons of people have died under socialistic and capitalistic regimes (including the U.S.A -- victims of globalization and war profiteering, poverty, even school shootings because of a lack of medical and mental health accessibility). But my main point was that word no-longer elicits fear, and contempt like it once did, and for many in America it elicits hope - because capitalism has failed them, so socialism couldn't be worse. So, for some they won't join because of it - for others they will join just because it's a socialist promoting org. After all Bernie Sanders is one of the most popular politicians, definitely the most successful progressive/left-leaning politician we've ever seen (since FDR), and he gladly wears the title socialist, though I'm pretty sure he means democratic socialist not full socialism as well. <end rant>
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > Most on the right think socialists want cold-war-era USSR-like government. Most on the left including self-described socialists just want social democracy and not true marxist socialism. Even the ones that want Marxist socialism don't want Cold War USSR-like government, which is Leninist, an authoritarian adaptation of Marxism to bypass the prerequisite in Marx’s theory of developed capitalism and broad working-class class consciousness. > democratic socialist not full socialism “Democratic socialism” is not “like socialism, but reduced strength”.

jMyles 7y ago

> Also EveryTown is already a very very large organization. Is it? I have never once met anyone involved in it. > The NRA is powerful not because of its donations, it rarely ever does that...it's because a lot of people own and like guns. I think it's fair to say that a lot of gun-owners despise the NRA. Selecting Olly North as a figurehead is not a way to please a libertarian-leaning constituency.

flyingfences 7y ago
> Is it? I have never once met anyone involved in it. "Large" in terms of astroturf funding, they mean.
Rebelgecko 7y ago
>Is it? I have never once met anyone involved in it. Their website claims they have more than 6 million supporters, although I suppose that could include things like Facebook likes and change.org petition signers. I'd suspect that their funding is a bit less grassroots than the NRA's (since so much comes from Bloomberg) but I haven't really looked into it. However Everytown is drastically outspending the NRA in terms of campaign contributions, and looks on track to outspend them overall in the next year or two.
- jMyles 7y ago
  I have met people involved in the NRA, GOA, and NAAGA just going about my routine - people at the grocery store, lyft drivers, sitting next to me on the plane, etc. If I see someone wearing a baseball cap or t-shirt of a political organization, I always ask about their involvement, and in several cases, people wearing a logo of these three organizations has turned out to be a fairly committed activist. But of the two people I have seen wearing Everytown apparel, neither were involved in any material way. I suspect that it is a tiny organization with a large budget.

gremlinsinc 7y ago

Why is that? Socialism is on the rise, and a very popular sentiment. Most people maybe are confused about what it entails on both sides of the argument - Most on the right think socialists want cold-war-era USSR-like government. Most on the left including self-described socialists just want social democracy and not true marxist socialism. There are some though who are devout marxists, which has never actually been put 100% into action. Most socialistic attempts have turned into dictator rule. I'm not an expert on the subject, I just know every argument about socialism spends half the time trying to nail down what socialism is, and then the other half is back and forth about how many people have died under one or the other when there's really no way to quantify it because fuck tons of people have died under socialistic and capitalistic regimes (including the U.S.A -- victims of globalization and war profiteering, poverty, even school shootings because of a lack of medical and mental health accessibility). But my main point was that word no-longer elicits fear, and contempt like it once did, and for many in America it elicits hope - because capitalism has failed them, so socialism couldn't be worse. So, for some they won't join because of it - for others they will join just because it's a socialist promoting org. After all Bernie Sanders is one of the most popular politicians, definitely the most successful progressive/left-leaning politician we've ever seen (since FDR), and he gladly wears the title socialist, though I'm pretty sure he means democratic socialist not full socialism as well. <end rant>

dragonwriter 7y ago
> Most on the right think socialists want cold-war-era USSR-like government. Most on the left including self-described socialists just want social democracy and not true marxist socialism. Even the ones that want Marxist socialism don't want Cold War USSR-like government, which is Leninist, an authoritarian adaptation of Marxism to bypass the prerequisite in Marx’s theory of developed capitalism and broad working-class class consciousness. > democratic socialist not full socialism “Democratic socialism” is not “like socialism, but reduced strength”.