A rant, Christopher Sweat

May Day Protest in Chicago, 2025


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May Day is a chance for the global left to come together and gain clarity on the direction of movements. It serves as a consistent coordination point each year. The core idea of May Day is to recognize the challenges labor has faced over the years, especially since the onset of the fourth industrial revolution.

One concern, which I express in this video, for labor movements internationally is that much of their policy proclamations and political speech is bound by the fourth industrial wave, which is the automation of physical labor, but the fifth wave, what we are in now, is the automation of thought processes. Not enough labor movements have experts in artificial intelligence or influence in this policy sphere.

Another concern I express is that the left as a whole is very fragmented with many thousands of different types of messages. Domestically, in the United States, if the left is to run successful opposition against the current Presidential admin, they need to consolidate into a bloc. At the moment, they are very far away from a bloc and their opposition will struggle to overcome the burden of political repression and other coordination challenges.

Some blocs form through a national identity but nationalism is challenging because left nationalism would be reflective of right nationalism and nationalism is usually not effective for minority groups interested in achieving political ends as at some point it must be transformed into state power. A strong national identity on the left will lack cohesion and marginalize the internationalist interests like Palestinian Liberation, which is already struggling to compete within a highly tense and fragmented cluster of groups as the perspective of the left in the U.S. turns its focus to the Trump Administration.

Watch the video and let me know what you think.

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A rant, Christopher SweatBy Christopher Sweat