Socialist Soup Kitchens: The hungry must be fed. All throughout the cities, people starve as the endless grinding poverty of the Long Depression takes its toll. The federal government proclaims it cannot intervene in the free market while protecting oligarchs, the states cannot afford to provide for their inhabitants, the private charities are overwhelmed. The SPA must step in. Not only is it a moral imperative, but the more pragmatic side of you is salivating at the potential propaganda and recruitment. These soup kitchens will be democratically run and organized, with food sourced from donations and the party's coffers. Cost: 5 Resources, -2 Resources a turn. Time: 2 months. DC: 30/60/90/120. Results: Increase in support and recruitment, synergizes with other actions.
Speak to the Soldiers: The American troops in the Legation Cities consists of a mix of professional troops and the National Guard. Many of those returning home have fought in the bloody Shanghai Uprising, crushing it with infamous brutality. They are doubtless sick at heart and exhausted, left with dozens of questions and no answers. These answers can be given to them, for they will find no answers but in socialism and syndicalism. While controversial with the left and right of the Party (for very different reasons) making an effort to recruit these soldiers will strengthen you greatly, at the ballot box, in the streets, and when the Revolution inevitably comes. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Right and Left. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/50/100. Results: Recruit veteran soldiers, bonuses to other actions.
Appoint a Party Whip: You have gained fifteen seats in the Senate and far more in the House. While you generally don't have to deal with congressional revolts, there may be occasionally controversial legislation you will have to deal with. Furthermore, having someone handle the day-to-day matters of making sure everyone is read up on the bills, helping your congresspeople manage their staff and campaigns, and coordinate filibustering would free up some more time you could use. Cost:None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Subvote to determine who the Party Whip will be and how much to invest in them.
Coordination Planning Committee: The implementation of your idea would be a legal and political nightmare, but there is something to it. Cooperation and solidarity are the greatest strengths of the socialist movement, after all. The Combined Syndicates already help various unions work together, but more can be done. The first thing to do is to have some friendly lawyers find what you can do without prompting serious legal backlash. You will have less slack than the capitalists, of course, but there are possibilities you can think of, from empowering the CSA to confederating charities. There is likely more. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Unlock new actions, bonus to certain actions.
Meet With Leadership: You are not the only influential figure in the SPA and CSA. Hilquit, Browder, Thomas, and more all lead influential factions. You have garnered their support already, but if you want to keep it you will need to do more. You will be asking all of them to sacrifice a great deal for the cause, and so you must give them something as well. But first, you must find what they want. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Gain Relations with all factions, begin getting Mandates.
These actions seem the most time-sensitive, or at least the most important to get sorted out early. The question is which of these are most important to get done first. I think meeting with the leadership is a must, and the soldiers just returning from the war won't be around for long.
For personal actions, while getting more stuff done is tempting, I feel like reconnecting with the family after a long time campaigning is also important for our stress level.
[] Plan: Swords To Plowshares
-[] Socialist Soup Kitchens:
--[] Authority
-[] Speak to the Soldiers
--[] Authority
-[] Meet With Leadership
--[] Influence
This turn is the beginning of Winter, and as we saw in the opening fluff of the turn, it's a harsh one. Like the action description said, it's both the morally correct thing to do, and will also act as a great way to increase support for our cause.
Along the same lines, reaching out to the soldiers will be much more effective if we're actively feeding people on the streets. Not only could the soldiers act as another set of hands to help feed people, some of them could also act as guards to protect the soup kitchens from hostile militias.
Finally, we need to reach out to the various leaders of the influential factions within the SPA. They're likely the ones we're going to be delegating tasks to in the future, so we'll need to understand what they want in order to better understand them.
-[] Spend Time With Your Family
It's December, we just finished a long political campaign, let's put in the effort to spend time with our family. Not only will it greatly de-stress us, but it's the holidays!
-[] Choose A Focus:
--[] In the Street and in the Shop
--[] In the Blood and Mud
While the Halls of Power will be an important battlefield in the future, right now we need to focus on the Ground. The people suffering are out in the Street and the Mud, and our power comes from the Shops and the Blood of the workers.
Prose aside, we're going to need to take militant actions to protect our organizing efforts from capitalist and reactionary violence. Hopefully the influx of veteran soldiers will help with that.
[X] Plan: Swords To Plowshares
-[X] Socialist Soup Kitchens
--[X] Authority
-[X] Speak to the Soldiers
--[X] Authority
-[X] Meet With Leadership
--[X] Influence
-[X] Spend Time With Your Family
-[X] Choose A Focus
--[X] In the Street and in the Shop
--[X] In the Blood and Mud
[x] Direct Action Gets the Goods
-[x] Socialist Soup Kitchens
--Authority
-[x] Send Social Agitators To: The Steel Belt
--Authority
-[x] Coordination Planning Committee
--Influence
-[x] Spend Time With Your Family
-[x] Choose A Focus: In the Street and in the Shop
-[x] Choose A Focus: In the Blood and Mud
Electoralism is a dead end, especially in such a decrepit oligarchy as the USA. Our best bet is to focus on building up dual power outside of the limits of Congress' Gilded Halls. To that end we must strive to turn the Party into a machine to coordinate the action of the working classes. To that end we must first begin the task of providing direct aid and support to the proletarians and lumpen elements that the capitalist system so callously throws aside. In addition we should seek to shore up our support and infrastructure in the areas where we are already strong. By building up our support base there we will be able to support initiatives to spread our influence even further. The strength of our movement is in the unions and whilst we have gained ground in the political sphere we must not forget where the true power of the working class lies. The stronger the unions the stronger the workers and the stronger workers the stronger the Socialist Party. Finally, our plan to build dual power outside of the Federal Government is ambitious and any such plan must be carefully thought out. It will be a projects years, maybe even decades, in the making but the sooner we make a start the sooner it will bear fruit.
After the long and bitter campaign season Reed deserves a rest. Spending some time with the family over the holiday season will do him a world of good and ensure that he will be refreshed and ready to jump back into the fight at his peak.
I was going to leave the vote open for 24 hours, but I want to write and it's been long enough.
Scheduled vote count started by notbirdofprey on Apr 27, 2021 at 12:02 AM, finished with 2 posts and 2 votes.
[X] Plan: Swords To Plowshares
-[X] Socialist Soup Kitchens
--[X] Authority
-[X] Speak to the Soldiers
-[X] Meet With Leadership
--[X] Influence
-[X] Spend Time With Your Family
-[X] Choose A Focus
--[X] In the Street and in the Shop
--[X] In the Blood and Mud
Scheduled vote count started by notbirdofprey on Apr 27, 2021 at 12:02 AM, finished with 2 posts and 2 votes.
[X] Plan: Swords To Plowshares
-[X] Socialist Soup Kitchens
--[X] Authority
-[X] Speak to the Soldiers
-[X] Meet With Leadership
--[X] Influence
-[X] Spend Time With Your Family
-[X] Choose A Focus
--[X] In the Street and in the Shop
--[X] In the Blood and Mud
The order comes down from the top, and people move to fulfill it, operating almost like a well-oiled machine. The coffers of the party open, and bread and beans and meat are bought in enormous quantities and shipped across the country to dozens of cities. Red painted buildings are opened up, with signs proclaiming them sponsored by the Socialist Party and the Combined Syndicates.
In some cities, the hungry wait gratefully, listening to the admonishments and preaching of the attendants with half an ear as they eat. In some, police drive the homeless away, leaving the buildings standing bereft and empty. In yet others, the buildings themselves are targeted, robbed, vandalized, burned, and worse. But sometimes, people fight back.
Robert wasn't hungry anymore. Now the only thing in his gut was anger as he lifted the knife and smashed the hilt across the thug's face, teeth flying across the room.
"Who paid you! Fuckers like you don't just burn down a goddamn soup kitchen unless someone paid you!" he roars, and the thug murmurs something back, barely coherent.
He tried to calm down, but every time he did, he remembered the flames licking at the wood he had painted, the loss of his first job in weeks and the pride he had taken in it, and the screams of terror from the people he had wanted to feed.
Robert blinks, and suddenly the knife is buried in the man's guts. That's a slow way to die, he's heard. He shrugs, and leaves the man to bleed.
He leaves the room and finds Comrade David, a hard-eyed man who led the Red Guard. Comrade David listened, then gathered his followers around. Looking at them, Robert shivered. They aren't followers, they are soldiers, he thought.
"We've interrogated the reactionary terrorists who attacked us," David said.
"They were paid for by a few businessmen who have been trying to make people work for food, and we were stealing their workers."
A low snarl of anger rises from a dozen throats, Robert's among them.
"We are going to make an example of them. Any questions?"
Such scenes are an exception though. In most places, there isn't the will to attack soup kitchens and charities. The people there experience nothing worse than the occasional angry look. Bellies were filled and hope was offered, and some of those who ate wanted to know more or help.
"Why are you helping us? You don't believe in G-d, so why are you doing this?" Liam demanded, clutching the cross around his neck while juggling the bowl of stew and hunk of bread he had been given. It was awkward, but the cross gave him some comfort as he studied the strange woman standing behind the counter.
She held up a finger, served the next person, who quickly hurried off to a nearby bench to eat, and then turned back to Liam.
"Well, because I believe it's part of my duty to help the proletariat cultivate class consciousness..."
"The what?"
Result: A general increase in support and positive attention, some new recruits interested in joining you. Resource income is decreased by 2.
Speak to the Soldiers, Authority
You don't just order agitators to visit the returning soldiers, you travel across the country to Seattle and meet a large group of them on the docks. Your first attempted speech is met with boos and jeers and thrown garbage.
A week later, when these former soldiers are camped out in a park with no work and short their last payday, they are far more receptive. Your announcement about the soup kitchens is greeted with enthusiastic shouting.
"Has your country treated you fairly?" you ask.
"No, no, no!" they shout back.
"You were told you would be fighting to protect American people, to spread democracy and justice! Instead, you were sent to fight for more dollars in the pockets of the fat cats who won't even pay their soldiers! Is that right? Is that just?"
Your audience is far more receptive than some of your more pessimistic colleagues predicted. Foster thought you were more likely to get shot than change any minds.
You sure showed him.
You continue your speech for a few minutes longer, then leap down, speaking with soldiers, shaking their hands, promising change. You don't say anything...untoward, no vows of violent retribution or revolution, but you make more than a few references to Lincoln and Washington.
A pair of grizzled sergeants are some of the last men you speak to. They size you up with their eyes and then dismiss you, but as you leave, you hear someone shout: "We'll see you in Washington if we don't get our pay, Mr. Reed!"
You shrug off the rhetoric and continue on. You have a schedule to keep.
Result: You have gained support among veterans, and quite a few have joined your Red Guards or taken to attending party meetings. The right wing of the party is concerned about some rumors you have heard from these soldiers and the belligerence of openly recruiting veterans, the left wing is worried about infiltration and your agenda being watered down.
Meet With Leadership, Influence
A party as large and diverse as yours inevitably has factions (and the factions often have factions), but they can be roughly divided into three.
On your right are those who seek reform to destroy capitalism or reform, period, led by Lippmann and Fitzpatrick. In the center, there is a dizzying array of socialists and syndicalists who tend to look to you directly (although Norman Thomas is highly influential), and on your left, you have Foster and Browder, who are by far the most radical and determined members of the SPA. There are other influential people - Cannon and Wallace and Flynn - and important people outside the party - Coxey and Goldman - you will have to deal with, but Fitzpatrick, Foster, and Thomas are the three most important.
Each has their own opinions, their own desires, their own goals, and you will need their support. Fitzpatrick wants protection for the unions. "It's the Pinkertons, they are thicker on us than ever, I don't even know where they are getting the money to hire them all. We need help dealing with them."
Thomas wants legislation. Not at the federal level, he knows as well as you how impossible that is. But he wants the state governments you control to pass social relief programs - government coffers are far deeper than yours and they have better credit.
And Foster wants education. Significant portions of the AFL and CIO lack revolutionary fervor. Quite a few want nothing more than tweaked capitalism, and he worries they will side against you if not properly educated.
Results: Three mandates, slightly more aware of what's going on in your own party.
Spend Time With Your Family
Hannah is excited about Christmas. She keeps begging you to tell her what Santa brought her, and you zip your lips and throw away the key every time. That only inspires her to beg harder, but you don't mind the attention.
It takes you and Louise twice as long to chivvy her into bed as it usually does, but eventually, she is fast asleep and the two of you sneak down, eating the cookies she laid out for Santa and slipping a few boxes under the tree and a few pieces of candy into her stocking.
You lay your head down and then it seems like barely any time has passed before you are woken up by excited squeals. Rushing down in your pajamas and nightcap, your daughter is excitedly holding up your gift to her: a new sketchbook.
Louise smiles down at Hannah. "Sounds like someone is happy about what Santa got her."
Your daughter nods vigorously, grinning so brightly it makes your eyes prickle and heart ache...(it's definitely just that it's bright enough to hurt you, that's why you are tearing up)
Result: Your family is glad to see you again, and you are glad to spend time with them.
Focus: In the Street and in the Shop completed
The unions are your strength. They lead your marches, they fight your battles. Their members are a major part of your organization and they have voted for your party reliably since the Long Depression began. You have returned this support generously, and you have every intention of continuing doing so as you campaign for shorter hours, higher wages, and a total transformation of society into one that puts the workers first instead.
As the workers of American donate their hard-earned wages to the cause and lift up their voice in their support, you vow to never falter and fail.
The unions forever, hurrah, boys, hurrah!
Result: +1 Influence, Union actions unlocked
Focus: In the Blood and Mud completed
The forces of capital and reaction will never simply allow you to win power. When you strike, they send in scabs and Pinkertons. When you organize, they assassinate your leadership. When you fight, they bomb you. This will not be tolerated.
Already, paramilitaries and militias are forming, wielding rifles and pistols and clubs. They protect your meeting places, patrol the streets your people live on, and escort strikes and protesters who advocate for your causes.
And when the revolution comes, they will be the ones to lead you to victory.
Some mutterings from the soldiers reveal that many had suspected they would not get their last paycheck before they had even left China. Some of the soldiers had been proposing marches on various state capitals in protest if their worst expectations had come to pass. Although you have seen no evidence of such a thing, it will be a fine example of proletarian self-organization.
You have also heard a few people murmuring approvingly of the assassination attempt.
News
A South Carolinian union was sued under antitrust laws. The demagogue prosecution foamed at the mouth, calling simple proletarians syndicalist conspirators. He likely would have succeeded in his case, if not for the intervention of Huey Long and his financial backers. The Kingfish called the case "corrupt" and suggested the prosecutor was a syndicalist in disguise. Then, he proposed the creation of a state-backed union to ensure "all the wealth gets shared." This has sparked outrage from the establishment and our own ranks, as one accuses him of class warfare and the other of class collaboration, but it is a position with no small amount of popularity. And in all the furor, no one has appeared to notice the corruption scandal vanishing...
Unstable food prices have begun to have a serious impact upon the yeoman farmers of the plains, with increasing numbers beginning to lose their jobs. In response, the Farmer-Labor governments of the states worse-off have begun implementing various subsidies and price restrictions, drawing a curious mix of condemnation and praise from the President, who proclaimed it "not the government's place, but also not the government's place to object."
A multitude of assassination attempts (by everyone against President Hoover have been launched, one actually wounding him. While martial law has not been declared, the atmosphere in Washington has become feverish. General MacArthur has announced that he and his men will be taking charge of the security of the president temporarily. They promptly established checkpoints in a several-block radius around the White House. His calm and deft handling of the crisis has won him acclaim. Even you are a little impressed. He may well be a dangerous enemy.
A week later, some sort of argument between the general and Vice President Curtis led General MacArthur to threaten to resign. The two seem to be frostily neutral for now, although that may change when the president recovers.
International News
It appears the Revolution has spread to Honduras! Left-wing militias, in an alliance with numerous factions inside the army and the political elite, have driven out the thugs and puppets of United Fruit and formed a new government. Little is known of it as of yet, but the Third Internationale eagerly reaches out a hand.
A Syndicalist protest in Germany turned bloody as the police opened fire, ruthlessly beating down and arresting those who tried to flee. This brutal deed was condemned throughout the Third Internationale, with even Vice President Curtis offering some tepid condemnation from behind the safety of a thick wall of troops. In response, Germany threatened to raise tariffs on American goods, and the cowardly vice president backed down immediately, drawing condemnation from all fronts.
