Authors: Samuel McCullar, Alexandra Coffman
The 50501 movement was born as a response to the increase in reactionary policies and the creeping resurgence of fascist politics in the United States, in turn attracting large crowds, creating widespread visibility, and mobilized energy around urgent and dire issues. That being said, this movement is misguided at its core. CLAW stands in support of resistance and applauds the growing number of workers who are taking a stand against such oppressive and reactionary growths in the U.S. However, the movement stands on shaky political ground. If our goal is liberation from capitalist exploitation and the construction of a just society, then the 50501 movement itself is not the avenue of change it paints itself to be. As Marxists, we offer this analysis not from cynicism, but from a point of historical clarity. We know where dead ends lead and we must refuse to march in endless circles, no matter how attractive or popular they may be.
No Leadership, No strategy, No Power, No Change
The 50501 movement prides itself on its decentralized form. It has no revolutionary direction, it cannot formulate demands beyond vague platitudes, nor can it develop long term programs for change. History teaches us that spontaneity alone does not topple ruling classes nor bring about directed changes. Each revolutionary movement worldwide required organized leadership with theory, discipline, and open aims with a roadmap of how to achieve them.
50501 offers a “vibes based” approach to politics. It mobilizes the masses, but does not organize them; It protests, but it does not build. Without building power, building a base, building demands, and a proper analysis of the situation, it will collapse the moment the energy dissipates.
Liberal Co-optation is a Dead End
50501 is not independent from the politics of the owning class. It partners with liberal NGOs, aligns with Democratic Party campaigns, and tailors its message to be palatable to institutional allies. This is a mistake we have seen over and over. The Democratic Party is not a “lesser evil”, but a different mask for the same ruling class. It is the party of drone strikes, cop cities, and the situation could not exist as it does today without the relentless support of ICE and aligned institutions by the Democrats. To tie any working class movement to this machine is to guarantee its failure and disarmament.
When the ruling class advertises your protests, it’s not revolutionary, it is a pressure valve. Just as the ruling class does with figures such as Bernie Sanders, their role is to be the left flank of owning class rule. Creating the illusion of change, while ensuring continuity. These serve as a lighting rod to absorb mass discontent and divert it back into safe channels such as the democratic party and capitalist legality. U.S. history is littered with figures and movements like this, reformists and concession seekers who appear oppositional but ultimately work to stabilize the system, not to upturn and smash it.
This is the real danger of decentralized movements with no unified leadership. They are easily redirected, pacified, and neutered by the owning class. Without clear principles and accountability, even well intentioned grassroots energy can become the branding arm of the very forces it may appear to oppose. Marxist’s reject the illusion that liberalism can resolve the crisis it creates. We do not wish for better managers for capitalism; we want to end it. 50501 seeks reconciliation with the very class that is killing us.
Symbolism is not real struggle
50501 organizes large marches and events that grab attention, but attention is not power. Visibility without militancy, organization, and a way forward is just a performance. Real struggle means disrupting the mechanism of capitalism itself: Work stoppages, tenant strikes, infrastructure pressure and other avenues that directly address, and attack, the enemy of the working class. It means building base institutions that workers control, the hard, unglamorous work of building dual power and class consciousness. Instead, 50501 focuses on more theatrical performative organizing. These may feel righteous in the moment, but they are absorbed into the political landscape like bumper stickers. The ruling class is not afraid of 50501 or its marches, because ultimately they do not wish to remove or challenge the system itself, but merely they wish to change its face and decorum. The ruling class is afraid of organized labor, armed with political clarity, class consciousness and revolutionary intention.
One example of this is the “no kings march” aimed at President Donald Trump. While it presents a dramatic spectacle and a catchy slogan, it reflects a liberal obsession with personalities and demeanor rather than systems, their functions or the root causes behind these issues. 50501’s opposition to Trump is rooted much more in his vulgarity than in any coherent opposition to the actual policies he carries out (many of which were extensions or continuations of programs initiated under Barack Obama). Obama expanded ICE whilst putting people into cages, deported more people than any other president before him, as well as fueled the militarization of local police through federal programs that would allow them to purchase military equipment. Yet these same liberals did not mobilize at scale against those actions. Their outrage is selective and aesthetic, only happening now because it has disrupted their brunch.
As Lenin warned:
“The opportunists do not renounce capitalism, they only desire to ‘reform’ it, to correct its abuses… They all recognize the class struggle in words, but they all forget it in deeds, they do not wage a real class struggle.”
-The Collapse of the Second International” (1915)
Symbolism without revolutionary theory and direction is not radical, it’s a spectacle, and spectacle becomes a vacuum for reformism, adventurism and burnout. The horizon for 50501 is a more diverse ruling class and slightly kinder institutions. That is not liberation, it is a managed decline.
Selective Outrage Weakens Our Struggle
A key contradiction we have outlined for 50501 is that many of its organizers and participants were silent, or far less vocal, when Democratic politicians enacted many of the same oppressive policies now being protested. Deportations, surveillance, militarization, and austerity all increased under liberal governance. To be perfectly clear, the outrage that is felt is entirely justified, and we do support these protests, as we assume good faith, and that people are simply doing what they know how to do. We cannot blame others for having an incorrect analysis of the situation if we do not openly declare it and educate others, to provide them the tools and resources to see through the spectacle. But even though it may be justified, we must point out inconsistencies where they can be seen.
If we want to dismantle systemic oppression, we must oppose it in all its forms, no matter which wing of the ruling class is in power. Anything less reinforces the very power structures we seek to overcome.
The Path Forward is Revolutionary Organization
If you are a member of 50501, we commend and recognize your passion to fight for justice. Your willingness to act is not the problem, it’s the vehicle you’ve been given. We invite you to reflect. What is your endgame? What will change if you win? What power do you build with each protest? If you’re serious about transforming this country, then you need to get serious about organization. The ruling class is organized. Police unions are organized. Why aren’t we?
Join an organization that studies, plans, and fights. Join one that understands the tasks of revolution, not just the aesthetics of protest. We do not need more feel-good movements, but movements that win.
As Lenin said, “Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement.” If you want more than concessions, more than protest, more than managed decline and decay, then it’s time to join the fight for socialism with strategy, not just sentiment.
Build power. Not pageantry.
Join CLAW today and build the real struggle.
Committee of Labor for Arkansas Workers Party 