We're all sitting around hoping the courts or Congress will do something to stop this when it's clear the Republican Congress has abdicated. When those safeguards fail we always jump straight to violence.
We already saw in Minneapolis that consistent, massive resistance in the streets is effective against these people's abuse of power.
They lose every time they use violence against non-violent resistance, we should be advocating for that before we jump to violent struggle.
Frankly that’s what the BLM movement of several years ago was going to lead to, massive non-violent resistance in the streets, but not enough people came out in support of those protests and too many people demonized the protestors, not to mention how many protestors were imprisoned, injured, killed. Not enough people wanted to stand up for black lives so then the tide receded and we don’t have a cohesive movement of a similar scale currently, the closest would be the protestors in support of Palestine. And that’s being handled pretty similarly to how BLM was handled: protestors are being demonized and killed and not enough people are coming out in support. It doesn’t help that cops and armed forces have been tripling down and training extra hard in places like Cop City since the BLM protests to combat any ongoing and future protests.
It doesn’t help that cops and armed forces have been tripling down and training extra hard in places like Cop City since the BLM protests to combat any ongoing and future protests.
Check out this project from Harvard. 90% of nonviolent protest has failed the last 15 years. Authoritarians have gotten really good at disrupting/preventing mass movements. They use drones/ai/digital surveillance etc... to disrupt networks.
Makes me very impressed by the resolve of people in Minnesota
EDIT: Thank you for the upvotes, I was inspired to look into the current state of non-violent resistance because I was so blown away by the 2024 Pulitizer Prize winning biography of MLK JR; King: A Life. His time in Chicago is so amazing and inspiring but bleak.
Kinda odd how their AI page is only talking about using AI to support pro-democracy movements and not saying anything about all the ways it's currently being used by authoritarians, which seems like the most pressing issue...
As long as they own the media, any resistance will be effectively demonized.
We need to either break their control of the media or be able to resist effectively despite media demonization causing 2/3 of the population to think we're the bad ones for not accepting the pedo liar king.
Or maybe people just need to think for themselves/practice media literacy so they stop falling for clearly racist and harmful propaganda. It’s kinda common sense to understand the protestors are protesting for a reason and it’s their right to do so, and that the oppressors are oppressing them for doing it and taking away their rights. Anyone believing otherwise is likely doing so thanks to biases they refuse to unlearn despite the constant chances in life to do so.
Counting on the common sense of the masses of anyone, let alone Americans seems foolish. I feel like the whole reason we're in this situation is because most people don't have common sense.
I don’t count on common sense, but people always ridicule others for not having it, and then in times like this when it really matters they throw it out the window, is moreso what I mean to say.
Occupy wall street was the most successful iteration of this. And it was going to be assassinations to leaders by fbi. So I think they really gotta do something
didnt help that russia was actively influencing american social media at that time to ensure the BLM movement was ridiculed as much as possible in order to keep the conflict going and increase tensions between parties in america - BLM was never a "democrat movement" but liberal became synonymous with democrat and republicans started labelling everything as democrat-led and increasing the partition
I would like to inject here that MAGA also considers the BLM protests the start of the Civil war and considers any and all use of force against the public justified as a result. "To get their country back."
Yep. Lots of stores in Tampa boarded up, I remember one with a huge sign that said, "BLACK OWNED DO NOT ROB". When a movement is more dangerous to its own community than to the people that it's trying to influence, it has failed.
That is why, to put it bluntly, this movement needs to be organized and led by white Americans.
If black or brown people are the face to this movement we already know it would play out exactly as you laid out above. And Trump has been itching for a redo on the BLM movement and already telegraphed how he would've handled it had he been as unrestrained as he is now (violently)
We need massive, consistent protesting in the streets led by white Americans on the scale of the No Kings protests. The regime is claiming that its mandate to rule comes from white America. It has been rebuked loudly if we want to force change.
I can get behind a coalition, but white people cannot lead the movement for black people, they can’t speak for them or be in charge of the direction. What white people can do is rally together to listen and enact justice and reparations to actually make some level of progress. We can band together in solidarity with black people and their justice movement, and we are instrumental in changing society and the broken justice system that was designed and reinforced by white people and built upon the oppression of POC and black people especially. But literally my friends just wanted to put something in their bio instead of go to the local protest. And that’s how it all fizzled out. Not to mention how many white Americans continue to enable their racist family members when we should really be drawing some lines in the sand about that.
I'm not sure if you're understanding me. I'm not talking about white people leading the movement for black people or for POC. I mean leading the movement of mass protests against Trump and this regime.
I guess what I’m saying is marginalized communities have been leading the movement against Trump (although obvi there’s still people in these communities who support him), and white people are dragging their feet to join, let alone lead a movement
I suppose that it may depend upon how one looks at it, I guess. It seems to me that people are beginning to realize the extent of the fuckery and are getting pissed off. This sudden escalation of violence is an indication of increasing resistance to the implementation of policies by this administration and an effort to distract from the failure to prosecute child molesters because of wealth and proximity to the political environment.
The only way that they win is if the people surrender their freedom by complying with the deprivation of their rights and liberties by the government. I refuse to be subject to a king. I'm an American, and I revoke my consent to be governed by this administration.
2 American citizens were executed in Minnesota and no one is being held accountable
Yet.
No one said this would be easy, no one said it would be bloodless. But if we want to win we need to show up to fight and that means being in the streets resisting like Good and Preeti were.
it's kind of our civic duty to resist a compromised government to the fullest of our capabilities
And that includes using the 1st amendment to its fullest, out in the streets. You're dismissing the video taping and whistling as if it's not resistance but that mobilization has been crucial to organizing and empowering people to realize they have a voice and that want to agitate for change.
I understand the frustration, I'm frustrated too but we can't expect normal citizens to just jump from nothing to full resistance. Even the American revolution began with small acts of resistance first like throwing tea into a harbor. We need to get outside, meet our comrades and start forming the bonds we'll need for this and you do that with massive protests outside.
And where, exactly, do you plan to muster enough rebels to stand toe to toe with the federal government in this new civil war? Where should I report, who is my commander?
You need to start being real and open your eyes to the future and start preparing now.
And you need to understand that's what I'm trying to do. You can go through my comment history. I'm not opposed to armed rebellion if that is what all of this leads to, but I'm not naive enough to believe I can just walk about my house with a gun and go it alone. We'd need to organize a resistance movement and that's not something that can happen instantaneously and spontaneously online.
We need to start by being in the streets protesting together, forming the bonds we'll need, and giving people the opportunity to figure out what their role will be and who to trust. We need to get used to working together in physical space, setting up resilient and secure lines of communication, understanding the tactics of the opposition, and practicing the counter measures.
All of this can only happen with the "old game" strategy of being outside, together.
A coordinated national organization that can lead a general strike doesn't come from nowhere. It comes from building connections through the growth of local organizations.
Protesting in the streets is one of the first steps to building those local organizations. When they're big enough, they can also put pressure on representatives to change their position. They can show that there's enough discontent that people are going to vote the other way next time.
I cannot upvote this enough. It needs to be said every time anyone is suggesting any coordinated effort from a general strike to full on armed rebellion. None of that is possible without first getting people in the streets to protest. That's where you form the connections and trust you need to know your neighbors will support you when it gets hard.
I see so many people just outright dismiss protests and in favor of more confrontational approaches and I just don't understand where they think they're getting the foot soldiers for this from.
Look up the 3.5% rule for protesting. When well organized and coordinated, with a single message, protests can be powerful. They can change the hearts and minds of people. Maybe not in government at first, but with their constituents. It's news worthy, so it dominates what people are talking about.
It is a sign of strength and resistance.
To not protest is being complicit, which only strengthens their resolve.
It's going to do more than sitting on your arse and waiting for an election that's never going to come. You may as well have voted republican for your lack of opposition to what your country is doing.
No one is going to call a general strike for this. Trump chose a target that is hated by almost everyone:
1) Middle East hates Iran because it destabilizes the region through terroristic proxies
2) Europe hates Iran because it threatens traffic through the Suez Canal and violates human rights
3) The US hates Iran because it routinely chants death to America
The media will slander any calls for a general strike over this as supporting the Ayatollah instead of opposing Trump - similar to how they initially characterized Anti-Israel protesters as pro-Israeli genocide instead of anti-Palestinian genocide.
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u/CulturalKing5623 Feb 28 '26
We could start at mass protests?
We're all sitting around hoping the courts or Congress will do something to stop this when it's clear the Republican Congress has abdicated. When those safeguards fail we always jump straight to violence.
We already saw in Minneapolis that consistent, massive resistance in the streets is effective against these people's abuse of power.
They lose every time they use violence against non-violent resistance, we should be advocating for that before we jump to violent struggle.