Noting here that marches & rallies are *demonstrations* not direct action. They demonstrate a snapshot of public support, and the hard right has figured out they can ignore demonstrations, because too many people think the demonstration is the point, get their yayas out, and stop paying attention. - ThreadSky

czedwards.bsky.social • 54 days ago

Noting here that marches & rallies are *demonstrations* not direct action. They demonstrate a snapshot of public support, and the hard right has figured out they can ignore demonstrations, because too many people think the demonstration is the point, get their yayas out, and stop paying attention.

Reposted from Amber Sparks

I think people feel exhausted in advance because we’ve trained ourselves to think marches and rallies are the only way to fight, when in fact there are much quieter, more effective, and less exhausting ways to fight - like not conceding in advance, and not panic-sharing stuff without vetting

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athiegnome.bsky.social•53 days ago

Years ago, when I was living in Venezuela, I saw the Chavez government reach the same conclusion: it could just ignore protests, even huge ones. At first, chavismo put huge effort into counterprotests, trying to match or exceed the opposition. At some point, it couldn't keep up.

athiegnome.bsky.social•53 days ago

And nothing really happened. The government didn't fall because of street protests. Some borderline politicians changed sides, but not enough to matter much. Chavismo was still (at that time) competitive in elections even if not on the street. So what does the protest mean, actually?

athiegnome.bsky.social•53 days ago

Later on, especially under Maduro, the government trended hard toward repression. So they ultimately decided they didn't want protests. But for years they just tolerated them. I think about this a lot.

czedwards.bsky.social•54 days ago

Most of the work is much more focused, quiet, done at desks and with phones and in writing model legislation and testifying before committees and work at the city-county level. And this kind of work? Is incredibly effective at the 2-3 hours a week, 30 minutes a day level.

czedwards.bsky.social•54 days ago

Demos are good, they raise awareness, they do generate future volunteers and collaborators, but if you can think of them as PR events, while the work is getting done at the community level, it makes understanding the why and mechanisms of activism much easier to parse and practice.

czedwards.bsky.social•54 days ago

If a law or set of laws is the problem, then you’re going to HAVE to work with legislators, probably at the state level, though occasionally at the city/county level. It’s slow, and victories are things like getting a bad bill tabled in committee where it just dies of turning to dust.

czedwards.bsky.social•54 days ago

Then sometimes you have to go fight corporate policies because while your state may have an expansive set of law on [thing], a corporate entity will train & make policy on the most restrictive law in the territories where they operate, you your expansive law gets junked by some other state’s jerks.

czedwards.bsky.social•54 days ago

(This example is a direct reference to the requirement to record identification for certain prescriptions. We got that law killed in committee in Colorado, but because other states use it to punish people with medical conditions, all of the corporate pharmacies mean killing that bill did nothing.)

czedwards.bsky.social•54 days ago

Corporations are the most egregious example of complying in advance you will ever find. They lick boot like its their favorite of the 31 flavors.

So activism is a long slog, a marathon, not a sprint. And highly rewarding, but the victories are going to be most meaningful to those doing the work.

mlex.bsky.social•53 days ago

Agree. We need lawyers, torts, writs, and filings. We need boycotts, graffiti, and occupations. Occupy Wall Street succeeded and we need a galaxy of new occupations springing up like mushrooms.

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