I, for one, will not go quietly into the night.
I will march on Jan 20th
Cancelled FB, Threads, IG, X
I will never buy a Tesla
I shop local and do not use Prime
I vote - each and every election.
Haven't watched cable news since the election.
That's so awesome!! I've been on FB for years, and that's where most of my family is. I keep telling myself I need to cancel, especially with Z doing away with fact checking, but I just can't seem to bite the bullet yet.
I felt the same way you do, as FB and *Instagram were platforms that I was connected to family and friends, but they can just as easily connect with you here, call, or text
removing the guardrails of fact checking by META is ushering in further disinformation and propaganda, a safety risk for all
There is a lot we have to do to be aware of what's coming and to be prepared to be an organized opposition. I discuss the 20 Lessons from Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny in 4 articles, 5 lessons in each. Read them and please help to prepare. https://demwriter.substack.com
Ya, someone here had me kinda convinced they don't work. I still think with the size of your population, hitting the streets simultaneously for a period of time could help your situations. In Ontario, a few thousand protested Ford & he changed his stance! Not sure there.😬
Actually, I might say both. The misinformed are the MAGA faithful who listene to Fox News. The uninformed are the non-voters who don’t bother following any news at all. Both are a threat to our way of life.
What have left wing protests changed in the past 20 years? Occupy wall st? Nothing. Black lives matter. Nothing. Right wingers protest CRT and Trans kids? Everything
Well.. ours dont work because our police force is payrolled by the 1% and have always been an enemy to the public.. so when we protest in the USA, we get brutalized, attacked, shot, called a riot and made a pariah of in the media in our country and therefore, the world. 'Protest dont work'... here!
If protests don't work, why do those on charge try so hard to criminalize them? Crush them before they get too big? Discredit the people who are involved with them?
A national strike would be great! Ppl have a lot to fear with likely retaliation. We need to address that. A plan to guarantee (as much as possible) we will all be sitting home and not alone. I really want to see us take our power back and do this.
I removed every personal picture… I make no OP’s but I’m more than willing to speculate on Zuck’s mom being a spotted salamander taken in by a randy toad
In America our healthcare is attached to our jobs. Let’s say HR finds out you called out and weren’t ‘sick’ and were at a protest. They will fire you in America. Then let’s say that protest goes south and you get thrown in jail, now you have no money for bail or a lawyer. Americans are scared.
Mind you a woman was arrested in America for simply saying ‘deny, defend, depose’ on the phone to her insurance company. So yes, America throws even peaceful protesters in jail.
But you do also realize that generations before you took the exact same kind of risks right? You wouldn’t have what rights you have today if they hadn’t fought pro-actively and bravely for all women, all people.
I do understand that. And I’ve been to my own protests as well. But this time really scares me. I’m in no way saying we shouldn’t protest. I’m just voicing people’s fears, so people outside the US understand why we aren’t out in the streets everyday. If you can go out and protest please do.
But currently Biden is president. Since November everyone should have been protesting not only because the easiest time to get rid of an authoritarian is at the beginning before they take office but also because now is the safest time to be doing it while it’s still Biden.
Prison sentences are longer than ever. It used to be you would get a month in jail for fighting a police officer or a six months for stealing a car. In the 80s and 90s they increased sentences by multiple times and made many more crimes. Now if you get arrested they can easily put you away for years
We should all be in the streets. I’m 76 and I’ve been to a few protests. Most recently The Women’s March and March For Our Lives. My daughter and I have talked about more protests but there is now an element of fear we feel about the maga loons.
Only way this works is if people start caring about their neighbors, less fortunate our vulnerable in society without judgement. That was how I grew up and today is all about what’s in it for me. Started a long time ago, and now our society is heartless.
If you work for a salary, vote for the candidate that works/worked for a salary. Don’t vote for the candidate that lives off unearned income. Don’t vote for lawyers or doctors.
Kind of proving the point though? I’ve been to a ton of protests over the past decade; at best, they have led to short term promises quickly broken, at worst nothing. America protests a lot, at least where I am, and here we are.
I’ve lost faith in protest; I’m seeking other forms of resistance.
You’re saying we don’t have those things because we don’t protest? Didn’t the Tea Party protest like crazy to stop healthcare? So maybe protests do work.
23 unarmed people were blinded or partially blinded by rubber bullets during protests in 2020. At least one was a reporter and at least one was a child. MAGA put that pig back in.
Unless you can muster thousands physically out there day after day, they won't work
Your country is set up whereas individual economic ruin would be guaranteed without the workers' protections..
Historically 🌎wide and in 🇺🇸boycotts have always worked though, when specific targets are continual...
Or Fox News, OAN or ALL the internet sites the right wing uses to groom and brainwash vulnerable Americans. TikTok seems pretty tame to me. But, with the billionaire class now running social media sites like Facebook and X, Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda during WWII, would be proud!
we are up against forces too big that protests will accomplish very little - we have protested, we have voted - yet the vote is stolen, the court and congress have been corrupted...what is our next move?
Americans have no social contract with each other. The whole point of capitalism is to destroy the social contract - privatised healthcare, destruction of public education etc.
Americans have individualised their whole experience and simply don’t give a shit about each other anymore. No surprise.
I’ve peacefully protested on the streets over a dozen times since I was a kid. Every single one of my causes has crashed and burned. I’d be a fool to think the next time will be different. I’ll be out there anyway. Hope to see you there.
Instead of protests, how's about state referendums on becoming Canadian provinces? Universal healthcare, choice for women, sane gun laws. Sounds appealing.
There are other things more effective than protest in the streets. Economic warfare: don’t buy things, don’t travel, don’t go on Facebook, don’t borrow money or use your credit card. They do need us. If the stock market goes, if the bond market goes. They are done.
But people need to eat. People need to get back and forth to work. Lots of people live pay check to paycheck and need to use credit cards. Too many employers keep people just on the verge of crashing to keep them dependent.
I watched the Obamas doc on the disabled. Brave determined DISABLED men, women AND CHILDREN...It was awesome! We've tried to get the disabled to protest here, but there's just no will. There are a lot of excuses but no will! SAD.
Looking at American history, violence works very well to get your aims. Look at all the holidays that celebrate it…Memorial Day, 4th of July, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, etc
Deification? Nobody is treating them like God's or actually creating a religion around them. Nor do we worship them. Honoring and worshiping are not one and the same. In fact, they should be treated better than they are for their service. My dad had PTSD from his service in WWII.
And what's wrong with them getting free health care and college. Who's being treated as a god? Everyone should get free healthcare and free education. Wtf are you going on about? You're just making crap up here.
Oh give me a break. We have healthcare, but it is expensive. Our infrastructure is currently being upgraded in many places thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure law Biden signed on 11/15/21.
They WANT you to protest so the Proud Boys can beat up antifa. They love that. Let's don't be stupid.
I’ve seen care as mostly offers to prescribe some drug or other. It is ever more clear that doctors lack an understanding of wellness beyond an alleviation of symptoms. Surgeons do good work, though.
There's a really interesting episode of the Hidden Brain podcast called 'The Fee For Service Monster' about why the US healthcare system is so bad, despite the dizzying costs. Worth a listen.
I’m just partly through but am liking that they are actually presenting solutions - prevention, focus on a holistic approach, longer appts esp. for some initial visits, and more.
It's generally a great podcast. They have experts on who are more often than not from underrepresented demographics, the topics range from the weird to the wonderful, and I always feel like I've learned something after each one.
Protests are for more than showing displeasure. They are opportunities to build solidarity, to democratically field ideas, and to embolden us for the fight ahead. I think they are crucial.
It’s 5.5 million plus the millions from voter suppression, mail in ballots being destroyed and redirected. It’s substantial and should have led to the election being annulled.
Sounds like an oil tycoon said or maybe somebody who owns all the railroads & electric companies… Somebody who was already exhaling thick, dense, gnarly cigar smoke & whose breath reeked of top shelf booze. No old spice or Brylcreem for this man, his toiletries are made from whales…
Ain’t true!
All protesting does is show them where to aim and who to aim at......if they're going to burn the world down anyway regardless of protesting or not we might as well fight fire with fire use their same tactics against them....they shrivel every time
When I emigrated from USA to France I was shocked by the massively different protest culture.
Like holy shit french ppl tryna keep they govt on a choke chain thru protest/strikes/ highway blocking/ dumping manure/ like you name it, they be doing it.
Indeed my compagnon used to consult for carrefour (not his choice) and he told me about how carrefour would essentially lock dairy farmers in a windowless room for hours to wear them down during negotiations.
It continues to infuriate me that Americans hold their civil rights so cheaply and are so complicit to the utter morons stripping those rights.
Americans will queue for coffee, but won't move a muscle to protest their enslavement.
In the face of a collapse of health care, an increase in inequality, ever higher prices, and ever lower morality and respect, it is essential to change pace
I am say just saying protest doesn't solve anything but anarchy does. That's when The people remove the president and cabinet and get our demands like free education for all, free universal Healthcare & 20 year term LIMITS.
End Qualified Immunity.
NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW ESPECIALLY NOT THE POTUS!
Ehhh. For many Americans missing one day of work (for any reason) is enough to lose what little they have. I realize this is how the oligarchy wants it, but it's where we are at. Can't endlessly protest. By design. But once enough people have NOTHING left to lose, well - that's a different story
Hundreds of millions of Indians have participated in multiple 24hr strikes and it didn’t do anything. A strike has to last longer than who you’re striking against can bear
Protests DO work. For someone like me: small business owner, lives in a small, rural town & to actively take part costs me hours/sometimes days travel to protest, + hotels, food, gas. I support by donating, sending letters, etc. but the USA is huge. I do my best to help. I wish I could do more.
The protests and marches should have started straight after the election all the way up to inauguration day. It’s ridiculous that Americans are waiting until just before inauguration to really take any action. Authoritarian govs are much much harder to stop once in power 😡😔
I’d absolutely agree, but it’s gonna be a long 4+ years. Right now Biden is still working for US
A lot of US have been bz at keyboards & phones, organizing, writing & calling our elected reps who vote in congress, and signing petitions. It’s a long 2.5 mos from election to inauguration.
My comment wasn’t aimed at people like you who are fighting the good fight 👏🏻 It was more to all the Americans I’ve come across making countless excuses about why they can’t do anything whatsoever to pitch in. Everything you’ve listed is taking action, protesting, doing what you can to fight back.
For those that aren’t doing anything, I bet they’re waiting to see due to wishful thinking & hoping what he’s been saying won’t come to pass.
I was using the analogy today of being in a fire, where I almost didn’t wake up because of smoke inhalation. I knew there was fire, but just wanted to sleep
Most people are followers and I haven’t seen any clear leadership forming. I think people were expecting Democratic leadership to lead and guide them but our congresspeople are passively lining up to kiss the ring. Biden and Obama seem to treat Trump like a peer now.
Yes that’s exactly it. So many of them are living in a lala land of delusion. Some have got big mad when anyone points out the severity of what’s going on. If they aren’t delusional many have voiced that they are waiting for and expecting everyone else to deal with it.
I have believed our Democracy is dead after the election of trump. Do we have an opportunity to forge ahead and bring forth a better democracy? A democracy with human rights for all as the goal? Our priciples belong to us, they are not dead.
Not quite. Women were arrested and force-fed in prison when they went on hunger strikes. It was a grim fight on multiple playing fields. And it took a decade.
We can’t give up on protesting. Or any other avenues of voice or action. Just because you don’t always see immediate (or any results) doesn’t mean the alternative is better. We can’t be fair weather fans of our own dwindling freedom.
It's because we need to hit the greedy rich where it hurts the most. If you can cut back your working hours so you pay less tax. Stop unnecessary spending; cancel subscriptions, etc. Just buy food and other essentials; try growing your own. Plan trips in one day to save spending money on gas. 1/1
Stop paying for medical insurance if you do not use it. It's the biggest legal scam on the face of the planet. Disown racist family members and friends; especially those who voted for the rapist. Stop buying from Amazon. Deactivate Facebook; Threads; Instagram and Twitter and close Amazon account.
I think that protests partially cost Kamala the election. I think that bringing police brutality to the forefront stops it. I think that the world seeing a protestor run over by a tank made the world aware that China is shit. What would you suggest instead?
It didn’t stop police brutality, though. And China suffered no real consequences. People believing or knowing about something doesn’t do anything by itself. I suggest we should do something more like France or Russia.
The people who live in red states it doesn't matter, the legislature does not listen. In one state the people voted for a decent med cannabis laws. The MAGAts gutted the law and said we weren't smart enough to know what we want
Aren't they overwriting the voter's choice against abortion bans somewhere in the midwest with a bill supporting men's rights to block women from aborting???
Here's UHC dental, 1st denial back from July just got, went dentist & I'm all good, but all due to them needing better images. So #uhc sux & shows they deny so easily. They wanted that much extra when I already paid close to $800 for those last yr. #corrupt #ceo Proof of #denials
Nope. Needs to be a long term multi pronged concerted effort to succeed. One day protests do nothing but cause people to buy the next days with in teased sales to make up for the.prior days loss.
More than one day if possible. Get any big ticket items that you need now. Lay low – buy local going forward. Do not contribute to the oligarch economy.
J6? MAGA? Gulf of America? 2025??
What in tarnation brother? None of those words are in the Bible. Are you feeling okay?
Today's date you ask? It's January 20th 2005. Wanna watch some SpikeTV re-runs later pal?
Should we give Trump an excuse to declare Martial Law? He’s really hoping to use it. We need a new more effective means of protest and we need to start building up a coordinated resistance movement fast.
I think there are protests planned for before the inauguration. Isn't just saying we'll give him an excuse to declare martial law so we shouldn't have protest just another form of trying to appease a fascist?
There is nothing "polite" about huge numbers of people gathering en masse. It’s always been and continues to be a powerful statement. We need even more than this now.
We need to protest in new, more effective forms- not stop protesting. We still need people en masse on the ground but we also need sustained, creative forms of protest that make our voices heard!
The issue isn’t that they’re not hearing our voices it’s that they don’t give a shit because they know we won’t do anything with the numbers assembled. Oh no a couple thousand people in the street okay how does that actually affect me?
Yeah, they have guns, bombs, etc… comparatively we seem fairly benign. It’s hard to overcome people that don’t care or that are actively rooting for the destruction of our country.
It has to be more than protest, more of a walk-out. We will not continue to be used by corporations as slaves or as consumers. Who is willing to forfeit a paycheck?
...When there's a media that is dedicated to reporting the truth of what the protests are about, and what happens during those protests. And a populace willing to pay attention and face the issues.
We are currently sorely lacking all of those elements.
Comments
I will march on Jan 20th
Cancelled FB, Threads, IG, X
I will never buy a Tesla
I shop local and do not use Prime
I vote - each and every election.
Haven't watched cable news since the election.
Might be small potatoes but it's my part.
removing the guardrails of fact checking by META is ushering in further disinformation and propaganda, a safety risk for all
https://demwriter.substack.com
If we want change, we’ve got to engage in change.
No META.
No posts, no clicks.
Punch ‘em in the pocketbook!
#NoClickRebellion
https://map.peoplesmarch.com/local
For them.
Whether or not it's political. For your entire community too, not just your church.
Most of the loudest online voices (especially from "the left") don't take offline action.
You are going to have a traitor, felon president who Is most likely senile
If you work for a salary, vote for the candidate that works/worked for a salary. Don’t vote for the candidate that lives off unearned income. Don’t vote for lawyers or doctors.
They don’t understand your life.
I’ve lost faith in protest; I’m seeking other forms of resistance.
Had a spam email the other day from a random .fr trying to sell me guillotines.
F it mon amis, take my good English pounds..
Not that we should have propolitician stuff (gross). But we NEED something.
Maybe Pro-universal heathcare/ pro middleclass policy slogans. "We want affordable homes"
Idk, stuff even maga can't really argue with.
What if we turned that vague "m.a.g.a." shit into real demands?
"Make houses affordable again"
I'd like to see the Oligarchs faces, if that spread like crazy!
Or "Build affordable houses" if that maga sounding stuff is too off putting.
Your country is set up whereas individual economic ruin would be guaranteed without the workers' protections..
Historically 🌎wide and in 🇺🇸boycotts have always worked though, when specific targets are continual...
Sure but how will you make money when you dont have a job?
At some point we will all live in cardboard boxes
Americans have individualised their whole experience and simply don’t give a shit about each other anymore. No surprise.
Organize and we’ll Arrive‼️✊🏼✊🏽✊🏿
Perfect observation.
Sheep will be herded, lambs brought to slaughter, always.
https://map.peoplesmarch.com/local
They WANT you to protest so the Proud Boys can beat up antifa. They love that. Let's don't be stupid.
"They want you to protest" no; you need to protest. What's coming is ugly.
This anonymous account is suspicious though. He's trying to stir up violence and posts weird things.
Do we need to protest? Of course! But do it intelligently. I will protest concentration camps, but I'm not going to protest election results.
Ain’t true!
Like holy shit french ppl tryna keep they govt on a choke chain thru protest/strikes/ highway blocking/ dumping manure/ like you name it, they be doing it.
And it's mostly effective overall.
Their farmers are extra-efficient:
Most of EU-budget going into agri-sponsorship
But without positive effect, as the crucial fault lies in the oligopole of supermarket chains, who dictate prices
@ec.europa.eu
Americans will queue for coffee, but won't move a muscle to protest their enslavement.
I know, the list of qualifiers required for the POS is a mile long but it always pisses me off when people leave these ones out.
End Qualified Immunity.
NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW ESPECIALLY NOT THE POTUS!
All we have to do is stop going to work in mass. It worked before...
Fear of the people.
Other forms of civil disobedience might need to be considered.
In the last few years I have seen for gun violence protests, Iran, Palestinian, cop murdering civilians, COVID.. you name it.
Nothing ever happens, They wait until we go home and go about their whatever.
What do you propose?
You can take over and fix the system, through democratic means. Violence is not acceptable at this junction.
👇
Who do you think you would be shooting? Foreigners?
I couldn’t make DC last wknd.
I will be marching in LA January 18, assuming we are able.
“And so it begins.”
A lot of US have been bz at keyboards & phones, organizing, writing & calling our elected reps who vote in congress, and signing petitions. It’s a long 2.5 mos from election to inauguration.
I get frustrated myself.
I think it helped me to write what I did, so I felt less “useless.” Does that make sense?
I was using the analogy today of being in a fire, where I almost didn’t wake up because of smoke inhalation. I knew there was fire, but just wanted to sleep
The people have no choice but to rise up on this one. Dems have shown themselves to be not just apathetic but with few exceptions extremely spineless.
Except for AOC & Bernie, I’m disappointed to say the least
Corporate dems have squashed the progressive side for too long, cases in point, AOC & Bernie
Too fight RW populism, perhaps it’s time for progressive populism!!
That analogy is spot on.
The illness not only of Putin..
Or Ukraine
They're literally treating you ALL like children to be scolded.
1/20
Do not buy any thing.
Take a walk, read a book,
Play with your pets.
Watch an old dvd.
Stop on 1/20/25
What in tarnation brother? None of those words are in the Bible. Are you feeling okay?
Today's date you ask? It's January 20th 2005. Wanna watch some SpikeTV re-runs later pal?
...When there's a media that is dedicated to reporting the truth of what the protests are about, and what happens during those protests. And a populace willing to pay attention and face the issues.
We are currently sorely lacking all of those elements.