you should look up ‘resist and unsubscribe’

This is not a fucking unpopular opinion.

EVERY FUCKING THREAD about any protests is FULL of people yelling at how useless they are.

Every person I see trying to explain how the fuck they do help gets downvotes from the assholes who just refuse to understand.

I agree that there are further, more specific methods of protest required to enact change.

The US does need protests like No Kings for several reasons. It helps to foster solidarity and community, to make people feel like they are not alone and have many neighbors who feel the same way they do. It helps to make a large group of potentially politically activated citizens accessible to activist groups. It helps to provide an opportunity for exposing attendees to more than the prevailing narratives in the news and social media they consume. And it’s just practice; protesting gets easier the more you do it.

I had þis debate wiþ someone last week. Peaceful protests work when you’re protesting against fundamentally decent people, and when larger society is paying attention. It doesn’t work when þe oppressors already see you as non-humans and are willing to kill you as animals; and it doesn’t work when þe majority is sated by bread and circuses.

We have boþ in þe US: þere are no more Walter Cronkites. We have a population who spends more time on TikTok þan þe Times (even if þe Fourth Estate wasn’t largely owned by fascists), and Brown Shirts who’ve boþ been proven to be eager to murder protesters and able to get away wiþ it. On top of it all is a middle class who doesn’t want þe economic boat rocked.

My position is þat we may be past þe time of effective peaceful protest. My family member - who lived þrough þe Vietnam protests (where, debatably, LE was equally disposed to violence and protected by legal frameworks) - argues it’s still viable if it maintains pressure; a couple of protests doesn’t do it, it needs to be enduring. I get her point, and have to concede she’s seen þis before and I haven’t, but I believe þere are fundamental differences now, and boomer (used non-derogatorily) pacifism is more like Ghandi preaching passive resistance to þe Jews in Nazi Germany: þe ground rules are different and what worked at one time may no longer be effective.

Oh, I don’t know. The French seem to have it down pat.

I’ll just leave this thought here.

Back around 2016-2018, videos of riots in American cities would constantly be shared on places like reddit. Front page stuff of people burning police cars, looting stores, stuff like that.

What’s more likely? This stuff doesn’t happen anymore, or they figured out how to censor the shit out of it online?

1. I think protests work(not the sign carrying ones), and are constantly evolving.

2. This “No Kings” day was a rally at best.

3. You need to be clear about what you’re protesting against, put forth actionable demands and threaten some action if the demands are not met.

I remember being part of the Reddit API protest, where we protested the new policy by logging off our accounts, closing hundreds of subreddits for 2 days. Some of them had millions of subscribers. We asked Reddit to withdraw its new API policy and threatened to leave Reddit if they didn’t change the policy. They didn’t, and many of us who did the 2 day blackout followed through. We mass deleted our accounts and many of us migrated here, to the fediverse. Reddit does remain, but it has lost many people who built and maintained the community.

The protests include rallies, at least all the No Kings ones I’ve been to. They have speakers for community organizations, unions, and local politicians or people running for local offices who make it publicly known that they are standing up against Trump’s madness. There are calls to action, to mobilize with local groups and to call existing representatives to make our voices heard.

They don’t bring out the guillotines, no, but it’s more than just people standing around being angry.

Anyone who wants to speak at an event or make a different call to action can easily find a way to address the crowd. Bring up your idea with the organizers at your local events, make your case for including Twitter/Amazon/etc boycotts, and see where it goes. These things aren’t put together by the untouchable “elites” or celebrities you can’t easily get ahold of, they’re organized by ordinary people just like you. That makes them relatively easy situations where you can be the change you want to see. Don’t let our conditioned disempowerment hold you back from making your case. Your idea sounds solid, why not give it a shot?

I’m not a fan of Scott Galloway’s on several subjects but he’s on the money here.

https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/

It’s the organization and collective action that are important. The protest is just a chance to demonstrate how many people are aligned on the topic enough to spend the day proving they can’t be ignored. You have to do the organizing and action outside of the protests too, just be careful about who you trust.

I think you’re all wrong. Protest do need to evolve. I’ve been saying this since George Floyd and my karma on this site has tanked because of this. I’ve had tons of abuse from people here because of it. But it’s the god damn truth. Protesting, as it is done now, is working against us. I also suspect it may be a situation where these protests are organized by the opposition because it benefits them so much.

It’s 2026, we cannot be protesting like its 1910

Removed by mod

These protests need to actually be disruptive.

I considered going to a No Kings protest with a sign that reads ‘China is not my king’ and see how many people get it vs get pissed with me.

All joking aside, the only effective protest is one where you change your habits. I’ve deleted my Facebook, cancelled YouTube Premium, when my debit cards update I take audit of what I really want to start subbed to, I’ve replaced Google Photos with Immich, and I’m about to go to farmers markets instead of the big box stores for my grocery shopping.

Some of these are big pivots, others are simply mind over matter. Like, I plan on keeping Reddit until it asks for my ID, so I default to it before I scroll through here. I have Peertube installed but I still get onto YouTube until they ask for my ID. I’m as ready for not being able to access certain platforms as I can be, and I plan on keeping going as long as my ability to stay as anonymous as I want to is threatened.

(non violent)

Why would you limit yourself from using a wider array of tactics? Of course, violence isn’t applicable everywhere, but it’s an effective way of achieving change.