I hope someone has a way of getting this image (which I screen-grabbed from nokings.org) into Trump’s brain.
Originally Posted By u/FrenchPressYes At 2025-09-27 08:37:15 PM | Source
I hope someone has a way of getting this image (which I screen-grabbed from nokings.org) into Trump’s brain.
Originally Posted By u/FrenchPressYes At 2025-09-27 08:37:15 PM | Source
So what is the actual goal with these protests?
To cut through the media propaganda such that people see he is not as popular as he is portrayed and that things are not as hopeless as they seem. There are far more of us than there are of them, and that is power.
Makes sense.
I’m in a rural area, so when the first No Kings protest happened, I commuted for half an hour to get to the protest. On the way home, we saw another protest closer to home, and it turns out that my tiny town of 2k had a handful of people who had already formed a group, and I just didn’t know about it because they were only on facebook.
Now I’m working on getting us set up with a real website and doing a bunch of graphic design to make us more visible, somebody else is networking our group into Indivisible and 50501, and the group is already starting to grow. We had 16 people show up to the Labor Day protest, handed out flyers, and got 40 people to come to our potluck the next weekend.
Our weekly meetings are starting to outgrow the coffee shop we’re meeting at, but one of the members family has a building that we can use for free if we help clean it out. We’re talking about getting the group rapid response training, and just in general planning for the worst to happen. It’s a periwinkle blue town, but it borders on a deep red area, so it’s nice to know that I know people who will advocate for me if I get picked up by ICE or assaulted by a MAGA or something.
Now we’re gearing up for No Kings II, and attaching a sign-making party before the march as more community networking time.
Well that’s not nothing, that’s for sure. Good on ya man.
To expand mobilization of visible dissent in the streets of USA to around 14 million marching on one day. At that point political change becomes inevitable, and with less violence. Should be doable, keep it up.
How? What causes the ‘inevitable’ change? How many single-day No Kings protests are needed in a 4 month span to cause that change? Probably more than 2. I know there are smaller protests, but if two days in 4 months is the best Americans can do to defend their democracy then no wonder they’re fucked.
It’s the 3.5% Rule, which is an observation with a lot of variant factors influencing the outcome.
The No Kings events were too small at under 2% population.
Organize locally. Your jurisdiction is not immune either.
Its supported by overwhelming historical evidence. But I get how it seems like turning a metric into a target.
But I’m saying something has to happen to change things. The rulers don’t watch polls and as soon as it hits a magical number decide to step down. You don’t just win once you cross a threshold. You cross the threshold and people take action up to make it happen. It’s the beginning of change, not the end.
Oh, yes, I guess you haven’t been at it for long, then.
Protests are not the only thing going on in social change situations. When speaking about it, you will find people just assume you know about the shitton of other concurrent organizing associated with movements.
Protests are about building participation as much as threatening the monopoly of power. (Note that smashing store windows is not what threatens that monopoly, that’s usually idiots or provocateurs.)
Think of protests as foundation, and the civil development of organizations as walls. They also need a unifying idea to cover things, and since anti capitalism is taboo in the USA, that’s where they’re really fucked.
I’m just confused as to how this threatens the monopoly of power without any use of violence?
Better to keep those things, reasonable people upset about things, and power-threatening violence, kind of separate if not surgical.
There’s a reason fascists send brick throwers into protests. It forces the protesters to cede the high ground, which divides public opinion and is a loss of the primary goal: to grow until you can no longer be ignored.
Yes.
Besides raising awareness / breaking through the media bubble, mass protests like these are great for: 1. Allowing occasional protestors or even spectators to realize they’re not alone in their dissatisfaction with authoritarianism, and that realization can drive them to (organized) action instead of just doomscrolling, and 2. Connecting protestors with resistance organizations where they can put their newfound sense of community to work for more non-cooperation than just sign waving. Like there are often tables and booths at these protests staffed by resistance organizations looking for people ready to get involved.
Mass protests are a tool in the resistance tool belt. They aren’t by themselves sufficient for toppling a dictator.
Never forget that your action matters. All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
Sure, but going to a parade isn’t “action.”
It is. It’s visible and engages others to show that someone out there cares enough to devote time for a message. It enables others and allows them a movement to join.
This isn’t 2004-era GOP misbehavior.
All these dumb “peaceful protests” do is allow white liberals congratulate themselves for having good intentions while emboldening fascists who know they have zero real opposition.