And to be clear, Trump did do nothing.

I mean sure, ignore the protests from earlier this year where millions turned out across the nation, but sure..

https://www.npr.org/2026/10/17/nx-s1-6004887/no-kings-voting-trump

Just going to leave that.

The anti-US psy-op has been very effective here

The key context to the USA’s relative passitivity with protesting is that we can easily lose our jobs for one of several reasons (none good) if we go protest AND that almost certainly will mean we will also lose our healthcare insurance.

The average person cannot weather an extra expense of only a few hundred dollars, has no savings, and borrowing money in that position usually leads to a debt trap where you’re continually punished for being in a temporary bad spot.

And that’s before we consider what cops and ICE are like here. They’ll just straight up murder us without consequences.

I get that the world is frustrated with us, but I also get that the world fails to grasp how much more desperate things have to get here in order to overcome the hurdles put in front of us.

No way our white house currently looks that nice. 1/3 of it is a deconstruction pit, the roses are a concrete slab, and did they ever actually fix the grass after turning the front lawn into a mud pit for trash coin?

1789 was a year famous for its health insurance and job stability.

yea like that is the problem! Thanks for informing us.

Ah yes, measuring against standards from 200 years ago. Classic way to do things. Literally.

America is doing a very effective anti-US psy-op by being fucking terrible.

Uh oh. The Americans wont like this meme. Better watch out. They're armed and have mobility scooters.

And did what? They didn't disrupt anything. Parades on weekends are good for raising awareness, I'm not going to say they are useless. But they are fundamentally different from the other examples given.

They already downvoting. The truth sometimes can be harsh, but we have to accept it.

I suppose one could also measure against current standards in France, Spain, Albania and Serbia.

It doesn't make any sense to say that people should first have to be comfortable and secure before they can protest. If Americans had the standard of living of a prosperous country, they wouldn't need to protest.

Sure but your comment was a reply that was about the ALMOST 1800s.

Also, I already commented a link about the No Kings protests earlier in this post.

I think theyre already aware. They just wont do anything of substance to stop it.

Surely if people do nothing that situation will get better, right?

I can’t tell if this is a right winger thinking everything is alright in the USA or someone who realizes we’re in sort of a lull between crazy stuff happening and other crazy stuff happening.
Edit: ahhh I read the comments.

This criticism would hit so much harder if, say, the people of France would do something about the hard right, but, oh look, Marine Le Pen can run for president again? Sounds familiar.

A current image.

If you go your whole life hearing it's your god given right to have all the privilege and comfort you have (which is still a pittance in comparison to the rich but more than the people exploited to provide cheap goods) it's hard to risk them.

Why is cooperation and mutual aid so invisible to americans

The joke/stereotype answer is that: Americans don't have time for that, they need to hustle else they get fired from their fourth job.

I think one part of why the general strike has been postponed is that USA is more like 50 different countries. And that even if it's bad now, and getting worse by the day, the pain threshold is still not being reached for enough people.

And I am sure there's much better answers than mine.

Community engagement has been slowly and deliberately eroded by both government and corporate interests.

No sacrifice no change.

Gotten shot and killed by lowest-bidder wannabe cops, who faced zero consequences. And our wannabe dictator said there would be no consequences for killing protesters. The reality is living conditions aren’t bad enough yet for most people to be willing to risk that.

So as it turns out, violence and fear tactics do work…

I'm so tired of this idea that these sparse, scheduled, legal events are considered protests.

I down voted you specifically for complaining about downvotes. We don't do that here.

We all live 25 miles away from our closest neighbor and we are incredibly stupid also

I’ve often been surprised at how living in America is perceived by the world. I’ve met a lot of people from all over the world, and while some have actually spent enough time here to understand the good and the bad. The rest who have not seem to believe in the shiny veneer that we export in our movies and television.

We are absolute wage slaves here. We are one missed paycheck from homelessness. But sure, blame the slaves for not overthrowing their owners.

You watching for billionaire network TV to run the story on the protests?

Protests are not the only option, but when asked why Americans are not making meaningful resistance the argument always boils down to: We have protests! Or We can't protest!

Perhaps the most cursory look at why these actions are successful in different countries is worth a gander. It's not that France couldn't crush every protest with their military.

Please show this meme to the people of Minnesota, Rene Goode’s family, Alex Pretti’s family, that kid who lost his eye, and the people who are following ICE around daily to prevent them from kidnapping people.

Doing a protest like the ones in France right now, two weeks before our midterms, would be very stupid and probably boost Trump and the GOP.

Now, when they try to steal the election and nothing gets done you can complain, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen.

What truth? You're blatantly ignoring all the protests that are happening to push some stupid ass agenda.

I dont understand the logic though so please help me here. I have lived in the US and do have a good idea of how shitty things are (or were even back then). Things will not improve by inaction and are objectively getting worse. So yes, you risk a lot by acting but if you dont your life will continue to get worse and you'll end up homeless anyway. Or worse.

No one is coming to save you. You live in the most powerful country in the world. Nobody is going to come in and liberate you. Your only option is to save yourself.

Nobody is claiming it will be easy, simple, or clean. But what other option is left? This is why the rest of us are baffled. Especially since the US has built up the reputation of having a rebellious spirit. Where is that spirit now?

Im bookmarking this comment until after the midterms.

I can make this simple: would you be the first to step in front of the firing squad when you have no idea if others will join you in rushing it?

We are not a united people here.

You first. It’s real fucking easy to tell others to just go die because you’re frustrated.

Since when? Its been like that since Ive been around. Dont get me wrong, complaining about downvotes is pointless. I dont care if people agree with me or not. But people absolutely do that here. It isnt THAT different from Reddit that way.

No one is coming to save you.

Yeah, because they're all too busy enacting fascism in their own country to do anything about the growing US threat except lick boots. Save us? Lmao you better be thinking about saving yourself once the consequences start rolling in.

Do you think other countries subsidise protesting?
Yes your healthcare makes you all less free. Isn’t that worth protesting more? While I may be committing a false dichotomy it sounds like the choice is effective (economic) slavery or protesting.

I know that. No one is saying you as an individual need to do this right now. We are saying you need to organize. I think this is a cultural misunderstanding.

When I say 'you' I am not referring to an individual. Im referring to you as a people. Maybe that misunderstanding is evidence of the hyper individualism your country has subtly snuck into your lives that prevents you (again a collective you) from doing so.

The pain threshold is not definitely not high enough to get the average American to risk everything.

I also think most people are waiting for the election to solve problems. Which is stupid, I know, but like I said in my post having a bunch of people breaking into stores and destroying property right now will just boost Trump. Right now he’s fucking floundering and extremely unpopular.

If we’re gonna have mass protests it needs to be after the election when he tries to deny results.

Literally every time this is brought up one of the top answers is 'its not a good time to act'. When will it be a good time to act?

That is not the choice we face. Disruptive protesting gets you killed in this country unless you’re “protesting” for fascism.

I do think other countries risk less when they protest, yes.

What did you think I meant by, “we are not a united people”?

You can’t organize peace with people who idealize a fascist society

We are thinking about that. In fact, as per OPs post, many are acting on it.

The difference is the US 100% will and won’t even apologize for it. Then the state oligarch run media will say they were “Terrorists”. Hell, the black lives matters protests in Oregon they spent weeks showing the “devastation” the protesters caused, it was like one square block and they had police dressing like protesters instigating the violence so they could disappear people.

You dont need everyone to mount a resistance. Why does it have to be all or nothing? And who said you had to organize peace with fascists?