The broadcast and cable news isn't going anywhere.

Of course there will be the inconvenienced regular person, but airport inconvenience will hit higher income people to a far more disproportionate rate than the average person.

With any problem, even the best case scenario solution isn't going to please everybody, and that's too bad. The best way to handle that is to anticipate it, and be ready with a plan for those who are inconvenienced by the new solution. The worst thing to do is to abandon a good solution that helps the vast majority, because a few have an issue with it.

'actual action' beyond protest tends to get nasty quickly. I'm glad the left wing isn't lowering themselves to the level of, say, the capitol attacks.

The just way will take longer but it's the only way to effect real change.

A strike would be a good middle ground though.

Has all of the EU ever been able to organize? France is smaller than California, one US state out of 50.

No, but you can't compare the EU to the US that way. We're not EU citizens in our minds. We're French, Germans, Polish etc. There's very few cases where we have such a need to protest together. We don't view ourselves as the EU people (most of us at least). And yes there were protests here today too.

And yeah the French basically invented protesting. Hardly a day goes by that some union isn't on strike there :) They invented the yellow vests too.

Go on strike yourselves and boycott, you are the experts eh?

If you're talking about the French then yes I would consider them the experts for sure 🤭

Stop buying US products and stop using the US Dollar for international trade.

This is in fact exactly what is happening here. It's a slow start but big ships need time to turn. Once they're turned however the momentum is great. There's lots of websites with recommendations for EU alternatives, and lots of people and businesses are making plans. It's a growing movement.

I'm just saying the impact of inconvenience to 1000 people is about the same as the bigger impact people with less means feel of 100 people.
So the total numbers can be skewed and still impact the rich less. I am not saying that is happening, just that it isn't cut and dry.

That's kinda what I said.

• People every time a post about protests is made: "This will accomplish nothing."
• Those same people when asked what they're personally doing since they talk like they know what will and won't work: "Also nothing."
• (Bonus points for the ones who say violent uprisings are needed, but are not violently rising up themselves. Double bonus for "well I don't live in the US.")

Protests aren't the solution on their own, they're a step in the process of people getting to the point of doing something about the situation they've found themselves in. You can't fix a problem if you don't first acknowledge and accept that it's a problem. Stop crapping on people for protesting. Instead, encourage them to use that energy to take things further. And if you know so much about what will actually work and are going out of your way to tell people what they're doing isn't going to work, maybe you should be doing the thing you claim will work so you can lead by example instead of armchair directing.

Yes, and that didn't revive democracy. Or prevent king macron

Bro this is America

When you’re willing to start hurting them, let us know- I don’t see any sign that any Americans are willing to do what is necessary.

Media attention is rarely a good thing

Wow, media attention! Perhaps they are gonna run a strongly worded letter on the dashreel at the bottom edge of the screen!

Newsflash: the media is in line, and in love, with the war.

If you're writing off all liberals then your view makes sense. At our no kings the Brown Berets showed up to protect those you are spurning. Many years ago I attended a UFW march that was also protected by the Brown Berets and it shocked an out of town liberal white woman who compared the union march to the Nazis. These people tend to only see aesthetics so the march is a good opportunity to make unusual alliances. That's the concrete achievement of my local Marxist-lennist org, but that probably doesn't make sense to the terminally online.

Yeh the other step is actual violence. Not condoning or promoting it.

Just saying that has to be the next follow up if they're not listening to he protests.

A term I've been using is 'activation'. people who are in the early stages of activation attend protests - more often attendance is more activation. This eventually evolves into active participation in support networks, vigilante counteraction, or legal resistance like journalism and similar activities.

Protest attendance is the start of most individuals' activation, and we can't knock that starting place if we want greater numbers participating in the counteraction apparatus going forward.

you say it will “takes longer” as things have been getting worse not better is a weird stance. these protests have been unsuccessful in their goals, not having a goal was the first failure. and there is a lot that can be done before the need to storm the capitol. but you are already poised to reject anything beyond protest. so you are in reality happy with the status quo

yes, and my point still stands

Are you recruiting there for an org that wants to do something that matters?

https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/40568556

Or are you gonna let the Liberals get all the photo ops?

getting arrested is a good sign. the news talking about it on wensday would be more of a good indication

I think liberals doing trust exercises with marxists and others from different political leanings is the effective part.

I'm not happy though I'm not directly involved as I'm not American (though I am affected of course). But there's a limit to what you can expect here. The MAGA's are a cult, protesting won't touch their hard core and pushing them harder will cause escalation.

The only way these walls will come down is talking, not fighting. And they're burning up inside now with this Iran war that's deeply unpopular even with MAGA. Unfortunately they did manage their goal of making everyone forget the word Epstein though 😔

By protesting and being reasonable you chip away at their fringes, the people that are kinda on the fence. Anyway that's my take.

And like I said, strikes are a good idea too, anything non violent really.

Not opposed to both, but I'd argue a rent/mortgage strike is more feasible. It could literally be started tomorrow if it was organized already. The only action for people to take at that point is to stop paying, and don't pay until the problems are fixed. Could even weaponise our homeless population by encouraging them to take up residence in empty homes.

Where as a general strike takes time to build up resources, and generally requires a strong union backing, and the people actively putting effort into organizing. They also need to spend these resources for food, and generally living until the strike bares fruit. So it requires people caring about organizing, and saving, more than the rest of the stuff they have going on in there lives. It's also a much bigger first step towards civil disobedience, which is a harder sell.

On the other hand, focusing on a rent/mortgage strike builds up our resources by keeping more of them in our pockets, and weaponizes apathy/greed for civil disobedience as all we have to do is *stop paying *. Making it a much easier selling and starting point. Bonus, it can still find a general strike as an escalation after a couple/few months and still help build up organization.

Stop buying US products (and using US services, I presume)

That's... why I'm here (on Lemmy instead of Reddit), using Tutanota instead of Gmail, Vivaldi instead of Edge/Chrome, Linux instead of Windows...

But I understand your sentiment, and acknowledge I am not doing as much as I could.

A better point might be that we might have better labor organizations and protections in place that we at least partially take for granted, that need to be built, fought for, or their lack compensated for before Europe-style movements are viable.

And what better place to meet people near you who might be interested in organising and willing to put at least some time into it than the local Fuck This Government convention?

What was that one phrase again? Something like "there are two kinds of conspiracy theories: antisemitic woo and declassified CIA documents"

Arguing that fission power won't do anything is objectively incorrect.

That's an opinion, regardless of whether it's true or not. The analogy is analogous because I'm taking the same actions and statements, applying them to analogous topics in a different field. Dismissing that because you believe your beliefs to be objective fact is just dishonest.

American exceptionalism. They are the best country ever! Therefore, the way they are doing things is the best way it could possibly done, nothing could possibly be done differently, and anyone saying anything to the contrary must be foreign agents trying to undermine the best country ever!

You're right. Better to be a keyboard warrior on a small reddit alternative.

Newsflash: No Kings isn't about the war, but it's interesting that the distraction is working on you.

When you want public awareness of your movement it is.

what kind of policy change did you accomplish last time with all that media attention?

A number of substantive local policy changes as well as growing mutual aid networks as more people became aware of the movement. There is no magic wand to be waved here. It will take on the ground organizing in every city and getting that word out to grow the movement

What kind of policy change have you brought about by being a keyboard warrior?

Take some criticism instead of straw manning.

Physician heal thyself

... Fission power works.

It generates energy.

This is objectively true.

That is not nothing.

If you were being hyperbolic, well then your analogy is not analagous because one end of it is hyperbolic.

incorrect. reasoning with a cult does not work. protesting will not effect their decisions in the slightest, and worrying about escalation has always been a moot point. they manufacture escalation at their pace. they do not need a reason. but forcing escalation it’s the point. the iranians have been more effective at changing the heart of magats by making life for magats directly harder. not a single protest has changed their mind. and so in order for this to stop, life has to start getting harder for everyone.

You didn't get the reference. I don't think you picked up what I was putting down.

Wishing for a general strike exactly to happen on May1 2026 does not in fact constitute planing there of.

Now all managers of all companies will be forced to stop using the word " planning " or risk being in some investigation.

Manager: I will pla....no no, organiz.... No no....hey, can y'all just be here for the staff meeting on Monday?

Ouch! Based on the downvotes it seems you only want to help yourselves and those in your club, not all workers everywhere. No wonder the billionaires are winning.

oh, the music video. that’s a whole ball of critique against the american system, and gun culture. but it still is what it is

No you're not paranoid. However, the point of surveillance is not to repress, but to make us afraid to act (panopticon and stuff).
Not everything could be done through organization; but not system shift could be done without. A strong solidarity network is something that could people to act by other mean, help them to get inform on industries by people being exploited by those industries. And of course building international solidarity.

Depending of your country or your affinities, you could even join an union under a pseudonyme

Also how do you know they are not taking action? Maybe they are not posting updates for the feds to screw over any work they've done.

I thought a general strike was in the works for May 1st?

Congratulations, everyone's aware. Now what?

And it's no kings.

One-day strikes are the same as one-day protests. Good visibility and networking but no actual pressure on their own. Ideally a general atrike would be "indefinite until our demands are met" but the US doesn't have enough class unity or social safety net for that right now.

Saying marches change nothing is hyperbolic as well.

I was actually a big organizer in my community last year and had to step away because my wife and I were getting doxxed from MAGA idiots, but I agree with the first comment.

At least in my city, no planning other then planning the next protest is all they do. People ask to help and really they just want to help very little so they feel useful. Which usually is "I can buy more poster boards next time for others" and "I'll help set up the sign up sheets for next protest."

I tried organizing strikes but people wouldn't show up if it wasn't convenient for them. Most people want it to go back to how it was, few want it to completely change. I'm going to partake in the national strike, but fuck the No Kings protest. It's become a festival for those wanting to not be unconvinced with real civil disobedience.

touche

Go on strike yourselves and boycott, you are the experts eh? But you won’t bother

Something tells me that the US news doesn't show much news from Europe, does it? Wouldn't want US citizens to get the right idea on how to protest. Because fuck yeah, Europeans know how to protest and they do it all the fucking time, also about this. Doesn't mean they are always successful, but hell they do the work. Also, the European rich class likely still remembers very well what people might do when their protests aren't heard for too long. chop