If you are from the US and you criticized people living under authoritarian regimes for not rioting hard enough, this is your time.
You still have it easy. You won’t be taken into prison for standing with a piece of blank paper. You won’t be beaten with batons and taken into custody for reciting Constitution. Yet. Go ahead before it gets there, and may you never see a true authoritarian horror.
Otherwise, all your words are not worth a dime.
The left couldn’t be bothered to vote but you think they’re going to riot?
It would have maybe been mobilizing if the election was closer, or if the Dems at least won the popular vote by 5 million again… but this defeat was thorough enough to absolutely crush the morale of anyone who leans even a little bit left. Why should I waste my time and money supporting progressive policies when some people won’t even do the bare minimum to prevent Republicans from establishing a stranglehold on our government and institutions?
If the accelerationists thought that sitting out and handing the election to Trump was going to mobilize the left I’m afraid they’re going to be disappointed. You say there’s still time, but is there? I used to think the “Trump is a fascist” rhetoric was hyperbole until J6 happened, now the proof is on video. Just engaging with these posts on a leftist site could be getting me onto a McCarthy-style blacklist that would prevent me from getting a job.
There’s also a chance that the DNC still won’t get the message and we will do it all again in 2026, 2028, and so on. I guess beatings will continue until morale improves.
Riots always start with vocal minority and get more and more people engaged.
America is not lost, and has plenty of people ready to take it on the streets. They just need a push. And having others around fighting for their future is the kind of push that can wake such people up. It’s way easier to join rather than start.
What would rioting do though besides serve as an excuse to ram in fascism
If it’s not gonna happen, more fascist measures will be introduced - without people’s hesitation outside Internet comments.
A solid organized riot does change the course even for most authoritarian governments, even if they happen to suppress it eventually. Politicians should feel that their position is not as solid as they would like.
But the further people prefer to not intervene, the more entrenched authoritarians become and more draconian measures are implemented. As such, the government is strongly interested in making people think rioting doesn’t help. This is part of many authoritarians’ playbooks.
55% of your countrymen chose fascism. If you don’t want fascism I think it’s time to leave.
Technically it’s not a full 55% of my countrymen, just 55% of the ones who bothered to vote. I’ll admit that’s not really a meaningful distinction though. Unfortunately, there’s also more of us who want to leave than the rest of the world can reasonably handle. I hope as many marginalized people can get out, because it’s going to be bad, especially for them. But those, like me, who are unlikely to be directly targeted due simply to being lucky enough to be born straight, white, men should probably leave those limited seats for those who truly need to leave.
Let me just leave this here:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
— Martin Niemöller https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_…
I do not mean to accuse you of staying silent, but please remember: no one is safe from fascism once it is there.
Working on it, but for the overwhelming majority of people emigrating is a hell of a lot harder than just showing up in another country and saying “my place sucks, can I come in?”
Except minority rights (including, but not limited to LGBTQ+, especially T), healthy immigration policy, right to abortion, fair economic policy, environmental policies, and a million other things.
Let me clarify my statement: America is over. There is nothing worth getting hurt over. Most people here seem to want what is to come. I’m planning to cut my losses if it starts coming to fruition and move somewhere more progressive.
