I can always tell when someone has not ever been to a peaceful protest because they do not understand their true purpose.
The problem is that you are thinking of peaceful protests as the only form of action being suggested, when that it is simply not the case.
What is happening to the United States (and Canada, the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary, etc.) is an incredibly powerful disinformation campaign, meant to spread division, lies, hopelessness, anger, and fear through social media.
Step one to fight back is to get off social media and start engaging with your community directly.
At peaceful protests, you will connect with:
- Groups looking for volunteers to organize even bigger protests and form coalitions.
- Lists of businesses to boycott
- Planned labor strikes and food drives for striking local union members
- Sign ups for phone calls and letters to Congressional members calling for action.
- Establishing support networks in case disaster strikes the community with first aid training.
- Information on how to be prepared in case martial law is enacted and what to do if a protest turns violent.
- All kinds of artists and musicians, using their talents to spread the word.
- Peaceful protests are the best way to connect with underground and secret coalitions, because it is imperative all coordination takes place completely outside of the Internet for obvious reasons.
There’s a lot more happening, so why don’t you just attend one and find out for yourself if I’m telling you the truth or not?
I did attend. The most that happened is i signed up for a lot of email lists and now i get emails that bring me to more events where we don’t accomplish things and trade emails.
Not a single thing you have listed involves removing fascists from power.
Thanks for making me feel validated.
You know how Black people finally got their civil rights?
Lawsuits. Lots and lots and lots of lawsuits.
Look it up if you do not believe me.
Black lawyers and their allies worked tirelessly to sue local, state, and federal institutions. The peaceful protests brought attention to the lawsuits so they could not be ignored and galvanized the Black community and their allies into a movement of orchestrated action.
Millions of people boycotting, even if imperfectly, is fucking devastating for corporate giants and 100% legal.
Violent action will not work because taking down an authoritarian regime is a marathon, not a race.
It’s going to take a long time to extirpate all the cancer plaguing our institutions, and violent conflicts just make it take even longer.
I’m sharing a link with you of an interview between John Stewart and Maria Ressa, who is a journalist that was targeted, attacked, arrested, and charged for her criticisms of Rodrigo Duerte.
It’s important to note the role that social media manipulation plays us all into thinking that challenges in court and peaceful protests do not work-- they do, just not in a way that is obvious to someone who is not used to fighting against an authoritarian regime.
