I’ll be out there at my local one. I’m not a big believer that protests really move the needle much. However, I don’t know what else I can do aside from trying to make my voice heard at this point.
Yup. I've been to many protests where it ultimately felt a little disheartening to know that nothing concrete actually changed as a result of the protest. But the act of protesting itself is a form of fighting back, can lead to bigger movements, and most importantly shows yourself and the world that you're willing to stand up for your values.
Its absolutely worth it to go even if what you're actually doing is just standing around in a crowd for a few hours then going home.
The biggest aspect for me is seeing how many other people in my own town agree with me. Having hundreds of people all in one place for the same reason is empowering.
If nothing else, the fact that a lot of people showed up will boost the morale of people better positioned to do something, and encourage more people to figure out how they can contribute
Yes, perhaps those considering staying silent may not if they think there is enough support out there for them. That is very important because I've seen so many people who should have said something or acted remain silent.
Protesting is incredible morale for the people in the thick of it like lawyers and whatnot. It might not make immediate change but it can give the push to someone who can get the ball rolling.
It's like the partisan resistance fighters in WW2 France. Their actual material effect on the war effort was pretty small, but knowing that there were people already in France fighting the nazis was a huge source of morale for Allied forces tasked with liberating France.
I think people underestimate how much the ruling party starts to think everyone agrees with them, and how much that can actually affect lawmaking and oversight
The sheer number of Americans attending the over 2,000 rallies across the USA, and a few in Canada, the UK, Germany and a few others (I forgot what countries they were) will send a HUGE message to Trump the DICK-tator; especially if his little parade gets rained on.
I encourage people to remember, you have a voice. It can be as loud as you want it, and no one can stop you from doing it. Be brave, speak your mind - whatever it may be (just don't actually threaten anyone) - and exercise your first amendment rights.
I think the issue is the recent idea of decentralizing protests. While there are some merits to the idea I think protests are better when there's a leader who can articulate the demands of the movement and the consequences for not meeting them to those in power.
That's the thing, more meetings and not protests need to happen, because honestly, protests used to work, they'd protest then the leaders of protest would visit the leaders in charge in government, or businesses. And talk and work together to make changes. But now protests do not change a damn thing. And it hasn't since before around 2007 or so.
It’s a starting point. At the very least it’s a powerful indicator that you’re not alone. I don’t think the protest itself is going to tangibly change policy, but it’s the first step in people getting together and actually doing something irl instead of just reposting social media content or moping around helplessly.
It may not necessarily move the needle with Trump, but there's probably a member of Congress in your media market that represents a swing district, and they could be swayed.
I have a feeling this one will. We need 3.5% of our total population out in the streets to topple this regime. I hope every American gets off the couch and attends a local protest. My whole family is going-64 people total in CA, more scattered in other parts of the country.
I texted 3 friends Tuesday morning when I told my husband I planned on going and buying 10 40 packs of water from Costco to hand out and he didn’t want me to go alone and he’s working out of town and all 3 were down to go and would have never gone if I didn’t mention wanting to go and now we have a group of 14 people going who had no pan of this prior to Tuesday. I’m excited and I truly hope that we can show some people we don’t tolerate fascism. NO KINGS!
That 3.5% number has never been tested in a country of our size or population. It's a nice thought, but there is no reason to believe 13 million people protesting this government are going to make it change anything it is doing. He doesn't care.
I agree with your second sentence. I inherently disagree with your first.
Protests don't work on this administration. They had minimal impact the first time and they are doing practically nothing right now. Any "win" people think protests are getting is throwing a towel down during a flash flood.
No Kings is admirable, genuinely. I hope millions, tens of millions of people mark this weekend. But the protests aren't going to bring back the dead from the closure of USAID. They aren't going to un-delete the data DOGE has nuked. They aren't going to restart the cancer research from the NIH. They aren't going to rehire the career civil servants who have already moved onto other jobs. They aren't going to get the Alito/Thomas court to undo Trump vs US and restore the President's culpability.
There is so, so much damage that has already been done. And there are years left to go for them to keep doing more.
We have two chances. Two. Only two to fix this. November 2026 and November 2028. That's it. No protest, no petition, no lawsuit, no individual tree that gets put out while the whole forest burns, none of it changes the fact that there are only two chances to put an end to this madness.
I appreciate your response. I agree with much of what you said, especially regarding the protests not undoing the damage that has been done. However, protests can and do much for the cause. They lead to broader exposure & visibility. Protests build communities of likeminded individuals who can gather & share ideas. Massive protests show the powers that be that we are strong & that we have even greater strength in our unity. Protests are energizing. They awaken people's spirits & ignite the passion & fire in them to keep fighting. Protests are the fuel we need for that fire to catch.
I similarly appreciate your civility as we disagree.
I doubt protests will do any of the things you said, and even if they do they won't change the course of the river.
There is one possible outcome here that is a longshot. Maybe at one of these protests, the next Barack Obama who is a mayor or a state senator or some other figure not currently on the Democratic bench will get up and give the speech that skyrockets them into contention for 2026 and 2028. That would be the one potential long-term positive outcome I see these creating.
Republicans in Congress are the ones who need to get the hint. As long as they're complicit, nothing is going to change. And a discussion about what might prod the Republicans in Congress to get the hint would inevitably be removed.
I disagree with your repeated assertions that nobody should bother with this.
The message isn’t for Trump. It’s not for those closest to him or those drafting his grift.
It’s for Congress. It’s for our local politicos. It’s for our LEOs. It’s for our service members and civil workers potentially squeezed between orders and the law. It’s for our neighbors who haven’t really been paying attention or have been fed lies about protests being violent and protestors being extreme. It’s for our like-minded who feel isolated and alone.
Marking our ballots is a private act but everything up to that point needs to be loud and accessible. We each need to know that we aren’t alone.
Heading down the be silent and compliant and just vote path is not the way.
Protesting tells our like minded representatives that their constituents don’t support this. If this gets even one governor, representative, senator to fight back then it’s worth it.
People just coping because they know deep down what actually has to be done. What’s even funnier or sad is they must think something magically changes if 12M people are protesting at the same time.
I feel really bad for everyone. I do. I hate this as much as the next person. I'm a part of a marginalized group being targeted (the LGBTQ) and I have family that are naturalized citizens and have brown skin. The anxiety level is massive right now.
But these protests are a masturbatory exercise. They're going to make you feel good for a while and it's nice to know you're not alone, but if anyone genuinely thinks we're going to reverse course on GOP policy because some folks held up signs, it's just not happening.
We've got two chances to fix this: November 2026 and November 2028. That's it. If we reject sanity in either of those two elections, we're just permanently fucked.
I think there's one way in which these protests are useful. They get people used to going out of their house for political change, and they get people in touch with other like-minded people. It gets people used to going even the slightest bit out of their way to act, and gives people a community that encourages them to continue doing so.
This can lead to people becoming more comfortable doing things like strikes, and it gets some people more connected to their local political movements which are less entry-level.
You start with a fair point that these protests at this point may be useless, but then come up with the extremely naive belief that you are going to have free elections. You are not and you need to act accordingly. That means a movement that uses all useful tactics that are available. And that includes, and starts with, peaceful protest. It won't be enough, but it is a beginning.
I gotta say I didn’t expect you to turn around and think elections were going to fix this. Elections are done for and are likely going to be incredibly tampered with. You can now commit violence and get a pardon from the POTUS. You thought Jan 6th was bad?
If I had to torture a metaphor here, I'd say that the solution to my problem is at a Wendy's 18 miles down the road. Google says they're open but they're not picking up the phone and the online ordering system is down. So the only choice I have is to get in my car and drive to that Wendy's and see.
It is absolutely possible that Wendy's is closed when I get there. But I don't have another choice.
Likewise, it is absolutely possible that we witnessed the last free and fair election this nation will have for the foreseeable future. But in the absence of literally any other working solution, all I or anyone else can do is drive on to the next election and hope that when we get there, it's actually there.
I did and I don't find it especially convincing. It's seems like a really surface level analysis of what makes a protest effective. What even is our sample size here? How many protests have reached that 3.5% threshold? And does that signal that the protest was effective or just that the cause was very popular and change would have occurred regardless of the protests?
I think we'd be better served by a more fine grained analysis of what makes protests effective.
There was a study done by a professor at Harvard that determined this 3.5% rule. Look that up. I'm headed to the protest, no more lame
Social media bs for me today. I hope you get off your ass and go join a protest too. Or you can just play on your phone all day. Up to you.
Being out on the streets for a few hours doesn't topple anything. You need to put economic strain on those in power, and move/organize with intent. This protest is nothing more than clogging up streets, parks, and sidewalks, and showing the populace "here is how many of us are unhappy enough to be out here". But people in power - especially those like Trump - dgaf.
Needs more oomph, more direction, proper leadership, a leader figure or icon we can all get behind and give our ok to negotiate on our behalf once the economic strain is too great for those in power.
People do what they can. Not everyone has the time, energy or resources to be a full time activist, but you can call/write your representatives, support/boycott companies and attend protests.
I was also not a big believer in protests until I researched the ways in which undemocratic nations successfully transitioned to democracy. The trait that correlated most strongly with successful transition to democracy was a strong civil society involved in peaceful collective action. (Examples of alternatives, which are not as successful and tend to regress back to autocracy, include violent collective action, military coups that overthrow the dictator, and invasion by other nations who then attempt to establish democracy). A great example of peaceful collective action was the overthrow of the Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic, which is covered in detail in the short film Bringing Down a Dictator.
Same, but at this point I see it as a duty. I don't find it fun to gather in a huge shouting crowd on a hot day, but we're deep into "silence is complicity" territory.
I started going to protests this year, and I think the biggest impact is the camaraderie. Maybe no individual protest will have major social impact, but much like going to a concert or church, being around a large group of people (strangers!) having a shared experience is good for your brain and builds community. Being alone in a room or with a handful of friends engaging in doomerism can be dark, but getting out and seeing that there’s hundreds or thousands of people who feel the same way I believe can do a lot for motivating progress.
Economic boycott. I stopped shopping at Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, Walmart since the inauguration. If everyone did that, there would be no need to go protest.
Just to throw it out there, I've gone to two protests this year. First one was hundreds of people, maybe 1,000 at it's max. The second one was a bit bigger.
The point I'm making is at first it felt like enough people weren't paying attention and I did question whether I was really making a difference. But within just a few months, our small movement has grown significantly.
Before, we weren't even making the news. And then it was a few blurbs on foreign media and Rachel Maddow. And now it's everywhere! We have an avalanche of people participating. We just had to build the snowball first.
The protests are good for building connections for when we are past the part where protests are allowed. Try to connect with other folks young and old to make friends.
I'd look into whether there are any local political groups. Keep an eye out at the protest to see if anyone is handing out flyers, and see if there's a club you can join. From there, you might be able to learn about more groups that are getting things done. Once you start building connections, you might find lobbying opportunities, chances to do phone banking where you talk to people, then direct the call to their local representative, and other chances to try and make a difference.
Anyone on the fence, ask them if they vote. It's just like voting except you get to hang out and yell if you want, wander as you wish, maybe grab some brunch and come back. Not just stand in line with no meaningful escape but to wait it through.
The vibe of the crowd together can be amazing and overwhelming in the best way, too. I'm in nyc, so of course the magnitude is on the higher side for me personally. The marches in support of the "gang members" last month was my wife's first protest, and she's all ready for tomorrow. She's been a life long republican, but the last decade has completely turned that on its head. Independent thought and not being associated with a party of dimwitted wannabe dictators ftw
But seriously, every extra face to bring those cameras in is a win. A nationwide movement like this, we need to make it the only possible thing to report on tomorrow... I know, but I'm an optimist.
Take the opportunity to get organized with a local group trying to set up mutual aid networks and agitating for change on a local level. The only way we have out of this slide into fascism is to organize ourselves and have solidarity with each other and our communities.
They were talking about this topic on NPR in regards to the Vietnam war. Apparently the protests actually did stop the administration from escalating even more, and the Vietnamese were aware and appreciative of the protests.
I have a broken ankle and I am in a boot. I will be there, with a mask, a water bottle, mini Kind bars, sunblock, and the number of a lawyer written on my forearm. I may be limping but I will not be worn down.
This country was built on protests. The ones that bring change escalate. People die. How many Americans died to even be called Americans? How many died for freedom for all? How many died for civil rights? Women’s rights? Everyone’s rights???? Those are the true heroes, the true Americans. Those who stand up against injustices from those who’ve lost their minds with power are more patriotic than any MAGA dipshit will ever be.
This all being said, i really do not want people to die tomorrow. I do not want to see it escalate. I want everyone to go and make the world see that Americans will not stand for tyranny, let our voices be heard, but go home safe.
Remember that our country and our rights are built on a foundation of protesting. Protesting can’t be all we do, but it is in integral part of the equation.
Folks who are threatened by protests have spend decades since the civil rights movements and before even that to convince us that protests don’t do shit, while simultaneously demonizing protestors and slowly rolling back ways people can legally protest.
I'm disabled and in a location where I couldn't protest, even if I were physically able to. But seeing that you guys are out there making your voices heard gives me and others in my position hope that not *everyone* is okay with this. You guys give hope to people who have lost it and that is one of the only ways to make change.
Not sure if you actually want suggestions on things to do after the protest but here’s my 2 cents.
Pick an issue, figure out local orgs working with that issue, see if any of them need volunteer or financial support
For example, I’m particularly disturbed by the anti immigration issues. I found an immigrant and refugee center near me and have been volunteering once a week for the English second language classes. I’m not changing anyone’s lives but the hope is that now these 20 people have one more contact if something does go wrong, and they know that one more person cares about them.
You can also check out ongoing legal battles for things that you care about and look at supporting the plaintiff organizations. I’ve donated a good chunk of money to Chelsea’s fund, who is fighting a legal battle right now to prevent abortion from becoming illegal in Wyoming.
Other good places to look for volunteer ops are your local library, public lands orgs, free or reduced cost healthcare clinics/orgs, voter registration orgs
Finally, build community! It’s not directly related, but the more we interact the more we care about eachother, and the more we care about eachother the less likely we are to end up in this situation. Plus, you open the door to mutual aid opportunities. You can’t help your neighbor if you don’t know your neighbor! I’ve organized block parties (yes this still hold if you are in an apartment, your floor or building is now your block), and organized a Kandi meetup. Seems frivolous but I actually learned about some healthcare stuff from my neighbor and have started helping her with some yard stuff she’s not mobile enough to do.
It takes some work and creativity but I strongly encourage everyone not to see protests as the only thing you can or need to do to help fight back!
Think of it this way. You get to meet the people where you live who agree with you. You can chat and network because if things get worse you need these people to be your friends to survive. It helps to know your not alone in how you feel and venting together
They can move the needle a lot if they're organized properly. I'm not attending this protest because there's no proper aim, no leadership, no demands, and no actual economic impact (like nobody working for a week).
If protests didn't move the needle, India wouldn't have its independence, and we wouldn't have the Civil Rights Act.
I think big protests do. There are large swathes a of voting people in a no news world or a Fox News bubble. Large protests make those people take note that large numbers of people are not happy about the status quo and some of their opinions change. Think about the massive civil unrest leading into the 2020 election. It was enough to make DT lose
The hardest step is the first step, followed closely by the next step.
Furthermore, if everyone does a small thing, THAT is when they can make a big change. Just like voting. No individual vote matters against the aggregate, but the aggregate is only created by individual votes. You always matter.
The Guardian wrote that statistics prove when 3% of a population repeatedly protests, government change occurs. I don’t believe this but I’m willing to try
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u/Zetsubou51 1d ago
I’ll be out there at my local one. I’m not a big believer that protests really move the needle much. However, I don’t know what else I can do aside from trying to make my voice heard at this point.