Protest and Fight Back Now, Because This is the Safest We'll Ever Be
Protest and Fight Back Now, Because This is the Safest We'll Ever Be
A number of folks on 50501 and elsewhere have asked if it is safe to go out and protest. This is understandable. We live in scary times!
We all know that America’s twin wannabe kings, Trump and Musk, are employing intimidation as a weapon right now: Trump posted a nonsensical rant on twitter about protests and boycotts being “illegal.” He sent ICE to deport Mahmoud Khalil and other green-card/visa holders because of their history protesting for Palestine; a French scientist was denied entry to the U.S.; over two hundred people have been sold to an inhumane El Salvadoran prison; Germany has issued travel advisories for the U.S., etc.
You all know that I could go on!
But this is the time to fight. Things are not really getting any better!
You will never be safer than you are right now.
You will never be stronger than you are right now.
If we don't protest, trike, and boycott now, we will become further entrenched in authoritarianism.
Authoritarian governments are extremely dangerous for their citizens. Trump and Musk are trying to transform our liberal democracy into an authoritarian regime: this attempt presents us with wild uncertainty. On a scale of Hungary to Venezuela, Russia to 1930s Germany, how bad will it get?
We don’t know! Did anyone expect Trump to deport random people to El Salvador -- a country that they’re not even from?
But we do know that authoritarian governments disappear people for no reason. They jail people without trials. They destroy social safety nets. They punish any dissenters. Authoritarian governments often start wars, commit genocide, and may kill people en masse.
This is the safest you will ever be. This is the strongest you will ever be. That’s why our first response should be to fight. Always fight back first, as hard as you can, for as long as you can.
Remember Historian Timothy Snyder's first tenet for fighting back against authoritarians:
"Do not obey in advance.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do."
A weapon is bluff before it’s a tool. Call their bluffs; seize their tools.
Protest. Disrupt. Boycott. Strike.
(On a more personal note: I have attended protests every week for the last two months. Big protests of 5K+ in major cities. Small protests of 50-200 people in suburban towns. So far these have been objectively very tame protests. They have all been peaceful, friendly protests full of folks mostly 55+ carrying homemade signs. People have been passing out cookies! Very chill.)
Originally Posted By u/kccm06 At 2025-03-30 10:52:10 PM | Source
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I'm so tired of people telling me I was overreacting or being alarmist when I said...
- That Kamala was going to be a repeat of Hillary
- Trump wants to implement Project 2025
- Trump wants to be a dictator. He will seek a 3rd term (and a 4th, a 5th, and so on).
- Trump will deport innocent people, including permanent residents, or even citizens
- His admin will target political dissidents and opponents
- DOGE is just an excuse for Elon to do a power grab
- on and on and on
Now it's: Detention centers and Ecuadorian prisons are just the start. They are testing the waters for something much, much worse. (Edit: And to be clear, I wasn't the only person saying all these things. This isn't some sort of humble brag. I just listened to the countless experts, historians, and others much smarter and more well informed than me.)
I feel like I got gaslit by the media and Republicans saying that everything was going to be ok. That it was business as usual despite the rhetoric and to hunker down for the eventual pendulum swing back to the left. "Maybe I am overreacting, there's too many good people, systems, and checks that would stop the worst aspects from happening, surely..."
The best time to act was 4 (or even 8) years ago. The second best time is NOW. "It could never happen here" is so damn entrenched in the subconscious of our society people refuse to see the evidence in front of their eyes.
Right? I said all along that Trump is dangerous, his rhetoric is dangerous, this road leads to fascism, etc. I have never in my life wanted to be wrong like I hoped I was wrong about the path the US was taking.
Nevertheless, here we all are, dealing with all this garbage. Sigh.