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If people wondered what they would do during the 1930s, now we know.
A lot of people would cheer for the Nazis.
I know I'm not doing enough, and it's depressing as heck. Most people I know are doing less. No protests. Not talking about it. Just head in the sand.
It's still early. The Nazis took over in 1933, but their first euthanasia program didn't start until 1936. The Holocaust didn't really start in earnest until about 1939.
We can't let it get that far, of course, but the point is that it will take some time to get bad enough for people to start really fighting back. I suspect that protests will get really ugly and violent next summer, in the closing stretch before the 2026 Midterm Election.
There are a lot of different ways to resist. I'm throwing my money and some volunteer effort at lawsuits to gum up the works, add friction to a bunch of the Trump administration's decisions, and make them expend a ton of resources even to accomplish the things within their power (or that are inevitable).
I know people who are feeding bad data into the surveillance state, clogging immigration and DEI tip lines with plausible but ultimately incorrect leads that waste their time.
There's a pretty serious boycott movement and it is making a difference to some businesses' bottom lines.
There's a bunch of other ways to contribute:
- Stirring the pot and feeding internal faction rivalries, like DOGE vs populist MAGA vs business interests. Elon Musk has lost a few prominent internal fights (China briefing at the Pentagon, hand picked IRS chief fired less than a week in, his NASA pick being withdrawn). These guys think chaos is a ladder, but chaos can swallow them up, too.
- Disruption with plausible deniability: blocking doors and driveways that look unintentional, jury nullification, firing Trumpers for pretextual reasons, wasting Trump supporting businesses' time and money, pranks that cause Trumpers to gather in the wrong place, etc.
- Further escalation as situations warrant.
If things escalate to where property destruction, outright fraud or scams or other white collar crime, or violence is justified, it won't be sudden. It will be a gradual build up, with legal resistance giving way to nonviolent disruption to property destruction and theft to violent resistance. But I think it's worth exhausting the less disruptive options first, and be satisfied that escalation is justified at each step where that actually happens.
I like the way you think.
I particularly think sabotage and malicious compliance strategies can be very effective at weaponizing their virtuosic incompetence against them.
I think some of these protests so far are controlled opposition to prevent real progressive movement in preference for same old bs from DNC. We need to weed out the fakes
What makes you think that that sentiment itself isn't fostered by controlled opposition? Don't get me wrong, as an anarchist I have no love for Democrats or republicans. But unfortunately with our electoral system the way it is. Realistically we have to be bedfellows with one or the other at some level of government.
At least of course until all national parties are abolished, and the electoral system reformed. Trying to push change from the top down has backfired every single time. The unions thought it would be good to give Carter a lesson. And instead Carter lost and they ended up becoming irrelevant. There's plenty of parallels between that and the recent presidential election. Honestly I don't think the Office of the President shouldn't even exist. It's too much power just begging to be abused as it currently is.
That will only change however by building up local parties and making National parties irrelevant, or at least serving the interest of the accountable local parties. Till then we can gnash and wail, grinding our teeth at every shitty candidate the National Party puts forward. But as long as they are in control and full of shitty candidate fodder. That's never going to change. But us focusing on that over everything else certainly enables the worst actors in society.
That will only change however by building up local parties and making National parties irrelevant
Even this is thinking too narrow. Power in our society comes from a lot of places. We all have different capacities to do directly, to fund, or influence things.
If I go to the food bank and actually prep bundles of food to distribute, I'm doing something outside the government. Maybe the government should be doing that, but it doesn't much matter what should happen when we're out there doing.
If I donate my money to a food bank, or a nonprofit that litigates immigration cases against the government, my money might make a difference by slowing down the government, maybe even stopping its ongoing actions, or even reversing its past actions. And that threat can deter some of those actions from taking place in the first place. (And even if unsuccessful, laying bare the administration's lawlessness lays the groundwork for morally/ethically breaking the law in resistance).
If I have a podcast that has a bunch of listeners, I can influence public opinion. There are big voices in support of the current administration, and there are some voices against.
We each have our own power. Some of us even have substantial economic power that isn't our own individually: organizing collective action, making spending decisions of our deep pocketed employers, etc. And at the end of the day, if nonviolent or even violent resistance becomes justified, the government and the political parties won't have a role in how that power is deployed.
Elections and campaigns still matter, of course. But so much else matters, too. And those decisions and those actions don't go through a political party or any party officials. The key is finding balance between trying to influence the politics versus just bypassing politics and influencing the world directly.
Yes all that was implied, anarchist, mutual aid, investment in communities, yes. The point was the national parties were never our friends. And will never be our friend. You can "weed out fakes" indefinitely.
It doesn't matter how much you food bank etc. No National Group as a whole is going to sit up and take notice of you and dedicate themselves to you. Local groups and politicians will though. And it is absolutely part of what will be required to build up and empower local groups to take back leadership. It just won't solve the problem on its own.
You're right, but your not alone. There are thousands of us around the US protesting, boycotting, going to town halls, and getting involved in the government (https://www.fiftyfifty.one/). It's just hard to see since media corporations want to keep the status quo. It's not going to be easy to change our political system, but it's been done before. Just read our Declaration of Independence. We have to keep fighting or no on else will.
Edit
Here's part of the second paragraph of the declaration
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
I've got to a couple protests but they feel like they're just for show. They're not disruptive. They're not making clear, actionable, demands. They're better than nothing. i saw people handling out flyers so maybe some people went to more meetings.
But I feel like there needs to be more specific stuff. Like, a demand that musk be removed from government, or trump be removed via the 14th amendment, or whatever, and that needs to be backed by "if you don't listen to us, then you don't get any more labor". (Violence, I'm told, is less effective, but can also be there in the subtext)
But actually organizing large things is hard, especially when the state and the money are opposing you.
I can't even get my friends to suffer the mild inconvenience of getting off facebook, nevermind getting off the couch.
I agree with you. More needs to be done. If I had a higher income and sustainability, I'd be getting ready to be one of the candidates for the next local election, but for now, I'm just doing what I believe is right, so I have no regrets. Change will happen. Whether or not I'll see it in my lifetime, I don't know. All I'll know is that I did everything I could to start that change and pass it on. They may have the finances, but they can't overturn the masses when we all unite.
I thought the 50501 was to build up numbers and momentum for organization, but honestly don't think they're gonna do anymore than monthly protests.
I feel like this 'movement' is a pressure valve to let off steam and stop any actual rising up.
Protesting, boycotting, and townhalls were acceptable methods before he got power. Now praxis is needed.
It's whatever you want it to be. For me, this is just the beginning. Brainstorming and seeing what works and what doesn't. Change has happened before and it can happen again. It's not going to be easy, but it's gotta start somewhere.