Obviously people are already protesting - I’m planning on going to one tomorrow - but in the face of something this big a protest just doesn’t seem like enough.
This is just my own stupid ramble, so feel free to ignore it, but the main problem with protesting is that the American left (and most of the western world) has deluded itself into believing that protesting is a goal on its own, like: ‘if enough people show up and wave a flag, people in power will listen and things will solve themselves’, as if it was some magic ritual. That’s highly ineffective, if whoever is in power can ignore a protest and wait for everyone to go home, that’s exactly what they’ll do.
For a protest to be effective, it needs to be threatening. ‘There’s a lot of us and we’re angry at what you’re doing. If you don’t listen, we’ll start using force’.
‘if enough people show up and wave a flag, people in power will listen and things will solve themselves
Well, it used to work like that, back when the people in power remembered that they’re supposed to be the servants of the people, not their rulers.
It works in the EU countries and worked to a pretty big extent in the US till not too long ago.
It’s just that this administration’s goals are to topple democracy and install totalitarianism, which means protests (especially violent ones) are the goal - they’ll be able to show them on TV and cry about angry mobs before sending ICE and Marines to arrest everybody.
Good politicians could make and enforce laws that make unions unnecessary. Unions not only fought for higher wages but also for safer work environments or fewer working hours.
Yeah, and then a lot of those regulations became laws.
Like… The fact that not literally everybody has access to a politician’s ear doesn’t mean all politicians do this for the power trip. It just means that sometimes you need a bigger group behind you to get through to them. Or even a “proof of concept” kind of thing.
Also: policies often change with the politicians, so unions help stabilising that.
There’s a lot of us and we’re angry at what you’re doing. If you don’t listen, we’ll start using force.
Yeah, I get that protests/rallies are more a show of solidarity than actual action. That’s why I asked the question! I’ll definitely be sniffing around to see what the unions are up to, although US unions are pretty toothless at the moment :(
This is just my own stupid ramble, so feel free to ignore it, but the main problem with protesting is that the American left (and most of the western world) has deluded itself into believing that protesting is a goal on its own, like: ‘if enough people show up and wave a flag, people in power will listen and things will solve themselves’, as if it was some magic ritual. That’s highly ineffective, if whoever is in power can ignore a protest and wait for everyone to go home, that’s exactly what they’ll do.
For a protest to be effective, it needs to be threatening. ‘There’s a lot of us and we’re angry at what you’re doing. If you don’t listen, we’ll start using force’.
Join a union!
Well, it used to work like that, back when the people in power remembered that they’re supposed to be the servants of the people, not their rulers.
It works in the EU countries and worked to a pretty big extent in the US till not too long ago.
It’s just that this administration’s goals are to topple democracy and install totalitarianism, which means protests (especially violent ones) are the goal - they’ll be able to show them on TV and cry about angry mobs before sending ICE and Marines to arrest everybody.
That’s part of the delusion. It has always been power.
That’s just nonsense.
Why were unions needed if there had been reliable politicians?
Unions deal with capital owners. Have very little to do with politicians. Not sure what’s your point.
Good politicians could make and enforce laws that make unions unnecessary. Unions not only fought for higher wages but also for safer work environments or fewer working hours.
Yeah, and then a lot of those regulations became laws.
Like… The fact that not literally everybody has access to a politician’s ear doesn’t mean all politicians do this for the power trip. It just means that sometimes you need a bigger group behind you to get through to them. Or even a “proof of concept” kind of thing.
Also: policies often change with the politicians, so unions help stabilising that.
Yeah, I get that protests/rallies are more a show of solidarity than actual action. That’s why I asked the question! I’ll definitely be sniffing around to see what the unions are up to, although US unions are pretty toothless at the moment :(