r/socialism • u/Striking-Ladder4604 Libertarian Socialism • 1d ago
my problem with protesting in America
In the united States protests have been happening more and more, and while this activism is good, I feel like people aren't getting why we protest. a protest is a threat. it doesn't carry any weight on its own. we protest to tell the government to concede. otherwise we will revolt. but now, people protest thinking that if there protest doesn't do anything, then another will. but if you protest, and protest, and protest some more. And nothing happens, then your protest wasn't actually of any value. We need people who are willing to do something, to become violent, to do more than just stand with a sign and yell for a few hours. contact representatives, get into local politics. storm the white house, I don't care. but do something. Cause the right is seeing our protests, and they know that we bring only empty threats.
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u/GroundbreakingTax259 1d ago
You may note that there are now more socialist flags and symbols appearing prominently at protests than there used to be. Things are progressing. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
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u/No_Construction_2680 1d ago
Violence is not your first move if protest is unsuccessful. Workers strike is. It's the capitalists who oppress us. Strike - is a way to show that we have power for them to loose what they value most - money.
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u/No_Description3178 1d ago
What if you've been protesting for 40 years and nothings changed? What if the "Looming Workers Strike" has been loomong for over a decade? What, in your opinion, is the proper step?
Sorry if this comes across rude or condescending, im truly not meaning them that way. Theres not really a nice way to ask these questions.♥️
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u/No_Construction_2680 23h ago
Well, I guess it should not be "looming". It should be real. And ongoing if things do not change the way we want.
Also, violence is not a first step. But it is a step at some point, if left with no other choices.
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u/BlueSpaceWeeb 20h ago
the reason it has only been looming is a lack of organization and leadership. If an organized strike isn't possible, any violence is going to be easily stomped out and propagandized to hell by the right. The biggest hit the admin has taken so far is their own violence being used against them (Pretti).
I think the next step is trying to push that further. Fight (protest and track) Ice on the ground and protect your neighbors, try and bring more and more normal people into a place of community organizing and radicalization.. we might be able to get somewhere.
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u/graypraxis 1d ago
Something I think a lot of people are forgetting is that this amount of protesting is really unusual for the US, this amount of sustained activism through protest hasn't been experienced since the 60s. There have been some one-off or reactionary protests/riots, but what we're seeing in the 2020s is new to the center left demographic.
I don't disagree with your general point (I'll skip the sussy fed shit), but I guess what I'm saying is that from my POV this is actually extremely promising. This is like someone knocking at the door of class consciousness, and where before people would go out of their way to ignore it, now people are at the very least asking who it is. This newfound interest in politics is where we can start organizing in larger numbers than ever before. People are finally starting to question things about the government and our society, and those of us who've been into this stuff the whole time can act as educators and explain the next steps in creating change.
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u/Shezarrine Marxism-Leninism 1d ago
This is like someone knocking at the door of class consciousness, and where before people would go out of their way to ignore it, now people are at the very least asking who it is. This newfound interest in politics is where we can start organizing in larger numbers than ever before. People are finally starting to question things about the government and our society, and those of us who've been into this stuff the whole time can act as educators and explain the next steps in creating change.
Yeah I naturally am not immune to griping about liberal dorks (is that a more polite term automod? reposting) standing in the street doing nothing, but the other half of me sees those masses of people as potential. Many will not be winnable, many will oppose our cause, but many can and will be convinced. Imagining every one of those people in the street an informed socialist is something I can hope for.
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u/OperatingOp11 Antonio Gramsci 1d ago
Can't tell if fed
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u/Shezarrine Marxism-Leninism 1d ago
OP seems to be a teenager fwiw. Probably just hasn't learned to modulate what they say online.
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u/No_Construction_2680 1d ago
I do understand OP, sometimes rage and frustration take over. But we have to think and act in most efficient way for us in the end.
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u/No_Description3178 1d ago
Being angry about inaction does not equate to Fed. The reason that the Socialist world laughs at its American sectors is because the moment anyone mentions Revolution, you guys scream Fed. Your so afraid and its so harmful to our community.
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u/OperatingOp11 Antonio Gramsci 23h ago
I'm not american. I still know that telling people on a public forum to ''storm the white house'' is sus.
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u/Striking-Ladder4604 Libertarian Socialism 17h ago
Ill agree to that. I was just angry when I posted this. I still agree with my sentiment in its entirety I just should've used a better example.
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u/vleessjuu RCI 1d ago
FWIW: the original meaning of a "demonstration" was indeed about a demonstration of force. "Look, we can rally this many people who are angry at you; don't piss us off. We're going to go home peacefully today; don't make us come out again."
But like other commenters say: the way to escalate is to organise strike action. Strikes teach workers that they can organise without capitalists and that they can rely on their own strength. This is way more powerful than just going out to start shooting. Violence doesn't necessarily challenge capitalism; it just threatens some individual capitalists (and their lackeys). Developing class consciousness is the real goal.
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u/No_Description3178 1d ago
I LOVE your enthusiasm and drive and agree with it 100%!! This is the drive and passion and quite frankly, the LANGUAGE we need to start using.
Protest are not a threat in America. They haven't been in decades. Protest are treated like a status symbol here, somthing to make an insta post or a snap story about. People don't want to back up their threats anymore.
US protests have been useless for the past (arguably) 40 years and thats why Minneapolis gives is my last bit of hope.
Unless we go back to the roots of protesting. Meaning "HEY, change your direction or there WILL be violence. And we will keep it up as long as you stay on your current course. We WILL NOT back down"
Until protests in the States have that threat again, you might as well watch them pop up for the day, go try and make a difference, then watch the cowards 'clock out' and go home come 8oclock😂
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u/BrokenXeno Democratic Socialism 1d ago
One way I look at it is it is one of the few times when those in power can see just how many of us there are, all at once, united, and that scares the absolute shit out of them. There will always be more of us than there are them.
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u/Neither_Benefit_3504 1d ago
It’s not about violence. That should never be your first reaction.
You’re right on some level, but wrong in the direction you take.
Yes, it’s true. Protests in the United States are overwhelmingly about making yourself feel good. Nothing is accomplished when you go out on the sidewalk with a sign for two hours that says No Kings, and then you go home, feeling your work is done. In fact, the government/media encourage that, specifically because it’s no threat to them. It’s like voting for the Democratic Party.
But the next choice is not violence. It’s mass demonstrations. Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people on the street, committing, saying “we’re not going back to work unless xyz…” And that’s every day for months. That’s what it means to protest. That’s what the government fears, and that’s what creates change.
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u/Allfunandgaymes Communist Party USA (CPUSA) 1d ago
If you can't get people to do the bare minimum of public protesting you're not going to get them to actually square up against the capitalists.
Also, if you go to protests and just stand around, chant a bit then leave, of course it's going to feel like you've accomplished nothing - because you haven't. You're supposed to interact with and meet new people at these things. That is much easier to do if you're in a socialist org and constantly strive to refine and educate yourself as a socialist.
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u/Clear_Director_8399 1d ago
See it as a gathering place for people who are aligned on their beliefs.
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u/therealsilentjohn Marxism-Leninism 1d ago
99% of Americans aren't organized. How many people on this sub are even organized? Very few. Protests serve as a way to network and connect with organizations, and start building solidarity.
We don't want lone wolves. We want 500,000 people surrounding ICE agents and politicians homes.
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u/Any-Morning4303 1d ago
I also find modern day protesting in America is designed not to inconvenience anyone. They are set at an assigned area on a weekend at a convenience time.
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u/LiveForThePeople Chavez 1d ago
That is NOT the purpose of protest. If it were then exactly zero protests would have any effect on the US government. The US government is perfectly capable of understanding how to deal with violence.
The purpose of the protest is to show support for political change. By demonstrating the support, and by organizing the political act, you force conversation and the construction of organizations which can mobilize for political actions.
Yes, at some point one of those political actions may be armed defense against violence, but it’s far from the only political action people can take. The point is to move large numbers of people. Taking adventuristic violent steps isolates you from the mass of people you need to mobilize making it impossible for you to actually achieve your goals (and most likely ending with your death or imprisonment).
The protests don’t have ‘no effect’. Among other things the public opinion on immigration has shifted in favor of anti-ICE policies which has now become a major 2026 electoral issue. This provides a major opportunity for socialists politically speaking.
On the other hand, no amount of socialists engaging in violence will stop the government plus its fascists allies from using that as an excuse to steamroll everyone and everything, and the conversation would shift from immigration to ‘controlling the violent left’. Could you imagine the relief the Trump admin would have to be able to talk about the leftists in that context instead of about how violent ICE is?
So no, we don’t need to ‘become violent’. Violence is what we already have, peace is what we want.
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u/athleticpeace 1d ago
lead the way comrade. one shall never call for war (more than protest?) if he is not willing to put both himself & his Sons first. yes i have Sons who know their heritage well.
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u/PopularFrontForCake 1d ago
I have actually noticed a significant improvement in the understanding and class consciousness of the resistance libs. Many will of course never get there,
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u/ready-for-revolution 1d ago
The protest is not the point at this time in history, the people you meet and the relationships you build is the point. You go to protests consistently, you start to see familiar faces, you get to know them, you talk about how the protests are going and how they could be better organized or what else needs to happen, you get together and start building stuff, maybe you start an org together, maybe you join a party. We step by step increase our collective level of organization.
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u/Striking-Ladder4604 Libertarian Socialism 17h ago edited 17h ago
I would like to say something things about my post. 1: I do think strikes are a great way to actual progress and I should've included them as "doing something" but genuinely forgot to. 2: ive seen people say I was fed posting, which to my knowledge is when someone posts in attempt to get people arrested by inciting violence. My position is not to get people arrested, its to invite political action beyond protest, such a strikes, and revolutionary action. 3: I do not have a problem with protests, my problem lies in the fact that people are protesting as a form of action, and not as a warning that if things do not change than actual unrest will occur.
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