disguy_ovahea @ disguy_ovahea @lemmy.world

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1 yr. ago

Sure, but if we take to violence with less than 1% of our population, we’ll just lose numbers and scare people from future protests. Our largest protest was only 1.5% at 5M nationwide, and that included a lot of elderly people who wouldn’t join in a fight.

The goal remains increasing our numbers. Talk to people in person, your neighbors, your coworkers, your friends who don’t follow politics. The days of not discussing politics in polite society are over.

Apparently you do. I was getting downvoted all weekend for saying that violent resistance was a trap. Maybe it’ll make a difference coming from someone with Trump’s playbook.

First and foremost, we need more numbers. Our largest peaceful protest was only 1.5% of our population at 5M people. Violent or non-violent, we will change nothing with those numbers.

The largest demographic in those protests were boomers, older people that would not be capable of, nor interested in, fighting. We use publicly available websites, shared on every social media platform, and that the most commitment we’ve seen so far. Violent revolution would require secured communication channels, losing additional numbers in the process.

People calling for violence truly don’t understand how few would show up. They’d quickly be hunted and incarcerated with such small numbers. The threats of violence would the keep most people in their houses, afraid to protest for fear of their safety, effectively suppressing peaceful resistance.

Calling for violence before we have the commitment is exactly how Hitler chipped away at wave after wave, and is precisely Trump’s plan. He first dispatched ICE to downtown LA, not skid row where they’d be more likely to find criminal immigrants. They raided a corporate business and several public schools first to gain the attention of the media, then against the governor’s wishes, dispatched the National Guard. We cannot be dumb enough to walk into an obvious trap set by the dumbest president in the history of our nation.

Protesting and reaching out to the disengaged is the strategy. I’m part of multiple groups that got our protests up to 5M nationwide in just a few months. We’re getting there, but we’re not there yet. Acting on emotions and driving people back into their homes in fear will undo real progress.

But I get it. You have big feelings.

I’m very familiar with history. What you fail to acknowledge is that our largest nationwide peaceful protest, which will ALWAYS outnumber the violent resistance, was 5M people. That’s 1.5% of our population.

My point of the Reichstag Fire as a metaphor is that Trump is clearly using this to incite us. If the goal was to get criminals first, they wouldn’t have stated in downtown LA. That’s a high profile message. He also chose to use the National Guard before ICE stated it was necessary, over the governor’s head.

I’m sorry you’re too passionate about this topic to see it for what it is, but I will not accept your misguided interpretation of the best strategy for our current situation.

What about losing people to fear of unsafe protest conditions and incarcerations makes sense to you? All so a few people can get their rocks off like Leroy Jenkins throwing shit at officers? It’s completely counterproductive when we don’t have the numbers to take it all the way.

I’m not taking any of this personally. I’m taking the logistics of it very seriously. This type of half-assed violent resistance is exactly how Hitler chipped away at the population. We cannot be dumber than Trump, especially when we literally have his playbook.

What part of “we will lose people to incarceration and fear” are you not understanding?

What part of “we will lose people to incarceration and fear” are you not understanding?

They escalated first, yes. That doesn’t justify escalation on our part.

Don’t pretend that your feelings are facts. You sound like MAGA.

How the actual fuck do you expect 1-2% of our nation to violently overthrow the government? All this will do is incarcerate people and scare others into their homes, effectively reducing our numbers, while giving Trump the justification he wants.

Your feelings outweigh your logic. Maybe you should keep them to yourself until you can think more clearly.

Trump is itching to enact the Insurrection Act. That will make growing our numbers far more difficult. Meanwhile, you’re advocating losing resisters to incarceration, scaring people back into their homes due to unsafe protest conditions, while giving Trump the justification he needs to strip our rights.

Do you always think with your feelings? You should try your brain. Logic and strategy know no cowardice. They only know how to outthink the opposition.

Trump is itching to enact the Insurrection Act. That will make growing our numbers far more difficult. Meanwhile, you’re advocating losing resisters to incarceration, scaring people back into their homes due to unsafe protest conditions, while giving Trump the justification he needs to strip our rights.

Do you always think with your feelings? You should try your brain. Logic and strategy know no cowardice. They only know how to outthink the opposition.

I never said resistance was a trap. I said violent resistance was. Violence will hand Trump his Reichstag Fire on a silver platter.

I never said resistance was a trap. I said violent resistance was. Violence will hand Trump his Reichstag Fire on a silver platter.

I was clear that ICE started it. If you watch the video, you’ll also see that the protestor was running backwards in front of the vehicle down a main road for half a block.

https://files.catbox.moe/ykdo17.mov

The point is, we cannot be violent in our resistance AND grow our numbers. It’s one of the other. Violence gets people incarcerated and keeps people afraid to leave their homes, while giving justification for further encroachment on our rights.

I haven’t seen LAPD on any of the live feeds with the exception of helicopters flying overhead.

I watched it happen all day yesterday. Protesters are throwing rocks through windows of vehicles as they drive by. They’re lighting M80s and throwing them at the agents.

The VAST majority is peaceful. Many are throwing rocks. A few are taking even further.

I get that they’re pissed, but this isn’t the solution. Refusing to walk into a trap isn’t cowardice, it’s strategy.

The VAST majority is peaceful. Many are throwing rocks. A few are taking even further.

I get that they’re pissed, but this isn’t the solution. Refusing to walk into a trap isn’t cowardice, it’s strategy.

You may be underestimating Newsom’s hatred for Trump. Newsom and McDonnell, the Chief of Police, have clearly stated that they will not be assisting ICE.

He’s also threatening to withhold federal taxes if Trump does not pay out for the wildfire aid. California has a $4.1T GDP, which is almost double Texas, the second place state. They have an annual federal surplus of $80B+, which almost cancels out Virginia’s sizable annual deficit on our nation.

ICE started with a hit and run of a protestor on Friday.

Protesters began throwing rocks. ICE donned riot gear, protesters threw cinder block and M80s, ICE busted out tear gas, Trump deployed the National Guard.

Hegseth has the Marines standing by, and the Insurrection Act will be next.

I’ve been watching it on 30+ different TikTok live feeds since Friday. It’s mutual escalation. ICE hit and run a protestor, protestors began throwing cinder blocks and M80s, ICE deployed tear gas, now the National Guard is dispatched.

Hegseth has the Marines standing by, and the Insurrection Act will be next. This is what happens when we get violent before we have the numbers to fight. We’re fucked because people are acting on emotion and completely unaware that this is Trump’s Reichstag Fire.

Edit: Please share this.