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