Sadly I can't remember last time that was effective. I remember Occupy Wall Street from a few years back. So was so much excitement and energy there but what came of it? A bunch of arrests mostly.
There were some anti-Trump protests. Right after election remember people blocking hospital exits, and setting cars on fire. At the inauguration, downtown DC, a lot of protestors torched trash cans in the street and blocked people getting the main event. It was very visible, for sure, but did it have the desired effect? I don't talk to Trump supporters but wonder how many saw the burning trash cans or who failed to get to the Inauguration thought "yap, this has convinced me, I am switching sides and will vote against him next time..."?
Vietnam, MLK, Womens voting rights, gay rights, workplace safety, end of apartheid etc.
Plenty of them all over the world. Occupy Wall Street lacked one thing: a clearly defined goal. You can protest social and economic inequality but that's not the same as saying we will continue to protest until we have 'X' where X is some very clear, concrete and achievable goal.
> Vietnam, MLK, Womens voting rights, gay rights, workplace safety, end of apartheid etc.
Exactly. What is the most recent one? It has been so long. Does this tactic even work. I am worried it doesn't.
> Occupy Wall Street lacked one clear thing: a defined goal.
I think Trump opposition is also in trouble for not having a clear goal unless the goal is "remove Trump because I wanted Hillary to win". It has to be like in this case "against extreme vetting from these 7 countries". Or against "building the wall". It has to be a clear message.
Heck, I remember the Vietnam war and the end of it (I was 12 at the time).
Of course it will work. If enough people will get off their well-fed asses that is, and there lies the biggest problem.
> I think Trump opposition is also in trouble for not having a clear goal unless the goal is "remove Trump because I wanted Hillary to win".
No, that would be the wrong goal.
More something along the lines of 'stop this madness or we'll shut the country down until congress presents a working plan on how we're going to:
(1) get rid of Trump
(2) put safeguards in place that limit the power of the Presidency
Way too much power in those executive orders, it should not be possible for a single individual to affect the world this radically on such a short timespan without adequate debate and on-the-record voting by people that can be held accountable.
Republicans are in power, they own this mess, they should solve it. And if they don't perceive it as a mess it is fairly easy to make them see the light if enough people will connect, and I suspect that by now plenty of Republicans see it the same way.
> (2) put safeguards in place that limit the power of the Presidency
> Way too much power in those executive orders,
Makes sense. Coming from Europe and talking to people there, it takes a while to explain to them how the President here has so much power here.
> we'll shut the country down until congress presents a working plan on how we're going to:
> (1) get rid of Trump
But what would be the basis of that? Just people saying "not my president". He was voted in by a large part of the country after all.
Now let's think about Google or Facebook shutting for a day maybe. That would get people's attention. Wonder if that would work... it might. There is no real "Republican leaning" equivalent there for those services. Most technology companies which face the public are left-leaning I think. So yeah, I want to see they try that perhaps.