[throw__away7391]

I went to a protest. I was anxious about being photographed and added to some biometric database to be used for who knows what purposes. My wife and I had a serious discussion about whether to go, the possible risks, the possibility of violence, but I ultimately convinced her to go as our civic responsibility. I left our phones at home as a precaution so as to avoid being geolocated to the site.

What I found upon arriving was an unserious mob of hippies laughing and taking selfies to post on social media. I'd made signs supporting the rule of law. The signs of the other participants were an unfocused smattering of various political goals from "tax the rich" to banning Teslas. They included what I thought was an excessive about of profanity and crude insults. I think these are unserious people and what they're doing is performative and utterly pointless.

I do not see any viable action for individual citizens to take. Everyone out there clamoring for people to do something is just pushing their own political agenda. We had an election, one side won, that's how things go, ok. What's happened since however is a clear violation of the US Constitution in more ways than one can count, but it seems there is basically no one aware of or concerned about this. I feel like I'm at a football game where one side just took out a gun and shot the referee and while he lies on the floor bleeding to death both sides are still arguing over whether there was a foul or not.

[nyanpasu64]

I don't know what it will take to make the fascist regime fear for their safety, and their supporters fear for their existence in society for having elected an autocrat intent on eliminating the existence of vulnerable groups. And I don't see a path to restoring social freedoms in red states with Christian nationalist radical majorities passing laws declaring Jesus as king and banning websites with LGBTQ content from minors.

[jeromegv]

There are various activist movements, groups, interests, communities.

You have to find your people. It can take a while. Change takes time, big social movements were decades into the making in the fringe before they reached the mainstream consciousness.

[throwawaymaths]

are you ready to die for the principles of your country? if not, then there is no point. things are bad, but they have been way worse in the past (remember, we had legislators getting caned on the floor of congress, citizens locked up en masse without trial, everyone's bank accounts confiscated and held for weeks, biological experiments run on minorities, and underage citizens assassinated by drones). in the face of the injustices that the administration is going to commit, you should have ready for yourself the answer to two questions:

1. given a sober, nonpartisan review of past history, how far is too far for this administration?

2. what are you willing to do to stop it, how much are you willing to sacrifice.

i suspect that nothing the administration has done to date really clears the first bar. be prepared for the day it will, save your energy till then.

[tdeck]

The person you're replying to has a vastly over inflated view of the risk of holding a sign, and when it felt too cringe they quit to slag off the other protestors. I would not expect much.

[throwawaymaths]

post is more for other readers, not the gp.

[andrepd]

> What I found upon arriving was an unserious mob of hippies laughing and taking selfies to post on social media. I'd made signs supporting the rule of law. The signs of the other participants were an unfocused smattering of various political goals from "tax the rich" to banning Teslas. They included what I thought was an excessive about of profanity and crude insults. I think these are unserious people and what they're doing is performative and utterly pointless.

You don't think this is completely by design? Social media is probably the most powerful cultural force that every existed, by an order of magnitude. Just flood instagram with quirky posts about protesting with your favourite Marvel superhero franchise quips, and The Algorithm will take care of injecting it into the brains of five hundred million people before lunchtime.

[tbrownaw]

> I do not see any viable action for individual citizens to take.

Get involved with your preferred local political party. Push for policy preferences that won't drive turnout for the opposing party and won't give that party a chance to nominate a clown and then still win.

[ndsipa_pomu]

Seems like politics produced the mess that the U.S. is now in, so I doubt that politics will be the solution. What's required is for the general population to realise that they do still have the actual power and remind their "leaders" of that fact.

[tdeck]

Honestly it sounds like you just want to give yourself an excuse to stop engaging. This reads like "I ate a salad once and I didn't like it, so I'm done with vegetables entirely, it's hopeless". Then the rest is you complaining that other people are unserious?

Going to protests is usually not much fun. There are all kinds of people there that you might not feel much in common with. People will make signs that focus on things you don't care about. This is normal! Protests can also easily burn a person out, so people try to have fun if they can because it's important to sustain pressure. The fact that someone dresses up, has a joke on their sign, meets a friend and smiles, or takes a selfie is not an indictment of the person or their protest.

Resist the urge to wallow in contempt for those people, particularly when you haven't done anything that has been effective.

[watwut]

To me it sounds like you overestimated the danger.

[throw__away7391]

Yes. Clearly. I spend most of my time outside the US, I thought I was coming back to Germany 1933, but it seems it’s more Rome 476.

[BartjeD]

I Admire your courage for sharing.

The only thing you can do is convince people, I think. Most folks are trying to stay in their bubble.

[mktk1001]

You're mad at the wrong people.