Truth tellers always get gaslit and defamed by narcissists and people exhibiting all the markers of antisocial personality disorder. While it has not been on as large of a stage as you, Miles,I have been there in my own life, as well. To be a latter day Cassandra warning people about the upcoming trainwreck & being disbelieved, betrayed, and persecuted is no fun. Also, saying "I told you so" has little consolation when you witness the tragedies.
The resistance is finally gathering the momentum. Let's do it and fight the tyranny trying to destroy our country and the world!
Miles, your batting average is unmatched. I read your anonymously authored book and was hopeful that you would remain embedded to quietly save my American friends & neighbours. It was not to be. Alas, you’re still doing the work.
One quibble: the American people didn’t choose this president. The 2024 presidential election was obviously fraudulent. People like https://electiontruthalliance.org are showing evidence of vote manipulation and corruption. Read the Common Coalition Report online and see This Will Hold here on Substack.
ETA has a lawsuit in PA, the goal is to audit the votes. All it takes is enough pressure on the relevant politicians to expose the fraud to the whole country and take down the illegitimate regime.
Given your prior involvement in government your list is more complete than the one I had imagined would happen. I know that I constantly refer to the Nazi takeover of Germany but the corollaries are undeniable. Hitler's henchmen seem to reborn in the likes of Miller, Bongino, Noem, Vance & the Republicans who are supposed to represent ALL of their constituents pander to the Maga cultists! They willingly have ceded their power to their cult leader. I wonder, is the cult psyche so strong that they will follow their leader to doom like the cultists in Germany did. I mean as the Russians were closing in on Berlin there were Nazi henchmen killing people who just wanted to surrender to stop the war & stop the killing. Is that where we are headed?
Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t lost faith. I don’t believe the situation is hopeless. I believe we can—and will—get past Trump and Trumpism, restore due process and the rule of law, and reinvigorate and reform our political and social institutions. But I don’t believe street protests are the best way to accomplish that goal with the least amount of human suffering and damage to our polity.
We need to think more strategically instead of simply defaulting into old forms of resistance.
I understand the allure of street protests. Street protests create a reassuring physical togetherness; they give us the encouragement of seeing our strength in numbers; and, not least, they fill us with a pleasing feeling of nostalgia for the civil rights movement and the anti-war struggles of the past.
For old farts like me, street protests remind me of my glorious youth, and for younger folks who hear their respected elders reminisce, street protests give them the chance to show that they, too, possess the courage to meet the moment.
But in this present moment, reliance on street protests is like fighting the last war. Street protests that worked in the civil rights struggle of the fifties and sixties are unlikely to work now. Here’s why:
It seems beyond dispute that Trump will use—will continue to use—street protests to foment violence which he will then use as the pretext for more extraordinary power grabs and more oppressive use of force. To a great extent, the cause of violence, whether the violence arises from Trump’s unjustified use of force or from protesters’ becoming violent, is both legally and practically irrelevant. We cannot expect that SCOTUS will engage in a balanced assessment of what caused the violence. Instead, SCOTUS will almost have no choice but to grant Trump the power to quell widespread violence.
Don’t kid yourself. Trump can easily bring about violence at street protests. He has already dog-whistled the alt-right into action for this purpose. The alt-right will not only incite violent reactions from anti-Trump protesters (as has already happened ), they will also do violence against anti-Trump protesters, many of whom are sure to respond, if only to protect ourselves, our friends, and our loved ones.
Would you stand with arms folded while an alt-right thug beats in the skull of your spouse or sibling at a protest? I’m a 69-year-old worn out stage four cancer survivor who probably wouldn’t last two minutes in a street fight. But if somebody hits or tries to take my dear sweet innocent wife, I’ll be on his ass right away.
As a mathematical certainty, the larger the street protests are, the greater will be the violence. The greater the violence, the more power Trump will acquire to stop it. You can counsel all day that protesters must remain non-violent. But protests involving thousands of people—on both side—is not something likely to be controlled by verbal admonitions. A crowd of tens of thousands of protesters and counter-protesters can quickly transform into leaderless mobs. Isn’t it obvious that street protests play into Trump’s hands?
So you might wonder why street protests were ultimately effective in the fifties and sixties, but are unlikely to work today.
A clue to the answer to that question can be found in Iran, where the recent massive street protests have failed, leaving as many as ten thousand dead, tens of thousands injured, and as perhaps a hundred thousand imprisoned. History seems to suggests that popular protests can work ONLY IF those ultimately in control of government use of force are sympathetic toward the protesters’ goals. The civil rights protests were effective because the national administrations of the fifties and sixties were broadly sympathetic to the protesters’ goals. Protests in Iran, and similarly the Tienamen Square uprising, were doomed to fail because those who controlled government use of force opposed the protesters’ goals. And so in Iran and China, when protests seem to threaten the regime’s existence, the government beats, imprisons, and kills protesters mercilessly—until the street protests stop.
Perhaps the Iranian regime will fall soon. But if the Iranian regime does fall, it will not be because of street protests, but because of an untenable economic deterioration that begins to affect the well-being of those who support the existing regime. By contrast, in finding a way to improve its economy, the authoritarian Chinese regime has made itself stronger and more stable than it was in the time of Tienamen Square. And that’s another clue:
In a commercial republic such as ours, the greatest power of We The People is as economic actors acting in concert. Isn’t it clear that the best way to disempower Trump and Trumpism is to threaten the interests of the oligarchs and corporations that keep him in power because he protects their own wealth and power?
It’s time for anti-Trump thought leaders to coalesce around mass work stoppages and targeted boycotts.
The basic formula is simple: On designated dates, and with increasing frequency, anti-Trump people should JUST STAY HOME AND ENGAGE IN THE LEAST POSSIBLE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. Don’t eat out; don’t shop; don’t surf online; don’t stream your shows; and don’t go to work (unless your work is truly essential). Instead, enjoy some time with your kids; visit with friends and neighbors; or better yet, stay in bed all day with your spouse or lover. They can’t arrest us for that.
The point is: Work stoppages and targeted boycotts are inherently non-violent. Mass street protests are inevitably violent. If non-violence is essential to our success, then the choice seems obvious.
We do need to think about how we can support those who can’t afford the lost income of even a day’s work or who might lose their jobs. We’ll need to make clear that employers who fire workers for staying home will suffer from boycotts laser-targeted at their business. Those who are financially better off will need to step up with money to support those who are not so well off. I suggest that each of us in the middle class economically should commit to give 10% of our net worth to support those less well off, and that those of us in the upper classes should commit proportionately more of our net worth for the cause.
One other way this approach differs from street protests is that our thought leaders who organize and promote work stoppages and targeted boycotts will be much more in Trump’s line of fire. They will become subject to arrest, or worse. Our thought leaders have called upon our courage. It’s time we call upon their courage.
And not just their courage. We also our though leaders’ good sense, legal abilities, and most of all their capacity to promote, galvanize, and organize an effective economic resistance that will stop Trump’s malignant insanity with the least human suffering and damage to our polity.
(The MAGA sutt-buckers will, of course, accuse us of causing a recession—and they’ll be right! To which we should reply, “Yes, we are causing a recession to stop the malignant narcissist Trump from permanently destroying the economy, and the Constitution and the country along with it. You have the power to end this recession: Stop supporting Trump. BTW, nThank you for recognizing our economic power.”)
We should begin now to collect funds to be used to assist those who participate in the work stoppage.
A venue for the monies should be such that it is available for public viewing. Something “like gofundme” but not actually them. They take too big a chunk off the top. (I think they take 10%).
Are you familiar with another venue we could use??
Then we need a completely reliable (retired) person to manage the funds.
Each claim for reimbursement must be verified with employer.
Files need to be set up on each person participating.
I have noted many ice agents speak with strong Hispanic accents. I wonder if this could be persons from SA or CA countries joining DHS and participating in this action against the people of the US
In addition, how many of these Spanish-accented DHS/ICE members are actually GANG members? 🤔 Trump was dissed by the Italian mafia in Atlantic City with his bankrupted casino. However, Trump is a student of corruption that beat him up in the past. The Italian mafia in the US is known to use Hispanic gang members as their soldiers, who are only too eager to make handsome dinero$. Given Trump's documented hypocrisy, I would not be surprised if some of those ICE/DHS officers are gang members that alluded arrest in the past.
Reading this again, as I did last summer, is even more frightening than it was then, given the numbers of green lights that have increased. I suspect you – and colleagues – hoped these ominous predictions wouldn't be realized; the speed at which it has happened is astounding.
Our fight is just beginning, and while we have much to do, the defiance continues to build.
Thanks, Miles, for this concise and updated list, which I have already passed along, I hope it will help to bring more patriots to our team.
Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t lost faith. I don’t believe the situation is hopeless. I believe we can—and will—get past Trump and Trumpism, restore due process and the rule of law, and reinvigorate and reform our political and social institutions. But I don’t believe street protests are the best way to accomplish that goal with the least amount of human suffering and damage to our polity.
We need to think more strategically instead of simply defaulting into old forms of resistance.
I understand the allure of street protests. Street protests create a reassuring physical togetherness; they give us the encouragement of seeing our strength in numbers; and, not least, they fill us with a pleasing feeling of nostalgia for the civil rights movement and the anti-war struggles of the past.
For old farts like me, street protests remind me of my glorious youth, and for younger folks who hear their respected elders reminisce, street protests give them the chance to show that they, too, possess the courage to meet the moment.
But in this present moment, reliance on street protests is like fighting the last war. Street protests that worked in the civil rights struggle of the fifties and sixties are unlikely to work now. Here’s why:
It seems beyond dispute that Trump will use—will continue to use—street protests to foment violence which he will then use as the pretext for more extraordinary power grabs and more oppressive use of force. To a great extent, the cause of violence, whether the violence arises from Trump’s unjustified use of force or from protesters’ becoming violent, is both legally and practically irrelevant. We cannot expect that SCOTUS will engage in a balanced assessment of what caused the violence. Instead, SCOTUS will almost have no choice but to grant Trump the power to quell widespread violence.
Don’t kid yourself. Trump can easily bring about violence at street protests. He has already dog-whistled the alt-right into action for this purpose. The alt-right will not only incite violent reactions from anti-Trump protesters (as has already happened ), they will also do violence against anti-Trump protesters, many of whom are sure to respond, if only to protect ourselves, our friends, and our loved ones.
Would you stand with arms folded while an alt-right thug beats in the skull of your spouse or sibling at a protest? I’m a 69-year-old worn out stage four cancer survivor who probably wouldn’t last two minutes in a street fight. But if somebody hits or tries to take my dear sweet innocent wife, I’ll be on his ass right away.
As a mathematical certainty, the larger the street protests are, the greater will be the violence. The greater the violence, the more power Trump will acquire to stop it. You can counsel all day that protesters must remain non-violent. But protests involving thousands of people—on both side—is not something likely to be controlled by verbal admonitions. A crowd of tens of thousands of protesters and counter-protesters can quickly transform into leaderless mobs. Isn’t it obvious that street protests play into Trump’s hands?
So you might wonder why street protests were ultimately effective in the fifties and sixties, but are unlikely to work today.
A clue to the answer to that question can be found in Iran, where the recent massive street protests have failed, leaving as many as ten thousand dead, tens of thousands injured, and as perhaps a hundred thousand imprisoned. History seems to suggests that popular protests can work ONLY IF those ultimately in control of government use of force are sympathetic toward the protesters’ goals. The civil rights protests were effective because the national administrations of the fifties and sixties were broadly sympathetic to the protesters’ goals. Protests in Iran, and similarly the Tienamen Square uprising, were doomed to fail because those who controlled government use of force opposed the protesters’ goals. And so in Iran and China, when protests seem to threaten the regime’s existence, the government beats, imprisons, and kills protesters mercilessly—until the street protests stop.
Perhaps the Iranian regime will fall soon. But if the Iranian regime does fall, it will not be because of street protests, but because of an untenable economic deterioration that begins to affect the well-being of those who support the existing regime. By contrast, in finding a way to improve its economy, the authoritarian Chinese regime has made itself stronger and more stable than it was in the time of Tienamen Square. And that’s another clue:
In a commercial republic such as ours, the greatest power of We The People is as economic actors acting in concert. Isn’t it clear that the best way to disempower Trump and Trumpism is to threaten the interests of the oligarchs and corporations that keep him in power because he protects their own wealth and power?
It’s time for anti-Trump thought leaders to coalesce around mass work stoppages and targeted boycotts.
The basic formula is simple: On designated dates, and with increasing frequency, anti-Trump people should JUST STAY HOME AND ENGAGE IN THE LEAST POSSIBLE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. Don’t eat out; don’t shop; don’t surf online; don’t stream your shows; and don’t go to work (unless your work is truly essential). Instead, enjoy some time with your kids; visit with friends and neighbors; or better yet, stay in bed all day with your spouse or lover. They can’t arrest us for that.
The point is: Work stoppages and targeted boycotts are inherently non-violent. Mass street protests are inevitably violent. If non-violence is essential to our success, then the choice seems obvious.
We do need to think about how we can support those who can’t afford the lost income of even a day’s work or who might lose their jobs. We’ll need to make clear that employers who fire workers for staying home will suffer from boycotts laser-targeted at their business. Those who are financially better off will need to step up with money to support those who are not so well off. I suggest that each of us in the middle class economically should commit to give 10% of our net worth to support those less well off, and that those of us in the upper classes should commit proportionately more of our net worth for the cause.
One other way this approach differs from street protests is that our thought leaders who organize and promote work stoppages and targeted boycotts will be much more in Trump’s line of fire. They will become subject to arrest, or worse. Our thought leaders have called upon our courage. It’s time we call upon their courage.
And not just their courage. We also our though leaders’ good sense, legal abilities, and most of all their capacity to promote, galvanize, and organize an effective economic resistance that will stop Trump’s malignant insanity with the least human suffering and damage to our polity.
(The MAGA sutt-buckers will, of course, accuse us of causing a recession—and they’ll be right! To which we should reply, “Yes, we are causing a recession to stop the malignant narcissist Trump from permanently destroying the economy, and the Constitution and the country along with it. You have the power to end this recession: Stop supporting Trump. BTW, nThank you for recognizing our economic power.”)
Nothing wrong with boycotts or work stoppages, but I fundamentally disagree about the value of street protests. First, I don't think the Iranian protests have been a failure. We'll have to wait and see on that one. Consider the case of Renee Good, though. Her death revealed the brutality of ICE to millions of people who weren't convinced by our warnings.
The key to nonviolent protest is that we're not willing to kill for our cause but we are willing to die. We know when we go out there that there is always a risk.
An amazingly prescient and accurate assessment of the damage that Trump has done to our country. Money and Power along with the attendant greed for both. No morals, no ethics no concern for the American people. We're speaking up, we're demanding, now it's time for the action of voting the swamp mates out of office!!
Wow...that scorecard is so eye-opening and overwhelming...and I can see how it would have seemed alarmist and a bit catastrophizing back when you published it, but now it seems like a very accurate recap of the horrors instilled on our country for the past year. Thank you...and thanks for the great Calendar link so I can pop in to any Defiance event I want!
Truth tellers always get gaslit and defamed by narcissists and people exhibiting all the markers of antisocial personality disorder. While it has not been on as large of a stage as you, Miles,I have been there in my own life, as well. To be a latter day Cassandra warning people about the upcoming trainwreck & being disbelieved, betrayed, and persecuted is no fun. Also, saying "I told you so" has little consolation when you witness the tragedies.
The resistance is finally gathering the momentum. Let's do it and fight the tyranny trying to destroy our country and the world!
Miles, your batting average is unmatched. I read your anonymously authored book and was hopeful that you would remain embedded to quietly save my American friends & neighbours. It was not to be. Alas, you’re still doing the work.
One quibble: the American people didn’t choose this president. The 2024 presidential election was obviously fraudulent. People like https://electiontruthalliance.org are showing evidence of vote manipulation and corruption. Read the Common Coalition Report online and see This Will Hold here on Substack.
ETA has a lawsuit in PA, the goal is to audit the votes. All it takes is enough pressure on the relevant politicians to expose the fraud to the whole country and take down the illegitimate regime.
I agree with you that the past election was rigged/stolen.
Regardless, how do we remove the regime?
To remove the regime requires actual proof of fraud. Supporting the ETA’s lawsuit and pressuring the PA governor & SoS would be a place to start.
This Will Hold’s Substack has been working towards this but the politicians aren’t acknowledging the truth.
Given your prior involvement in government your list is more complete than the one I had imagined would happen. I know that I constantly refer to the Nazi takeover of Germany but the corollaries are undeniable. Hitler's henchmen seem to reborn in the likes of Miller, Bongino, Noem, Vance & the Republicans who are supposed to represent ALL of their constituents pander to the Maga cultists! They willingly have ceded their power to their cult leader. I wonder, is the cult psyche so strong that they will follow their leader to doom like the cultists in Germany did. I mean as the Russians were closing in on Berlin there were Nazi henchmen killing people who just wanted to surrender to stop the war & stop the killing. Is that where we are headed?
Street protests will not work.
Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t lost faith. I don’t believe the situation is hopeless. I believe we can—and will—get past Trump and Trumpism, restore due process and the rule of law, and reinvigorate and reform our political and social institutions. But I don’t believe street protests are the best way to accomplish that goal with the least amount of human suffering and damage to our polity.
We need to think more strategically instead of simply defaulting into old forms of resistance.
I understand the allure of street protests. Street protests create a reassuring physical togetherness; they give us the encouragement of seeing our strength in numbers; and, not least, they fill us with a pleasing feeling of nostalgia for the civil rights movement and the anti-war struggles of the past.
For old farts like me, street protests remind me of my glorious youth, and for younger folks who hear their respected elders reminisce, street protests give them the chance to show that they, too, possess the courage to meet the moment.
But in this present moment, reliance on street protests is like fighting the last war. Street protests that worked in the civil rights struggle of the fifties and sixties are unlikely to work now. Here’s why:
It seems beyond dispute that Trump will use—will continue to use—street protests to foment violence which he will then use as the pretext for more extraordinary power grabs and more oppressive use of force. To a great extent, the cause of violence, whether the violence arises from Trump’s unjustified use of force or from protesters’ becoming violent, is both legally and practically irrelevant. We cannot expect that SCOTUS will engage in a balanced assessment of what caused the violence. Instead, SCOTUS will almost have no choice but to grant Trump the power to quell widespread violence.
Don’t kid yourself. Trump can easily bring about violence at street protests. He has already dog-whistled the alt-right into action for this purpose. The alt-right will not only incite violent reactions from anti-Trump protesters (as has already happened ), they will also do violence against anti-Trump protesters, many of whom are sure to respond, if only to protect ourselves, our friends, and our loved ones.
Would you stand with arms folded while an alt-right thug beats in the skull of your spouse or sibling at a protest? I’m a 69-year-old worn out stage four cancer survivor who probably wouldn’t last two minutes in a street fight. But if somebody hits or tries to take my dear sweet innocent wife, I’ll be on his ass right away.
As a mathematical certainty, the larger the street protests are, the greater will be the violence. The greater the violence, the more power Trump will acquire to stop it. You can counsel all day that protesters must remain non-violent. But protests involving thousands of people—on both side—is not something likely to be controlled by verbal admonitions. A crowd of tens of thousands of protesters and counter-protesters can quickly transform into leaderless mobs. Isn’t it obvious that street protests play into Trump’s hands?
So you might wonder why street protests were ultimately effective in the fifties and sixties, but are unlikely to work today.
A clue to the answer to that question can be found in Iran, where the recent massive street protests have failed, leaving as many as ten thousand dead, tens of thousands injured, and as perhaps a hundred thousand imprisoned. History seems to suggests that popular protests can work ONLY IF those ultimately in control of government use of force are sympathetic toward the protesters’ goals. The civil rights protests were effective because the national administrations of the fifties and sixties were broadly sympathetic to the protesters’ goals. Protests in Iran, and similarly the Tienamen Square uprising, were doomed to fail because those who controlled government use of force opposed the protesters’ goals. And so in Iran and China, when protests seem to threaten the regime’s existence, the government beats, imprisons, and kills protesters mercilessly—until the street protests stop.
Perhaps the Iranian regime will fall soon. But if the Iranian regime does fall, it will not be because of street protests, but because of an untenable economic deterioration that begins to affect the well-being of those who support the existing regime. By contrast, in finding a way to improve its economy, the authoritarian Chinese regime has made itself stronger and more stable than it was in the time of Tienamen Square. And that’s another clue:
In a commercial republic such as ours, the greatest power of We The People is as economic actors acting in concert. Isn’t it clear that the best way to disempower Trump and Trumpism is to threaten the interests of the oligarchs and corporations that keep him in power because he protects their own wealth and power?
It’s time for anti-Trump thought leaders to coalesce around mass work stoppages and targeted boycotts.
The basic formula is simple: On designated dates, and with increasing frequency, anti-Trump people should JUST STAY HOME AND ENGAGE IN THE LEAST POSSIBLE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. Don’t eat out; don’t shop; don’t surf online; don’t stream your shows; and don’t go to work (unless your work is truly essential). Instead, enjoy some time with your kids; visit with friends and neighbors; or better yet, stay in bed all day with your spouse or lover. They can’t arrest us for that.
The point is: Work stoppages and targeted boycotts are inherently non-violent. Mass street protests are inevitably violent. If non-violence is essential to our success, then the choice seems obvious.
We do need to think about how we can support those who can’t afford the lost income of even a day’s work or who might lose their jobs. We’ll need to make clear that employers who fire workers for staying home will suffer from boycotts laser-targeted at their business. Those who are financially better off will need to step up with money to support those who are not so well off. I suggest that each of us in the middle class economically should commit to give 10% of our net worth to support those less well off, and that those of us in the upper classes should commit proportionately more of our net worth for the cause.
One other way this approach differs from street protests is that our thought leaders who organize and promote work stoppages and targeted boycotts will be much more in Trump’s line of fire. They will become subject to arrest, or worse. Our thought leaders have called upon our courage. It’s time we call upon their courage.
And not just their courage. We also our though leaders’ good sense, legal abilities, and most of all their capacity to promote, galvanize, and organize an effective economic resistance that will stop Trump’s malignant insanity with the least human suffering and damage to our polity.
(The MAGA sutt-buckers will, of course, accuse us of causing a recession—and they’ll be right! To which we should reply, “Yes, we are causing a recession to stop the malignant narcissist Trump from permanently destroying the economy, and the Constitution and the country along with it. You have the power to end this recession: Stop supporting Trump. BTW, nThank you for recognizing our economic power.”)
Solidarity!
We should begin now to collect funds to be used to assist those who participate in the work stoppage.
A venue for the monies should be such that it is available for public viewing. Something “like gofundme” but not actually them. They take too big a chunk off the top. (I think they take 10%).
Are you familiar with another venue we could use??
Then we need a completely reliable (retired) person to manage the funds.
Each claim for reimbursement must be verified with employer.
Files need to be set up on each person participating.
It could become an administrative driven big job.
I have noted many ice agents speak with strong Hispanic accents. I wonder if this could be persons from SA or CA countries joining DHS and participating in this action against the people of the US
In addition, how many of these Spanish-accented DHS/ICE members are actually GANG members? 🤔 Trump was dissed by the Italian mafia in Atlantic City with his bankrupted casino. However, Trump is a student of corruption that beat him up in the past. The Italian mafia in the US is known to use Hispanic gang members as their soldiers, who are only too eager to make handsome dinero$. Given Trump's documented hypocrisy, I would not be surprised if some of those ICE/DHS officers are gang members that alluded arrest in the past.
Reading this again, as I did last summer, is even more frightening than it was then, given the numbers of green lights that have increased. I suspect you – and colleagues – hoped these ominous predictions wouldn't be realized; the speed at which it has happened is astounding.
Our fight is just beginning, and while we have much to do, the defiance continues to build.
Thanks, Miles, for this concise and updated list, which I have already passed along, I hope it will help to bring more patriots to our team.
Prescient and terrifying.
I hope there is still time to save your Republic friends because the fellow playing "president" has gone rogue, crazy.
He's in full Dr. Strangelove mode.
It's as if you are psychic!!
Amazing how accurate your predictions were!
Good job Miles!
This is why I pay for a subscription Miles. You do good work.
Team, I might be a little late to our 5:00 meeting today--I'll be at three different "Walkout" events in No. VA. Sic Semper Tyrannis!
Street protests will not work.
Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t lost faith. I don’t believe the situation is hopeless. I believe we can—and will—get past Trump and Trumpism, restore due process and the rule of law, and reinvigorate and reform our political and social institutions. But I don’t believe street protests are the best way to accomplish that goal with the least amount of human suffering and damage to our polity.
We need to think more strategically instead of simply defaulting into old forms of resistance.
I understand the allure of street protests. Street protests create a reassuring physical togetherness; they give us the encouragement of seeing our strength in numbers; and, not least, they fill us with a pleasing feeling of nostalgia for the civil rights movement and the anti-war struggles of the past.
For old farts like me, street protests remind me of my glorious youth, and for younger folks who hear their respected elders reminisce, street protests give them the chance to show that they, too, possess the courage to meet the moment.
But in this present moment, reliance on street protests is like fighting the last war. Street protests that worked in the civil rights struggle of the fifties and sixties are unlikely to work now. Here’s why:
It seems beyond dispute that Trump will use—will continue to use—street protests to foment violence which he will then use as the pretext for more extraordinary power grabs and more oppressive use of force. To a great extent, the cause of violence, whether the violence arises from Trump’s unjustified use of force or from protesters’ becoming violent, is both legally and practically irrelevant. We cannot expect that SCOTUS will engage in a balanced assessment of what caused the violence. Instead, SCOTUS will almost have no choice but to grant Trump the power to quell widespread violence.
Don’t kid yourself. Trump can easily bring about violence at street protests. He has already dog-whistled the alt-right into action for this purpose. The alt-right will not only incite violent reactions from anti-Trump protesters (as has already happened ), they will also do violence against anti-Trump protesters, many of whom are sure to respond, if only to protect ourselves, our friends, and our loved ones.
Would you stand with arms folded while an alt-right thug beats in the skull of your spouse or sibling at a protest? I’m a 69-year-old worn out stage four cancer survivor who probably wouldn’t last two minutes in a street fight. But if somebody hits or tries to take my dear sweet innocent wife, I’ll be on his ass right away.
As a mathematical certainty, the larger the street protests are, the greater will be the violence. The greater the violence, the more power Trump will acquire to stop it. You can counsel all day that protesters must remain non-violent. But protests involving thousands of people—on both side—is not something likely to be controlled by verbal admonitions. A crowd of tens of thousands of protesters and counter-protesters can quickly transform into leaderless mobs. Isn’t it obvious that street protests play into Trump’s hands?
So you might wonder why street protests were ultimately effective in the fifties and sixties, but are unlikely to work today.
A clue to the answer to that question can be found in Iran, where the recent massive street protests have failed, leaving as many as ten thousand dead, tens of thousands injured, and as perhaps a hundred thousand imprisoned. History seems to suggests that popular protests can work ONLY IF those ultimately in control of government use of force are sympathetic toward the protesters’ goals. The civil rights protests were effective because the national administrations of the fifties and sixties were broadly sympathetic to the protesters’ goals. Protests in Iran, and similarly the Tienamen Square uprising, were doomed to fail because those who controlled government use of force opposed the protesters’ goals. And so in Iran and China, when protests seem to threaten the regime’s existence, the government beats, imprisons, and kills protesters mercilessly—until the street protests stop.
Perhaps the Iranian regime will fall soon. But if the Iranian regime does fall, it will not be because of street protests, but because of an untenable economic deterioration that begins to affect the well-being of those who support the existing regime. By contrast, in finding a way to improve its economy, the authoritarian Chinese regime has made itself stronger and more stable than it was in the time of Tienamen Square. And that’s another clue:
In a commercial republic such as ours, the greatest power of We The People is as economic actors acting in concert. Isn’t it clear that the best way to disempower Trump and Trumpism is to threaten the interests of the oligarchs and corporations that keep him in power because he protects their own wealth and power?
It’s time for anti-Trump thought leaders to coalesce around mass work stoppages and targeted boycotts.
The basic formula is simple: On designated dates, and with increasing frequency, anti-Trump people should JUST STAY HOME AND ENGAGE IN THE LEAST POSSIBLE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. Don’t eat out; don’t shop; don’t surf online; don’t stream your shows; and don’t go to work (unless your work is truly essential). Instead, enjoy some time with your kids; visit with friends and neighbors; or better yet, stay in bed all day with your spouse or lover. They can’t arrest us for that.
The point is: Work stoppages and targeted boycotts are inherently non-violent. Mass street protests are inevitably violent. If non-violence is essential to our success, then the choice seems obvious.
We do need to think about how we can support those who can’t afford the lost income of even a day’s work or who might lose their jobs. We’ll need to make clear that employers who fire workers for staying home will suffer from boycotts laser-targeted at their business. Those who are financially better off will need to step up with money to support those who are not so well off. I suggest that each of us in the middle class economically should commit to give 10% of our net worth to support those less well off, and that those of us in the upper classes should commit proportionately more of our net worth for the cause.
One other way this approach differs from street protests is that our thought leaders who organize and promote work stoppages and targeted boycotts will be much more in Trump’s line of fire. They will become subject to arrest, or worse. Our thought leaders have called upon our courage. It’s time we call upon their courage.
And not just their courage. We also our though leaders’ good sense, legal abilities, and most of all their capacity to promote, galvanize, and organize an effective economic resistance that will stop Trump’s malignant insanity with the least human suffering and damage to our polity.
(The MAGA sutt-buckers will, of course, accuse us of causing a recession—and they’ll be right! To which we should reply, “Yes, we are causing a recession to stop the malignant narcissist Trump from permanently destroying the economy, and the Constitution and the country along with it. You have the power to end this recession: Stop supporting Trump. BTW, nThank you for recognizing our economic power.”)
Solidarity!
Nothing wrong with boycotts or work stoppages, but I fundamentally disagree about the value of street protests. First, I don't think the Iranian protests have been a failure. We'll have to wait and see on that one. Consider the case of Renee Good, though. Her death revealed the brutality of ICE to millions of people who weren't convinced by our warnings.
The key to nonviolent protest is that we're not willing to kill for our cause but we are willing to die. We know when we go out there that there is always a risk.
An amazingly prescient and accurate assessment of the damage that Trump has done to our country. Money and Power along with the attendant greed for both. No morals, no ethics no concern for the American people. We're speaking up, we're demanding, now it's time for the action of voting the swamp mates out of office!!
Agree with your predictions and in line with Project 2025 - it’s almost complete.
Wow...that scorecard is so eye-opening and overwhelming...and I can see how it would have seemed alarmist and a bit catastrophizing back when you published it, but now it seems like a very accurate recap of the horrors instilled on our country for the past year. Thank you...and thanks for the great Calendar link so I can pop in to any Defiance event I want!
Thank goodness we have you!