Had a really good time, I’m really glad we made signs :)
I’m not awake during the day generally so I’m kinda thinking now, maybe a way I can contribute is making signs for people to pass out or give away as a way I can contribute
There were people out handing out cookies and donuts which was pretty cool too :)
I’m not sure how one leads to the other. Are you going to vote for a third party? No, because you think it’s a lost vote. You have no leverage and Democrats will just adopt whatever is popular with people and that’s a taste for easy solutions and revenge. I think marching is feeding helplessness because ultimately you’ll see it doesn’t do anything and by the time you realise you’re wasting energy it’s already too late. Speaking from experience of a country that doesn’t even have a two-party system but the guard rails of this process are impressively precise in outcomes.
I’m at the step where I break law frequently for safety of my surrounding but turns out nobody else wants change using bricks and bottles as long as they have 9-5 and TV in the afternoon.
I’m really not sure why you think it’s cool to go around ascribing what I will or won’t do, or speaking for me on how I’d vote.
I think how you vote is incredibly complicated and there are a lot of merits to a lot of different approaches, how I decide to vote is down to the totality of circumstances, and it’s a dick move to tell people what they will or won’t do when discussing their perspectives
And just like peaceful protests has flaws, so does intentionally violent protest- if you give the authoritarians exactly what they need to frame you as the bad guys and you don’t have the public trust needed for the public to see through that, thats a huge loss for your cause. Both peaceful protest and violent revolution have achieved different things under different circumstances.
I’m not laboring under the delusion that because I personally go to peaceful protests, the problem will be avoided. That would be dumb; I believe there’s a very good chance we’ll fail, but I intend to do what I can. But connecting with other people, building a sense of community, and having a positive experience voicing my dissatisfaction with others gets me more involved, gives me more energy, and helps me hold on to hope.
Regardless, please don’t ascribe me motives or put words in my mouth as to how I would or wouldn’t vote, I find that an incredibly unpleasant way to be interacted with
If you’re okay with consequences that I described (it happened in multiple places already but maybe there’s American exceptionalism at play), or are just a liberal and like what liberals have been doing then you’re probably getting everything you need out of those marches. That’s fine but then the point of this post seems to be communicating how much of a cool guy/gal you are and that’s just vanity and not real action.
The point is making protest more visible and sharing that it was a positive experience, in the hopes that more people get involved, more people think about what they can be doing, and even more people show up next time.
Again, you’re ascribing me motives and judging me based on the assumptions or decisions you’ve made about who you think I am. That sucks, and it will only ever create unpleasant, unproductive interactions.
Once protest is very visible, what happens then?
To be clear, if your next comment tells me who you’ve decided I am and judges me based on the assumptions you’ve made about me I’m just not gonna reply.
Which is fine if you don’t think there’s any common ground to be found or whatever, but I’m not here to argue pointlessly because someone has made up their mind as to what I think, and doesn’t care what I say I believe or what priorities I express.
I’m asking how one thing leads to the other or what your end goal expectations are. I didn’t ask those questions when I did what you did and feel kind of dumb now. Wanted to spare you that.
What I’ve learned is that if your action doesn’t convince those already convinced of the opposite then it’s a wasted effort unless you’re building a tribe that feels superior to the other. Tribes are a bad way to go about politics.
I can appreciate and respect that. And I 1000000% agree that a lot of political action these days is divisive and counter productive because the goal is to bring people in and increase the number of people who stand for your cause, not shut people off. Thats something I feel super strongly about. People absolutely spend a lot of time speaking at people they disagree with in order to gain approval from those they already agree with.
The other reply is my list of hopes for involvement. I can completely understand wanting people to think about what their end goal is. I think saying things like “great work! Don’t forget it takes more than marches but keep it up!” Is super helpful and makes it easier for people to remember that there’s a bigger picture beyond marching with signs.
I want to find more ways to get involved, but I’m starting with small things, and I do believe those small things (peaceful protests and demonstrations) have value, even if they’re not enough on their own. I think they’re one piece of a puzzle, one strategic tool, and you kinda have to use them all and use them at the right times and in the right places
https://lemmy.world/comment/17693663 I dunno how to link to a comment in an instance agnostic way, but this is the comment where I list the things I’m hoping to achieve by going to a protest and making that very visible so people see that protests are happening
I think the more people you get involved in small ways, the more of those people might get involved in bigger ways.
It gives more people a way to feel connected to the people around them and to find hope and motivation and solidarity at a time when those things are both hard and absolutely necessary if we want any chance of doing anything at all.
The larger the public displays, the harder it will be for political parties to ignore including the Democrats.
And the more people remain peaceful when the state escalates, the more public approval you can build, and the more public approval you have, the more you can escalate without polarizing people and loosing that public trust. I believe it’s a needed resource.
And I’ll put it here since you replied before I could edit my previous comment (which is fine, I just thought I had a moment to add an extra thought at the end that I assume you didn’t see)
Please don’t ascribe me motives like “you’re doing this out of vanity”, or tell me what I am or am not going to do. Thats like 6 steps past talking past each other. I think discouraging people is harmful to the cause but that’s a discussion we can have. But not respecting me enough to actually talk to me and hear what I’m saying instead of just deciding who you think I am, and judging me based on your assumptions is wildly uncalled for. That will only ever result in crappy, unproductive interactions, and is also just a really crappy way to treat people.