it’s tough to fill the time. consider bringing a small speaker, maybe make a playlist that’ll give you some mental energy and/or contribute to your mood, but also might bump up your message. songs by Dylan, Bragg, even Marley have encouraging messages. you could even do southern gospel songs like the ones that black activists sang during the civil rights movement.
certain, specific humans, have a great deal more culpability than others.
less useful blaming billions when a couple dozen people engineered the choices for the rest of us, especially on climate.
the biggest problem opposition groups have nowadays is targeting the wrong people to oppose. I know who my enemies are and it’s not so self defeatingly simplistic as humans = bad.
Bernie was the compromise. now it’s Luigi time.
ultimately the goal in reading history of anti fascist movements is to take bits and pieces of what they did well, what they did wrong, and synthesize a new vision for what a modern anti fascist coalition might look like in 2025.
those criticizing IF are making valid contributions, but we should be cautious not to throw the baby out with the bath water. IF wouldn’t work today under same core ideologies and strategies they used then. but it’s still inspiring to know that some courageous folks did band together (albeit unsuccessfully) to resist forces that became the Nazi war machine. and there are many others to learn from.
we can do better though, we must do better if things really are headed the same direction globally as they were in 1932. I hope not.
sending you encouraging vibes.
be aware, even completely civil nonviolent usage of your constitutional rights can be misconstrued and things might escalate quickly unexpectedly.
be sure to have recording devices that automatically upload. memorize at least one phone number for someone who can help you in case your phone is taken or worst case you are detained. know your rights, review advice from civil liberties orgs so you know when it’s wise to speak or wise to remain silent.
unlike fascists, we don’t all agree we need to “get rid of” our political opponents but I do take your point. i would say they quickly become irrelevant once a movement latches on and changes the prevailing political winds. politicians, especially Dems, are cowards. they are like a flag in the wind. they will go wherever the fuck the wind tells them. and we, collectively, make the wind.
move on with your life, there’s way bigger battles to fight than “at some point in the past, a Nazi once stood on this patch of Earth… therefore anyone who stands on it becomes a Nazi”. this is not the hill to die on you think it is.
which website a person casually clicks a link to doesn’t irrevocably and eternally condemn (or purify) their personal beliefs and immortal soul. it’s. just. a. website. and they took the Nazi shit down already. JFC.
just be supportive (irl or online) of the people in your life that need the most help. keep a tight circle. as your capabilities permit, slowly grow that circle outwards to include more activities or messages. resistance movements are not made overnight.
the solution is not going to come in the form of a singular day of resistance, no matter what people tell you. even a worldwide general strike executed flawlessly will not upend the historical and cultural foundations that got us where we are today. we need a MOVEMENT. movements are made of people, like you and me.
just by showing support, and talking candidly with others helps remind each other other that we have POWER when we all align our efforts.
it’s true. we’re seeing a lot of unconventional approaches to resistance nowadays. some might not work, some might only make a dent, some might help build solidarity but have little material effects. but something else is also true: no one, not the smartest of the smarty-pants historian economist or terminally online leftist post capitalist actually - KNOWS - the specific set of steps that will be sufficient to change things forever.
all we can do is support people who are resisting in every way possible. sharing and reposting, donating money, signing petitions, calling reps, mobilizing unions, even more aggressive tactics (or giving aid to those who put themselves at risk directly).
just help each other as hard as you can, build strong relationships because look around - we literally only have each other to count on right now. be a reliable and supportive ally and it will make a difference.
collapse is almost definitely coming. I for one accept it though and believe there’s a low probability of a silver lining outcome for a small number of survivors to build something new after society as we know it comes crashing down.
post collapse Earth will be irrevocably different from the one we inhabit today, but it won’t be all bad. i suspect not everyone will suffer the same fate from war, famine, or catastrophes. humans inhabit every corner and valley of this immense planet and not every place will be made uninhabitable for everyone, simultaneously.
those who decouple from capitalism now and work towards a different kind of society, might fare better. it will be challenging, brutal, and at times exhausting for sure. but at least the orphan crushing machine we know today will finally come to a grinding stop.
bingo. to those accustomed to a lifetime of privilege, equality feels like oppression.
you have to crawl before you can walk.
the point isn’t to impact companies… no one’s expecting a single day boycott to end capitalism. that’s ridiculous.
small events leading up to bigger ones is part of growing a movement, of testing how far you can count on people to support your cause. these types of actions are test runs to see if people have any capacity whatsoever for organizing and acting together in unison.
some leftists (other commenters in this thread who were gatekeeping) are too smart for their own good, and think that we can get millions to go on a general strike overnight or enact some dramatic v for vendetta moment. turns out, deeply individualist Americans conditioned by a lifetime of isolation and atomized existence need a little gradual coaxing sometimes.
nOtHiNg EvEr aCCoMpLiShES aNyThInG!
you don’t get to tell everyone else THE RIGHT WAY ™ to protest.
“You can discourse and quote-dunk and fact-check until you’re blue in the face, but at a certain point, you have to stop and decide what truth you believe in. The internet has conditioned us to constantly seek new information, as if becoming a sponge of bad news will eventually yield the final piece of a puzzle. But there is also such a thing as having enough information. As the internet continues to enshittify, maybe what we really need is to start trusting each other and our own collective sense of what is true and good.”
having more examples of collapse won’t hold back collapse or help you prepare for it.
and in a “post-facts” world, it’s more important to build strong connections with other people who share your BELIEFS and less important to respond to every new supposed “fact” (claim) being shoved into our faces by an unreliable media.
beliefs are increasingly more potent in the world of political organization than facts/new information, just look at how easily our country has been overtaken by millions of voters who believed in blatantly false promises and simple answers to complex problems.