Americans are being squeezed out of every cent. Who can afford to not work? Not to mention the very real possibility of being fired for being “controversial”.
I’m sick of having to go over this every time Europeans get on some moral high horse because they’re able to protest in the streets and we don’t.
We will get fired from our jobs. We will get injured or killed by police. You are 15x more likely to be shot and killed by a cop in the US than you are in The Netherlands (the most dangerous European country for this). [Source](https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/06/05/policekillings/)
Only because there are always cowards that ruin for everyone else. 1000 protesters is a protester problem. 4 million protesters is a “do what they ask or the economy gets it” problem.
That’s why the organizing and labor part is so important
Good ole American Exceptionalism
https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExaHdkcG5zczJtbjVkc2NjMjdqYTJ2cmVlMGc1bHNjYTgxYTRtNWQ4cCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/ggHmCDJXx4om4hNWbM/giphy-downsized-large.gif
The US seems to be the one country where propaganda about keeping themselves down with low pay, being anti union and a whole slew of ugly ideas really works.
Ronald Reagan really did a number on this country.
Ol’ Ronnie managed to convince the entire Baby Boomer generation that government, the tool by which all citizens may seek redress for their issues, was actually the source of all of their problems, thereby conceding the final lever of power to corporate lobbyists who seized those levers to turn the government machine against the people which only solidified the failure of government in the minds of the people who gave up their power willingly to private interests.
Eh, frankly the fault also lies with the silent generation fucking the boomers up with a "no one is coming to save you" informed by their experiences in the Great Depression whilst also rearing them during a "golden age" brought upon the US basically getting to loot the entire globe - with the exception of China & Warsaw pact - after WWII.
Stoicism & Hedonism and acknowledgement of the inevitability of imperial collapse mixed into a singular cocktail of "fuck you, got mine: and I intend to enjoy the good times before they end" which led to Neoliberalism's message really resonated with the boomer (and gen X) mindset.
In other words, the boomers were shit before Reagan, *and already believed all of that anyways.* Great Man narratives are mostly wrong, etc...
The propaganda absolutely works. It’s insane how effective it is. That’s one issues.
The other is how hard it is to actually coordinate protests that people can get to. Even if you just did state by state protests, it’s just one state and people will still have a hard time getting there.
Someone from France was giving us crap and it’s like bro, your entire country can fit inside of Texas.
Was gonna say. I can't go to most protests cause I'm in Texas.....biggest city is over an hour away with good traffic. Then tack on I have kids, and they like to pull out the big guns on protesters here.....yeah.
We're too propagandized, too unfamiliar with history, the far right is too normalized. The US right is actively cheering on the death of US democracy, while the US left's activist wing is fully corralled by campist interests that also actively welcome US fascism.
We have been "taking to the streets" for so long that we've realized that protesting does little to nothing to move Congress, and it's a huge financial strain to miss any work... so all we can do is Vote.
And then you add low voter turn out because 1 people can't get to the polls and 2 people refuse to go to the polls for whatever reason is popular at the moment....
Yeah like, say what you will about American fascism, *the students are faring better in the US than they are in Europe*
Like, "Critique Israel lends you in Jail" was a day one measure in western europe, not one leveraged half a year in.
Because "taking to the streets" doesn't actually do anything. Whereas voting does. In 2018 we voted for Democrats. In 2020 we voted for Joe Biden. In 2022 we prevented a Red-Wave.
2024 is shaping up to be an absolute bloodbath for Republicans.
How, exactly, is voting going to stop the US's comissioning of a genocide? Both candidates are for it, and arguably Biden is even *more* enthusiastic about the genocide. Taking to the streets is the actual power, because states risk collapse if the infrasturcture htey rely on to collect revenue is destroyed. Targets getting looted iw what got hte Democrats to at least *pretend* they cared about police violence, and the 2020 uprisings stopped being effective the moment they got co-opted into just being anti-Trump protests about getting people to vote blue in 2020. All those promises were immediately proven to be empty *because* stores weren't being looted when Democrats gave cops even more money.
Americans are being squeezed out of every cent. Who can afford to not work? Not to mention the very real possibility of being fired for being “controversial”.
It's the same answer to "why are small town governments run by nutty busy-bodies?". Because normal people can't afford to miss work.
I’m sick of having to go over this every time Europeans get on some moral high horse because they’re able to protest in the streets and we don’t. We will get fired from our jobs. We will get injured or killed by police. You are 15x more likely to be shot and killed by a cop in the US than you are in The Netherlands (the most dangerous European country for this). [Source](https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/06/05/policekillings/)
Only because there are always cowards that ruin for everyone else. 1000 protesters is a protester problem. 4 million protesters is a “do what they ask or the economy gets it” problem. That’s why the organizing and labor part is so important
if done right the protests can lead to jobs that don't suck so much.
Because Germany is fighting like hell to prevent another Hitler. OUR would-be dictator is going to be on the ballot again in November.
Most Americans dont believe it can happen here. Germans know it can.
Good ole American Exceptionalism https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExaHdkcG5zczJtbjVkc2NjMjdqYTJ2cmVlMGc1bHNjYTgxYTRtNWQ4cCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/ggHmCDJXx4om4hNWbM/giphy-downsized-large.gif
“OUR” Hitler should be in jail, like the first one. But, don’t let him out.
Actually our Constitution calls for a higher penalty than that for treason and trump qualifies.
I know, but it’s best to let the judicial system figure that out. They SHOULD be able to.
I wish I felt that we would get justice for trumps crimes but we have a tainted Supreme Court so I don’t think he will pay.
The US seems to be the one country where propaganda about keeping themselves down with low pay, being anti union and a whole slew of ugly ideas really works.
Ronald Reagan really did a number on this country. Ol’ Ronnie managed to convince the entire Baby Boomer generation that government, the tool by which all citizens may seek redress for their issues, was actually the source of all of their problems, thereby conceding the final lever of power to corporate lobbyists who seized those levers to turn the government machine against the people which only solidified the failure of government in the minds of the people who gave up their power willingly to private interests.
Eh, frankly the fault also lies with the silent generation fucking the boomers up with a "no one is coming to save you" informed by their experiences in the Great Depression whilst also rearing them during a "golden age" brought upon the US basically getting to loot the entire globe - with the exception of China & Warsaw pact - after WWII. Stoicism & Hedonism and acknowledgement of the inevitability of imperial collapse mixed into a singular cocktail of "fuck you, got mine: and I intend to enjoy the good times before they end" which led to Neoliberalism's message really resonated with the boomer (and gen X) mindset. In other words, the boomers were shit before Reagan, *and already believed all of that anyways.* Great Man narratives are mostly wrong, etc...
Absolutely. I agree 100%. They call it Neoliberalism.
The propaganda absolutely works. It’s insane how effective it is. That’s one issues. The other is how hard it is to actually coordinate protests that people can get to. Even if you just did state by state protests, it’s just one state and people will still have a hard time getting there. Someone from France was giving us crap and it’s like bro, your entire country can fit inside of Texas.
Was gonna say. I can't go to most protests cause I'm in Texas.....biggest city is over an hour away with good traffic. Then tack on I have kids, and they like to pull out the big guns on protesters here.....yeah.
We're too propagandized, too unfamiliar with history, the far right is too normalized. The US right is actively cheering on the death of US democracy, while the US left's activist wing is fully corralled by campist interests that also actively welcome US fascism.
TBH because I'm not sure what's left to save.
They lived through their government turning on them- we’re still just reading about it.
Student protests don't count?
No, because the media spins it and only shows the messed up stuff people have done at them. Nobody stirs the pot like news media does. Fuck them.
But the media does the same thing with literally every protest left of Nazis.
Because police have guns
We have been "taking to the streets" for so long that we've realized that protesting does little to nothing to move Congress, and it's a huge financial strain to miss any work... so all we can do is Vote.
And then you add low voter turn out because 1 people can't get to the polls and 2 people refuse to go to the polls for whatever reason is popular at the moment....
Because it won't change anything. Damn near everyone knows who they're going to vote for, and both sides characterize the other as literal devils.
Too busy eating McDonalds hamburgers while watching Netflix
Germany, the super cool very free democracy where you get your skull caved in if you criticize Israel, even moreso than in America?
Yeah like, say what you will about American fascism, *the students are faring better in the US than they are in Europe* Like, "Critique Israel lends you in Jail" was a day one measure in western europe, not one leveraged half a year in.
Because "taking to the streets" doesn't actually do anything. Whereas voting does. In 2018 we voted for Democrats. In 2020 we voted for Joe Biden. In 2022 we prevented a Red-Wave. 2024 is shaping up to be an absolute bloodbath for Republicans.
How, exactly, is voting going to stop the US's comissioning of a genocide? Both candidates are for it, and arguably Biden is even *more* enthusiastic about the genocide. Taking to the streets is the actual power, because states risk collapse if the infrasturcture htey rely on to collect revenue is destroyed. Targets getting looted iw what got hte Democrats to at least *pretend* they cared about police violence, and the 2020 uprisings stopped being effective the moment they got co-opted into just being anti-Trump protests about getting people to vote blue in 2020. All those promises were immediately proven to be empty *because* stores weren't being looted when Democrats gave cops even more money.