There’s a growing number of Americans who think violence might be necessary to get the country back on track
Nearly a third of Americans – 30% – say people may have to resort to violence in order to get the country back on track, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. It’s a sharp rise from 18 months ago, when 19% of Americans said the same.
It’s a horrific moment to see that people honestly believe that there’s no other alternative at this point than to resort to political violence.
I mean… is it? I think it’s pretty obvious in the context of the regime essentially giving itself carte blanch to perpetrate political violence on its desired scapegoats and opponents.
I’m frankly getting pretty fucking tired of people complaining about how this is a startling development and being shocked by what’s happening. They wrote a playbook back in 2019. They published it on the open internet. They said they would follow it. They are now following it. You are not allowed to be surprised by any of this.
Gee, almost as if Russian propaganda is working.
Before the Civil War one politician opined that if a war started you’d be able to mop up all the blood spilled with one handkerchief.
Anyone who thinks a new fight will be any easier has probably never been in a real fight.
I don’t think people realize that if a new US civil war kicked off the lines wouldn’t be as clear as north vs south. this would be state vs state, city vs city, neighbor vs neighbor. you could draw lines in your god damn sub division/street.
And if it were alliances between states it would be a god damn logistical nightmare. Imagine California being allied with New York for example. or Hell Minnesota being allied with like Arizona or whatever. how do you move supplies, troops, and what have you between allied states when you got a shit ton of hostiles between the two.
Add to the fact that unlike the first civil war you now have US military bases all over the world. what happens when you got folks within the SAME base in the middle of Germany that suddenly don’t “agree” with each other?
Cluster fuck is an understatement.
I saw one dream map where Canada drops two tentacles; one reaches down through the West all the way to San Diego, and the Eastern one reaches just north of Washington.
Humor aside, I agree with your take. A war of assassins and terrorists on both sides.
I’ll add one more note. Back in the day, the Irish Republican Army was the most feared underground in the world. They only had a handful of soldiers, but a superb organization. If a shooter was supposed to kill someone in Geneva, he’d have three or four cars waiting when he got to the airport, and each driver would know five places the shooter could stay. He’d have a choice of getaway drivers and extra safe houses and docotrs on tap.
Celebs have that pesky parasocial relationship with their fans, attacks on them are interpreted as attacks on the in-group. Attacking then just inspires their fans to violent revenge.
By comparison almost no one gives a shit if a CEO is murdered.
It’s relevant because people will take up arms for their celebrity crushes. They become martyrs.
No one cares when CEOs die.
Charlie Kirk was the cofounder and CEO of Turning Point.
Sam Altman, Elon Musk, the McMahons, Mark Zuckerberg…..
Point, but he’s a celebrity first.
Elon Musk might be similar in that he also cultivates his own popularity, but most CEOs are either unknown or generally hated by everyone on all sides. No one knew who Brian Thompson was before he was killed and most people either didn’t care or were happy he died, and there were Republicans that were happy he died.
There’s a lesson to learn here.
We need a general strike. The country would be brought to its knees if deprived of profit and labor. That tactic was extremely effective in Chile in 2019, and had they not fallen for the trick of liberal reform, they would’ve had a successful revolution on their hands with virtually no bloodshed.
If you aren’t in a union, then please consider joining the IWW to unionize your workplace (bonus: you’ll get higher wages, better benefits, and more time off if you succeed!) to strengthen a general strike if we finally manage to enact one (the UAW is planning one for May 1st 2028, but it could happen sooner)
And for our international friends, you should join one as well, as fascism is gaining momentum globally. If your country isn’t listed below, just contact the IWW directly in the link above.
Can you afford not to get paid for 2 weeks? If so you’re in the minority. Most people can’t. Not to mention they have kids they are worried about, medical conditions that they can barely afford even with insurance. Rising housing and grocery costs. Etc…
I’m not trying to be a downer. I would love to see this happen, but we need a “realistic” way to accomplish it, to convince a majority to participate.
Unions build up strike-funds with membership dues so that members can continue to receive a salary while striking, that’s why unions are so essential for working class people to be able to flex their power non-violently.
Consider that Chile is a much less wealthy country than the US. but was able to successfully commit to a general strike for over a month.
I’m familiar with the depressing statistic already, a little under 10%.
However, bear in mind that the majority of the most critical infrastructure for making profit, such as ports, trains, trucking, and medical care have the highest rates of unionized jobs, and would still be incredibly effective for a general strike (Generally only 3.5% of the population would need to participate to have a meaningful effect). Even with our abyssal rate of unionization, we still hold incredible leverage if we choose to use it.
The UAW has a general strike planned for May 1st 2028, which has real odds of working. Unfortunately it’s still 2 years out, and by that time may be too late. I’m hoping it’s moved up at some point.
After the historic success of the Stand Up Strike in 2023, UAW President Shawn Fain called on the rest of the labor movement to join our union in preparing to strike on May Day 2028. May Day is the international worker’s day, and it’s our opportunity to create a crisis for the billionaire class to win more for all of us. We know that when workers align their fights to the same timeline, we have more leverage than we do alone. What if we didn’t just do that in a corporate chain or one union, but across the country and the labor movement? Now is the time to get ready to create that crisis for the bosses.
Perhaps this is why trump just declared war on nonprofits. They could potentially pull together resources to keep people fed during a coordinated nationwide strike.
They in general exist to tackle goals directly opposed to fascist regimes, so it males sense to target them.
Education, social justice, feeding the hungry, and protecting nature are all examples of goals Trump’s regime are staunchly against.
That’s why mutual aid organizations are essential. They operate outside of the legal system, so can’t be directly targeted as easily. If you or anyone else reading this have the time, please consider joining your local mutual aid group. That could be Food Not Bombs, a different group local to your city or town, or even your local church if you’re in a rural area.
If you don’t have one in your area, start one! Here’s a little guide on how and where to find likeminded folk to start one with: infosec.exchange/@tinker/113589807117870451
I agree that a general strike is the absolute least that should be done. But a general strike would have to hit the ground with the EXPECTATION that it will get violent.
It’s inevitable that Cheeto will try to use his jackbooted thugs to crack down hard, and taking it meekly and then hoping to sue over it later won’t be an option.
When the MAGA S.A. come to put you down, they aren’t going to stop. I’m not saying that the strikers should start violence. But go in eyes open with the understanding that a a certain point, you all are going to have to make the fuckers bleed because they won’t think twice about doing it to you.
At this point I’m tired of people trying to give a prescription for the ‘right way to do things’
“A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.” Hunter S. Thompson
The problem is there absolutely is many, many wrong paths to take, and we have to learn from past attempts to avoid their mistakes. Notice how the arab spring movement, while initially promising, ultimately failed to prevent a new authoritarian regime from taking hold in most of those countries.
There are going to be different prescriptions from all political ideologies, but most of them can be dismissed to narrow down the possibilities.
That leaves the Libertarian-left/Anarchists. We have evidence that their methods result in pretty sweet outcomes, they just have never survived very long due to the whole world usually being against them.
Okay, so what do we do to in our case? First off, avoiding a civil war or extreme violence is vastly preferable, as the alternative has some big downsides. The best non-violent method we have at our disposal is a General Strike, which directly targets the machinery that fascist states rely on. Combined with mutual aid networks and civil disobedience, it has a rather good chance of preventing a fascist takeover with a minimum of violence.
The alternative is straight up revolution, which requires the participating population to be educated on a shared vision, methods to organize, and how to avoid centralizing power structures or cult of personalities which lend themselves to co-option by the above mentioned groups.
Barcelona, 1936-1939
Nearly a third of Americans – 30% – say people may have to resort to violence in order to get the country back on track,
Did the survey question specify what “the right track” is?
Because MAGA has a very different definition than progressives do.
I can’t wait until the day that these filth learn that we outnumber them 10 to 1.
It’s up to them how they learn this fact.
I know I’m outnumbered by conservatives in my area. And, while they might not voluntarily admit to bigotry, they do strongly believe in a hierarchy of power, and that failing to be obedient to a higher authority is justification for any punishment you (not them!) receive. They also believe that the laws should reflect “Biblical” teachings and that “The Church” (their church, not those Catholic “idol worshipers”) should be involved in health care, education, and the work place not just reflected in the laws.
They also tend to own guns and know how to use them, but that somewhat depends on their income. It’s an outsized spend, but when you are on food stamps, you aren’t also stockpiling ammo or acquiring more guns.
My FBI agent when I speak directly into the Google Home device that I am going to fight back against fascism:
magats are not patriots.
Patriots love their country and criticize it when its wrong.
Nationalists create a fantasy narrative of what their concept of a “country” is, and think that’s the best thing in the world.
I probably fit into the category of “patriot”, I love the multiculturalism of the US, I love the progress that has been made on Civil Rights and the protection of people with disabilities and recognition of the rights of LGBT+ people, I love the constitution (well… some parts need to be tweaked), the 1st and 2nd amendments, separation of powers, the idea that “American” is not a race, but an ideal; And I do recognize that the history is dark and those dark history should be taught so we can prevent those from happening, and I do NOT support this administration’s blatant violation of the constitution and anyone involved should be thrown in jail.
These “nationalists” don’t even love the country, they do not support freedom, they are traitors, and should be dealt with accordingly.
magats are not patriots.
They are. That’s the dirty truth of the Post-Cold War state of the nation. What we’re getting a taste of is authentic Real Americana.
All the flowery liberal hagiographies of noble, selfless liberty lovers was propaganda. Trump is the beating heart of American oligarchy. And the oligarchs have had this country by the throat since the day settlers put boots on the soil of the New World.
These “nationalists” don’t even love the country, they do not support freedom
The “freedom” this country promises is a lie. It’s the old Auschwitz line. “Work shall set you free”. Horseshit. These people want to work you into your grave.
They are. That’s the dirty truth of the Post-Cold War state of the nation. What we’re getting a taste of is authentic Real Americana.
You are getting a taste of long running russian media manipulation, enabled by rich oligarchs who care more about their power and money than country.
A russian literally wrote the book on how to take down the country.
And this shit thats happening right now is literally what was written in it.
You’re not seeing anything authentically americana from the right. You are seeing gullible idiots manipulated by outside forces to destroy the very ground they stand on out from under themselves, and do it while praising a country that they and their predecessors hated and vilified as the great communist evil.
A russian literally wrote the book on how to take down the country.
Which Russian, the one that says gay atheists take down the country or the one that says gay Jews take down the country?
That’s part of why I’m neither a patriot nor a tyrant.
Well, just WHO THE FUCK is responsible for pushing it off-track, hmmmmm? It didn’t push itself off-track. It was only a year ago when we had an economy that was the envy of the world, and was called Goldilocks, etc. What happened since?
I wish just for once that the fucking Republicans, most especially all the dumbass voters, took responsibility for all the trouble they have caused.
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