# Why little to no (civil) resistance to Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 13, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275 "2025-02-13T17:51:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/61 "2025-02-14T19:06:21Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’m a regular viewer of MSNBC, and if there were any anti-Trump street demonstrations going on, they’d be all over it, running it on a 24 hour loop. Needless to say, I haven’t seen anything like that. Then we’re not watching the same MSNBC. Maddow has been showing video and stills of protests every day. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/62 "2025-02-14T19:16:52Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I tend to be quite dubious about “marches.” Sure, the million man march was significant, but what did all those pussy hat wearers accomplish? The one concrete thing that such large protests can accomplish is bringing attention and instilling a sense of solidarity among like-minded people that civil resistance is feasible, versus a ‘meme’ that makes the rounds on social media and then disappears in a news cycle. However, the fundamental promise is that it requires that others actually engage in comparable acts of resistance. The protests against broader US involvement in Vietnam spurred more protests (and some extreme responses) in a movement that grew and ultimately led the Nixon Administration to acknowledge that the war would be politically unsustainable even if they could keep drafting young men to die meaninglessly in a pointless war halfway around the world. But a movement that can sustain enough inertia to make meaningful change has to have bodies, not just messages, and the only way to do that is to recruit actual people to go out and take action. This is something the so-called “pro-life” movement learned very well and why it has been able to sustain itself and grow in grossly outsized political power despite the fact that Americans across most of the political spectrum broadly support the rights of women to have access to abortion. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Many of the folk most directly affected so far are the most vulnerable, who might fear public action/statements. Or relatively well off folk - say doctors/researchers losing funding. Many of them are wondering how to protect what they still have from future cuts/attacks. I’m not sure these folk are the likeliest population of prospective protesters. That is why the authoritarian playbook is to pick marginalized groups to attack, or spend the effort to make them marginalized, while also playing up how it is themselves who are being ‘victimized’ and ‘attacked’ for engaging in marginalization. > [@suranyi](#): > > Boycotting on a single day is not the least bit effective. Just like those calls to boycott buying gasoline on a certain day, supposedly to punish the oil companies. People will just buy the next day. The only boycotts that have ever been effective are sustained, and long lasting. These kinds of ‘boycotts’, like single day ‘strikes’, are purely performative and arguably just undermine the message and urgency of action. It’s like “Earth Day”; we take one day a year to reduce energy usage and do some superficial ecological restoration of planting a few trees instead recognizing that every day should be “Earth Day” because it is the one and only planet that we all live upon. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/63 "2025-02-14T19:18:22Z")
Good to know! I mostly watch Chris Hayes and Joy Reid, and haven’t seen Rachel since her return. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/64 "2025-02-14T19:27:13Z")
So, for the OP, as above. There’s a difference between not seeing civil resistance and the nonexistence of civil resistance. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/65 "2025-02-14T20:23:36Z")
You might want to take a look over the last few days for a sense of it. She’s actually spending a lot of time on protests. My sense is that MSNBC has parceled out different topics across their reporters. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/66 "2025-02-14T20:43:51Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Serious questions. Speaking for myself, I find it very challenging to figure out what I can possibly do that would have any meaningful effect. Do what you can to ensure the survival of you and yours on the most basic level. Have a little extra in the pantry, start a “victory garden”, etc. Trump is f\*\*\*ing over the farmers and agriculture, prices WILL go up and we’ll all long for the days when eggs were “only” $1 each. After that, look for whatever you can do to resist the shit about to hit the fan. Based on past instances of this sort of thing, initially it will look like nothing is getting down, or you’re even losing. When the balance tips it’s usually a very sudden thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/67 "2025-02-14T22:02:09Z")
In another thread, it was mentioned that DOGE has been hacked. I wonder if at some point Musk’s/Trump’s actions might encourage hackers to step up their games. Don’t look to me - I nearly left this site because i couldn’t figure out how to sign in when they changed platforms. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/68 "2025-02-14T23:23:46Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Yeah. One of my kids circulated that. He has been so upset that I guess I’m happy he found _something_ - however meagre - to direct his attention to. Struck me as pretty maningless, tho, if everyone just does their shopping the day before/after. My wife’s immediate response, “That is my usual grocery shopping day.” Speaking as someone who works for a Big Box store… the company WILL take notice if their anticipated income falls short on a particular day. Usually it’s something like a big storm, but if it’s a “strike” by customers… well, stores need customers more than a customer needs a particular store. Just one day won’t do it. And the effect of just one day - and there will be _some_ effect - won’t be publicized. It’s a step in a particular direction. Maybe it works and may be it doesn’t… but if _nothing_ is done, or tried, then the oligarchs and the Christian Nationalists win for sure. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/69 "2025-02-15T01:17:56Z")
Right now, in Russia, if you resist the government, you, or, more accurately, your friends and family, may find that one day you simply vanish. I am not sure that people saving a little money here and there and looking for safe things to do meaningfully opposed that outcome in any way, not that the responsibility to do so 100% falls on the shoulders of any particular individual. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/70 "2025-02-15T02:18:37Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > In another thread, it was mentioned that DOGE has been hacked. I wonder if at some point Musk’s/Trump’s actions might encourage hackers to step up their games. > > Don’t look to me - I nearly left this site because i couldn’t figure out how to sign in when they changed platforms. I’ve heard some chattering. ---
**Author:** ![natureboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@natureboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/natureboy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/71 "2025-02-15T02:50:49Z")
We’re just not like you. We never were. ---
**Author:** ![natureboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@natureboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/natureboy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/72 "2025-02-15T02:55:21Z")
The ones during the first term weren’t really all that effective either. They were outbursts rather than sustained movements. Even if the protesters number in the hundreds of thousands, just standing out in the streets doesn’t do much. You have to back it up with things like strikes (see lunch-counter sit-ins, Birmingham bus strikes, etc.). Protests have to have a disruptive element - not throwing orange paint at a Louvre painting, but coordinated, targeted protests that actually strike companies, politicians in the balls.’ See, France gets this. The US? Not so much. That doesn’t mean we can’t, though. Give us time. ---
**Author:** ![natureboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@natureboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/natureboy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/73 "2025-02-15T03:23:03Z")
FTR, I’m not advocating this, but let’s say violent actors decided to target Tesla facilities for sabotage and, you know, scared away potential buyers and investors. A better, more lawful option is organizing mass protests against Elon’s companies. And Zuckerberg’s. And Thiels. This is why American “protests” have mostly failed so far. Street demonstrations are just saying “I’m pissed off but I’m not really sure what to do about it.” Well-organized boycotts and general strikes? “I’m pissed off and I’m here to make you fucking pay.” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/74 "2025-02-15T03:28:26Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’d think more meaningful would be efforts directed at Tesla. Or maybe the social media billionaires’ products. Would there be a way for folk to “disrupt” those platforms - either through specific use or non-use? There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from signing up for a test drive online using a throwaway email address and the phone number of your local Chick-Fil-A and then just not showing up. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![natureboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@natureboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/natureboy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/75 "2025-02-15T03:33:21Z")
It has to be coordinated. It has to hurt, but I think it has to be generally peaceful, bearing mind even ‘peaceful’ protests can/will look ugly on TV (firehoses on peaceful protesters, for instance). It can be rowdy, but the moment someone starts burning down buildings or whatever, that’s it. Protest leaders have to exercise extraordinary degrees of coordination and control over their contingent. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/76 "2025-02-15T08:42:38Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from signing up for a test drive online using a throwaway email address and the phone number of your local Chick-Fil-A and then just not showing up. > > Just sayin’. That’s like the anti-Benetton protests by invading the shop and … unfolding the displayed sweaters. That really stuck it to The Man. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/77 "2025-02-15T09:05:34Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > That’s like the anti-Benetton protests by invading the shop and … unfolding the displayed sweaters. Wasted time reduces employee productivity and drives down profits. It’s just one little way of sowing chaos. You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and they’ll ignore 'em. And if two people, two people do it, at the same time, they may think they’ve both got the woke mind virus and they’ll ignore both of 'em. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people booking a test drive and not showing up. They may think it’s an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day booking a test drive and not showing up. And friends, they may think it’s a movement. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/78 "2025-02-15T09:24:42Z")
What’s on the specials board tonight at Alice’s Restaurant? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/79 "2025-02-15T09:27:33Z")
Anything you want. (Excepting Alice.) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275/80 "2025-02-15T12:37:54Z")
> [@natureboy](#): > > It has to be coordinated. It has to hurt, but I think it has to be generally peaceful… the moment someone starts burning down buildings or whatever, that’s it. This is critical, and opens a very dangerous possibility of backfiring–bigly… It may even be worth a thread of its own , titled “when will Trump declare martial law?” If mass protests occur, there will be some violence, similar to tbe George Floyd protests. So let’s remember how Foxnews reported them: with exaggerated panic. They filmed a few geniunely unacceptable events and described them as the end of Amrerican society. This is just the excuse Trump needs. He could call out the military. And what follows will be far,far worse than Kent State. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-little-to-no-civil-resistance-to-trump/1014275.md?page=5)