I quite literally can’t think of a single way to more effectively play straight into Trump’s hands.
I probably shouldn’t have assumed your intent. I was just reflecting on my own struggle.
I think it’s hard to pinpoint for any given political situation just what perfect combination of activities is going to do the trick. As a macro social worker I have at least cursory knowledge of the kinds of tools that are used to bring about social change. Sometimes protests work and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they only work in concert with something else. And in a lot of cases we are looking at something retroactively, like the Civil Rights Movement, which had an incredibly large number of moving pieces and a specific historical context and trying to say, “Oh, it succeeded because of X.” Well. Maybe.
But I can tell you what doesn’t work, and that is doing nothing.
I’m personally a little bit skeptical of protests (though that is changing because we have seen some major global upsets lately due to protests and I cannot deny the impact they have had.) I think No Kings is getting something right, in that they’re reading the temperature of fear. They’re hearing that people are afraid to go out, and rather than saying, “You have to go be obstructive and put it all on the line” they are saying, “Hey, just come out and stand around for two hours on a Saturday. That’s all you have to do.” And I think that’s pretty smart. And I think it’s pretty smart that they are explicitly non-violent and that the expectations are very clear and the goals are simple. Start small, build momentum. The more people hang out with each other and talk to each other the more they are going to want to get more deeply involved.
And I’ll tell you how my friend got me to come out. He said, “You don’t even have to come. Just register. They need to know the numbers are there.”
For me what it comes down to is I can’t hide what I am or what I stand for. Like, that’s on the fucking record. If Trump wants to prosecute me for being a progressive, he’s got plenty of ammunition from the last 20 years whether I stay home Saturday or not. So I might as well just do something.
I’m an explicitly nonviolent person. I oppose violence on moral grounds, but even if I didn’t, I think it would be a terrible move from a strategic perspective. Trump is trying to paint us as the party of violence and chaos and disorder and our job is to show that we are not that. We must be reason and compassion in the face of tyranny.
I am very much in agreement with all of this.
Going to the last No Kings did a huge amount of good for my mental health. I’m not usually anxious, and my worries tend to be more around parking and door dings. I was worried about what would happen at the protest, though. Would there be a counter protest? Would the police act dumb? Would there be drones filming the whole thing?
I went to my local suburban protest, and it felt really good to see hundreds of people out there, and hundreds more honking and waving in support. All of the sudden I wasn’t facing this all alone, like when I doom scroll in bed. The event was full of families, old people, kids, and dogs. We ran into my kid’s teacher. These are the same people I see at the July 4th show, or any other community gathering, and there all here holding up signs with pictures of Elvis that say “the only king America needs.”
Going to the big one in Denver would have amped up my parking anxiety to possibly unacceptable levels, and being much, much larger would increase the chances of someone (probably the police) doing something really stupid. In the end, I don’t think there were any incidents, and it would have been safe to go.
So I say if you’re feeling anxious, aim for one of the smaller community events, even if a big city one is convenient to you. If the big one is the only option, then just pretend like you were going to a parade or something, as far as the logistics of getting into the city and parking.
It probably will make you feel better to stand around with all of these other people who are just as angry as you. And you don’t have to stay the whole time. We bought the teacher and her kid drinks, and spent the second hour we were there hanging out in a coffee shop.
My north of Boston coastal suburb (most First Period historic houses in the United States!) sees a peaceful gathering every Saturday along the main drag through town (just south of the oldest documented two-span masonry arch bridge in the United States!) (at the edge of the tiny park where the veterans memorial was just rebuilt!) with home-made signs, American flags, men, women, children, old, young, smiling and waving at the passing cars that honk back, with drivers smiling and waving. I’ve noticed that the numbers have increased lately. Methinks I should head over this Saturday to join their treasonous antifa terrorist ranks in this hotbed of unpatriotic America haters.
I’m going to a Metro Detroit suburb notorious for its diversity equity and inclusion. That’s where my buddy lives and it’s probably going to be the most comfortable place to be in terms of “my people.” And I can just stand there and talk to him the whole time. I’m braving an uncertain parking situation for other comforts.
I do think visibility matters right now. Nothing crazy, just predictable, mundane, unapologetic visibility.
I am going as well. It’s important to show up, to let them know that there are a LOT of us angry and not willing to let our country’s principles go without a fight.
Just FYI, we have a dedicated thread for the 18OCT2025 “No Kings” protest going on as well.
Don’t take the “insurrection” or “justify a crackdown” bait. IMHO it also helps to put on a costume, point and laugh.
I’m late to this thread, and haven’t read it all, but I wanted to post this incredibly eloquent answer to the OP’s question. (I also posted it in the Oct. 18 thread.)
Another effect of protesting is weakening the “pillars of support” the regime relies on to continue functioning, including the media, courts, business, police, military, civil service, etc. Here is a blog that summarizes a longer presentation on this concept.
Mass protests like these are incredibly powerful. They build a sense of unity, solidarity, and connection. They show that lots of people from diverse parts of society are fed up with the status quo.
They shift social norms about what is acceptable and what isn’t, and they create the social permission for groups to stop complying with the authoritarian status quo.
[These are] the pillars of support for authoritarianism. These are the organizations and institutions that provide autocrats with the social, political, and economic power they need to wield control.
[The pillars can include] businesses, religious organizations, bureaucracies, unions, professional associations, media outlets, police and military.
But of course, these pillars are not monolithic. They are made up of people with different identities, interests, and loyalties.[For example,] the business pillar [includes CEOs,] investors, workers, consumers.
So [it’s useful to understand] where people within key pillars fall. Are they actively or passively supporting authoritarian practices? Are they on the fence? Are they on our side? So understanding this is key to designing campaigns whose goal it is to shift their incentives.
This. We had a good example in Canada. In 2021, I think, truckers protested against Vaccine mandates required to enter Canada. They brought a bunch of tractor-trailers to Ottawa and basically barricaded the city for a couple weeks. They were defended by Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition Conservatives. As it happened, his seat in parliament was in Ottawa (there is no requirement that an MP reside in the riding they represent) and his stance riled up his constituents to the point that he lost the election in a “safe” Conservative riding. (He was later elected in a riding in Alberta.)
I went today and had an absolute blast, followed by possibly the most optimistic conversation about politics I’ve had in a long time.
I think going because it makes you feel better is actually a really good reason.
I heard a story about Thich Naht Hanh, the Zen monk and Vietnamese peace activist. He and his followers were in the US when 9/11 happened. Everyone was shocked and horrified. They said to him, “Master, what will we do?”
He said, “We’re going to the beach.”
And they did. They spent an entire day with the ocean waves in quiet contemplation while everyone else was losing their fucking minds. And from there, once he and his people had centered themselves, he moved to act.
This felt like a day at the beach.
Some thoughts from George Lakey, who has been organizing for change around the world for about 70 years. Short version:
Five stage revolutionary movement framework – George Lakey #
The five stages are presented in sequence which shows how each preceding stage builds capacity for the next stage – but in reality the stages overlap and are cyclical. The five stages are:
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- Cultural preparation;
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- Organization-building;
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- Confrontation;
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- Mass noncooperation;
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- Parallel institutions which can carry out the legitimate functions formerly carried out by the Old Order (economic, maintaining infrastructure, decision-making, etc.)
For more see George Lakey’s chapter in Globalize Liberation, edited by David Solnit; and the articleon History is a Weapon.
This is what Mike Johnson imagines today’s protests were about, but I think Johnson is wrong.