Political Memes

I sure felt better at Saturday's protest. 2,000 people there, in the reddest part of Florida, and that wasn't the main protest.

Just kept saying, "Thank god thank god. Had no idea there were so many sane people around here."

And BTW, I conceal carried my Colt .45. What a heavy PITA. The gun pictured (Beretta 92FS) is my next pistol!

this is not the conversation ending truth-bomb some people make it out to be.

scholars have contested the selection methods and conclusions reached in that original survey/article. for example, several of the "successful" countries on their list have since regressed into dictatorships/unrest.

not trying to debate or be contrarian, but I think folks who lean heavily on the non-violence strategy should consider that the success of nonviolent moderate protest movements may have something to do with them being perceived as more palatable to the ruling class than the violent opposition alternatives. therefore, simply making violent alternatives widely known and believed to be credible threats, actually serves to push moderate people towards the less scary less radical faction of the movement.

Throughout history, like 99% successful rebellion against authoritarianism has been violent.

Source: Historian.

The only successful non-violent over-throwing of an authoritarian occupation either had the leverage of violence, or brought attention to the issue by those who used violence :/

Americans couldn't even be bothered to get off their asses and vote

People don't not vote just because they're lazy. Thats not how people or politics work. If the masses are not engaging with your political system it is because they do not feel engagement with it can be beneficial to them. It means are so disenfranchised that they do not see any reason to engage. It means overt fascism doesn't scare them because their lives are already too miserable or busy to think about politics and the opposition doesn't appeal to them because the only thing they offer is the status quo with the most minor of changes. People not voting should be the most obvious evidence that your political system is not working for the people.

Edit: also, no one chooses revolution. Revolutions are imposed on the people by those who make peaceful change impossible. Its gonna be fascism though to be clear. Our domestic petit bourgeois is far too strong and far too scared of losing their privileged positions.