I regularly read about those huge crowds but anytime I check, it’s never more than 30.000 people. My country has less than a third of the US population and there were over a million protestors on the streets in one weekend because the center right voted with the far right on the same bill. There were over 80.000 people just in my city alone and our situation is not even remotely comparable to the things that have been happening in the USA.
I’m not trying to shit on anyone going out there to do something, but considering the circumstances it should be so much more. This is not an issue of the media not reporting enough. There were no huge reports ahead of the demonstrations in my country either. It just happened through social media and networking. After all that happened Americans are still not fed up enough. And if it doesn’t happen now, I’m not sure it ever will.
Protests in the US are hamstrung by the total lack of a social safety net (most people can’t afford even a single day off work), and the massive land area of the country. You might only hear about protests getting to 30k, but that’s in one spot. One state in the US is larger by area, and has less options for transportation than a country in Europe, while often being much more sparsely populated.
People here say “Land doesn’t vote,” to talk about our electoral map, but geography actually does have a major impact on our politics. It’s the same reason our right wing likes closing polling locations. They use time and distance to gatekeep political participation
I don’t really agree with this take. The protests in cities are not limited by geography. The US has 9 cities with more than a million inhabitants, most of them voting blue. The lack of a social safety net is not a real argument either, as protests usually happen on the weekends and from the afternoon to the evening. If we compare the numbers just for cities alone: My hometown has a population of 1.8 million. About 5% of that population attended the local protest. If we compare this to a city like New York, which has 8.2 million inhabitants (and public transportation), 410,000 people should be out on the streets. Again, our situation is not even remotely as bad, so the numbers should be even higher in the USA.
I obviously can’t speak for the exact reasons why the numbers are so low, I just know that it doesn’t just boil down to reporting, geography or ability. You could pull these numbers easily, if the will to do it were there.
I don’t disagree with you but I’d like to point out that many of the most marginalized people here are forced to work on the weekend, in the afternoon and evening, in order to serve the more privileged who get weekends off work.
I regularly read about those huge crowds but anytime I check, it’s never more than 30.000 people. My country has less than a third of the US population and there were over a million protestors on the streets in one weekend because the center right voted with the far right on the same bill. There were over 80.000 people just in my city alone and our situation is not even remotely comparable to the things that have been happening in the USA.
I’m not trying to shit on anyone going out there to do something, but considering the circumstances it should be so much more. This is not an issue of the media not reporting enough. There were no huge reports ahead of the demonstrations in my country either. It just happened through social media and networking. After all that happened Americans are still not fed up enough. And if it doesn’t happen now, I’m not sure it ever will.
Protests in the US are hamstrung by the total lack of a social safety net (most people can’t afford even a single day off work), and the massive land area of the country. You might only hear about protests getting to 30k, but that’s in one spot. One state in the US is larger by area, and has less options for transportation than a country in Europe, while often being much more sparsely populated.
People here say “Land doesn’t vote,” to talk about our electoral map, but geography actually does have a major impact on our politics. It’s the same reason our right wing likes closing polling locations. They use time and distance to gatekeep political participation
I don’t really agree with this take. The protests in cities are not limited by geography. The US has 9 cities with more than a million inhabitants, most of them voting blue. The lack of a social safety net is not a real argument either, as protests usually happen on the weekends and from the afternoon to the evening. If we compare the numbers just for cities alone: My hometown has a population of 1.8 million. About 5% of that population attended the local protest. If we compare this to a city like New York, which has 8.2 million inhabitants (and public transportation), 410,000 people should be out on the streets. Again, our situation is not even remotely as bad, so the numbers should be even higher in the USA.
I obviously can’t speak for the exact reasons why the numbers are so low, I just know that it doesn’t just boil down to reporting, geography or ability. You could pull these numbers easily, if the will to do it were there.
I don’t disagree with you but I’d like to point out that many of the most marginalized people here are forced to work on the weekend, in the afternoon and evening, in order to serve the more privileged who get weekends off work.
Its only 30k? You realize 2k were at the J6 insurrection? You can do a lot with 30k people in the right place at the right time, and thats the issue.
Not really the best example IMO. The J6 insurrection was a riot and not a demonstration. And it failed even though it was backed by the President.
It was an insurrection not a riot and it helped paint Trump as a victim which lead to his reelection. I wouldnt dismiss it as a failure at all.