• girlthing@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 days ago

    Hmmm are there? massive? I mean I know we all use that word lightly but “massive” they are not

    34,000 people for Sanders in Denver. Tell me with a straight face that this is a small number of people. “But relatively speaking-” hush. Big number is big.

    …but yeah, pretty small compared to the number of people at, say, the Women’s March in 2017. I guess a lot of people learned a thing or two about what peaceful demonstrations can meaningfully accomplish against a police state. Still, nothing to sneeze at.

    Yes, Americans love rallies… that is not a protest

    Absolutely valid point here. The thing is, both Sanders and AOC have built their entire political careers on grassroots organizing, which is happening quietly alongside all the big speeches. Cory Doctorow has a good overview of this.

    Sure, I’d much prefer to see spontaneous uprisings, but we’ve been in this hell for nearly a decade at this point. People are fucking burnt out. If AOC/Sanders is what it takes to bring in fresh blood, then so be it.

    have been asking for evidence of these protests myself for the last few weeks and I have not seen anything more than a couple dozen people by the doors of a Gov building… not even big enough for Police to be around

    Consider that sharing footage of a protest can put attendees in danger. Lots of emboldened brownshirt types would love to rat you out to the cops or your boss. Lemmy users are probably aware of this, which might be why you the only pics you see are from corporate media - those are already out there and a little traffic on Lemmy won’t make it much worse. See my original point about corporate media not covering the protests.

    On that note: the people who showed up in 2017 and 2020 probably learnt this too. Maybe they’re now taking part in less visible/public actions that would be too dangerous to share indiscriminately? Who knows.

    • Jhex@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      34,000 people for Sanders in Denver. Tell me with a straight face that this is a small number of people

      No, I agree with you this is a large number (not huge considering the population of the USA but it’s a good amount)… the problem is that they went to a rally… I mean, it might as well be a concert. This is NOT a protest! If 30K people show up in DC or march somewhere, I would agree with you but they are just attending a rally

      • Soulg@ani.social
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        4 days ago

        considering the population of the USA

        You need to account for the fact that it is simply not feasible for large percentages of the country to congregate into one place the way it is in most of Europe. There’s the size disparity, lack of affordable and accessible public transport around the country e.g trains (they do exist but very sparingly), and just the significantly fewer worker rights and wages that would allow people to do those things without completely upending their entire families wellbeing, which is part of the point from the enemy yes, but that’s because it’s effective.

        • Jhex@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          and just the significantly fewer worker rights and wages that would allow people to do those things without completely upending their entire families wellbeing, which is part of the point from the enemy yes, but that’s because it’s effective.

          And this is what happens when The People continue to wait until the bad news are choking them personally before doing something about it… the combination of “fuck you, got mine” and apathy took you here and I am sorry to tell you there is no way out by being extra quiet

          • Soulg@ani.social
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            4 days ago

            What makes you think I’m being quiet? I’ve attended multiple protests in the past month alone. Surely you know that just because something isn’t in the news, doesn’t mean it didn’t exist?