Your solution of overthrowing the government isn’t as simple as “bad thing happen, people mad, people march”, there are a whole lot of steps that you skipped in addition to not considering a ton of other factors. There are lots of awful things happening, sure, but this still isn’t nazi germany. The cost of revolution is very very high and the outcome is very uncertain, we’re nowhere near the point of the cost and risk being worth it. On top of political will of the people being near zero, there are still plenty of mechanisms for people to access to enact change. The fascists haven’t won and we’re not doomed.
Agreed that there are other avenues of organization that should be in addition to these protests, visible and loud protests like these aren’t mere “token efforts”, but a very popular platform for calling people to action in organization. It signals to others that they are not alone in their dissatisfaction, it signals to opponents that the movement has both popularity and energy, and it’s many people’s introduction to actual organization. Would you consider the sit-in protests and marches of the civil rights movement “token efforts”?
As to this particular objection, I think AnchoriteMagus did a great job of illustrating the logistical issues that would need solving in order to pull off such an effort. I would emphasize the point made that you would need people to have the will to overcome armed opposition to a government overthrow. That just doesn’t exist. Like AnchoriteMagus and I have both pointed out, you need the organizations built up over time from demonstrations like what the post suggests. You don’t just up and build the logistical infrastructure to overthrow a government overnight, nor do you build it with that being the goal from the start. You build these organizations to enact change and escalate appropriately when the options of action narrow.
Your solution of overthrowing the government isn’t as simple as “bad thing happen, people mad, people march”, there are a whole lot of steps that you skipped in addition to not considering a ton of other factors. There are lots of awful things happening, sure, but this still isn’t nazi germany. The cost of revolution is very very high and the outcome is very uncertain, we’re nowhere near the point of the cost and risk being worth it. On top of political will of the people being near zero, there are still plenty of mechanisms for people to access to enact change. The fascists haven’t won and we’re not doomed.
Agreed that there are other avenues of organization that should be in addition to these protests, visible and loud protests like these aren’t mere “token efforts”, but a very popular platform for calling people to action in organization. It signals to others that they are not alone in their dissatisfaction, it signals to opponents that the movement has both popularity and energy, and it’s many people’s introduction to actual organization. Would you consider the sit-in protests and marches of the civil rights movement “token efforts”?
As to this particular objection, I think AnchoriteMagus did a great job of illustrating the logistical issues that would need solving in order to pull off such an effort. I would emphasize the point made that you would need people to have the will to overcome armed opposition to a government overthrow. That just doesn’t exist. Like AnchoriteMagus and I have both pointed out, you need the organizations built up over time from demonstrations like what the post suggests. You don’t just up and build the logistical infrastructure to overthrow a government overnight, nor do you build it with that being the goal from the start. You build these organizations to enact change and escalate appropriately when the options of action narrow.