One thing to keep in mind is how geographically huge the US is comparatively and it makes it a lot harder to organize massive protests. Serbia is about the size of Wisconsin which is a relatively medium size state. Add that into the fact that the US is a very car dependent country where some people live 2 - 3 hours away from their capital or even a city. I’m not using this as an excuse, just a possible reason why ours in the US aren’t big yet. I went to a couple in my state and I was extremely happy with everyone there but also extremely disappointed with the turnout. And I had to drive an hour and a half just to get there. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for others in the bigger states.
It could be a lot of cope on my end, but I can’t just assume everyone is just giving up. The last thing the US needs right now is apathy.
I feel this is a lack oft creativity. Protests need to be peaceful, but disruptive. In a car based society, protest by car? If 5,000,000 cars “meet up” in any given metropolitan area, that areas productivity goes to zero, those in power won’t even have any recourse, there aren’t enough police/towtrucks to counter this, and if so it would take days or weeks. Only coordinated driving and parking/traffic jam required.
Effective protest should instill fear in those in power - the message is, with the sheer number of people right outside your building, could easily crush you if they so choose. A few guards can not offer protection in this case. The idea is, with this realization, that violence is not a good escalation, as in the end the powerful few will never come out on top.
This only works if the powerful few actually believe the masses will go as far as needed to effect the demanded change.
From outside, it appears the US protests favor comfort over conflict, thus are viewed as lacking credibility and therefore, pose no danger to the power class. As long as the individual prioritizes their selves before acting as a collective, including taking the risk of collective punishment, the protest remains unbelievable, therefore ineffective and easily ignored.
You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m sitting here in Canada preparing for the unthinkable because the citizens of the country closest to us in every way can’t be bothered to take a day off work or get from behind the screen. Need apathy? If you haven’t noticed they’re full on into it for decades already.
I mean the problem is the people who are being worst affected by Trump are the kind of people who genuinely can’t afford to take a day off work without being fired and being thrown into homelessness. There are protests in the US but due to the lackluster worker protections we have people generally either can’t make it to them or are well enough off that they just really don’t care enough to go out. So they end up being much smaller then the one in Europe. Also add to that fact that a bunch of people here are dumb enough to like Trump and what he’s doing and the result is much smaller protests.
Ok. Point taken. I am disabled since extreme cancer a decade ago. I’m 50 years old. My 5 person family lives on less than what is considered extreme poverty for a single person in my province. Yet here we are preparing as best we can to fight back and organizing to resist an economic and possible military invasion that is completely unwarranted and based on many outright lies from a neighboring country who’s own people will not stand up to the tyranny they face daily. Why? because…oh my god…they have to go to work.
This involves me dusting off old skills as a paramedic and restocking all my kit. I don’t have money for that but here I am…doing it. I loaded rounds for the .303, a new lighter stock is on the way and when it gets here I will alter it so I can carry again. The garden is going in earlier in case I have to leave. Food storage is getting built even bigger. Everything American is getting wiped from our electronics and cupboards. The kids are learning things at 10 years old they shouldn’t have to ever learn and they’re doing it while missing out on lots of things they’re accustomed to and in some cases even need because we need to prepare to stand up for those who won’t or can’t.
Quit the fucking excuses and stand up already. If I can manage you can too.
I mean I went to a protest today in my city, so I’m not making excuses, I’m just explaining why it’s hard for people to go out and protest especially in America. Some of it definitely is attitude and apathy that needs to change but there is a good amount of it that it down to either poverty or lack of real community in most places in America.
So I am preparing my kids for no dad, even though I and my family had no say in the outcome of your citizens decisions and they get away with it cause they’re poor and no one wants to help organize or teach them because you all couldn’t be bothered. Gotcha.
The apologists are as bad if not worse than the instigators. Find a way.
That’s bullshit though. You don’t have to protest at Washington DC. You don’t think the people in Serbia didn’t drive or ride 2-3 hours to get there?
I hate to break it to you, but Americans are cowardly crabs in a bucket. More content with stepping on each other in a sad attempt to get ahead of the rest.
Since you’re drawing parallels to Serbia - yes, you do want to protest as close to the centre of power as possible, and that’s what Serbs did.
You don’t think the people in Serbia didn’t drive or ride 2-3 hours to get there?
I don’t. The driving distance between Belgrade and Novi Sad, the second largest Serbian city, is ~1 h. And Belgrade by itself already has more than enough population for massive protests, because it has four times the population of Novi Sad and around 1/4 of the population of the entire country. This degree of centralisation and physical proximity is completely incomparable to US. US geography significantly diffuses the power of protests.
Also the Serbian protests have been initiated and are led by students who in general do not drive around much, it’s safe to assume most don’t have their own cars, etc. IIRC, some of those who participated in the yesterday protest were brought by buses to Belgrade, which was organised ahead of time by the protesters.
There are people protesting, you’re just not seeing it because the media is suppressing coverage of it
Here’s a protest yesterday in DC
Here’s another for Ukraine aid the other day in DC
I also think you underestimate how big the US is. 2-3 hours would be if you’re close by DC. People on the other side of the country in California, Washington State, Oregon, etc. are 5 hour plane rides away or 40+ hours of driving
Protest movements take time to grow. Especially when most within the US don’t have any idea they’re going on. Because the media coverage of protests is limited (though not zero, yes)
I know Indivisible is trying to get a larger DC specific group together on April 5th if you’re looking for larger in one place. Though there will also be protests in all 50 states that day too
People are protesting locally in tons city not just every state capitol. It’s helped get local news coverage when national news orgs have limited converage. It helps the average person be more likely to run into them and learn about it as well
To be honest, that doesn’t fly. Our conservatives voted with the right wing party in parliament once on a proposition and on a law that didn’t even pass a couple of weeks ago. That was announced on Tuesday, voted on on Wednesday and Friday. Over a million were on the streets by Sunday, distributed over the whole country with some protests exceeding 300.000 people.
While in the US, things are a lot worse and it’s been weeks and it’s been known to be coming for months. I would have expected millions on the streets by now, hell, I would have expected there to be huge protests on day one.
Of course, that’s not on those who try their best to get things organized. But it’s shocking to me, that there are so many people still remaining passive, and that’s not only on the media, other groups are dropping the ball here, too. First and foremost of course the Democrats but also local businesses, sport clubs, charities, unions, churches, they all join in when big protests like that are organized in Europe.
I think you misunderstand what I am saying. Once a movement has grown it can organize things more quickly, but you’re looking at things at way too short of a time scale here.
I assume you are referring to the recent protests in Germany based on your description. There were already growing protests of the AFD in Germany well before the CDU/CSU’s actions. That large protest wasn’t the first at all. There were protests growing earlier in 2025 and even some smaller ones going back to Jan 2024
The fact that things are declining at such speed in a weird way makes getting protests spread harder. It’s a lot easier to unify around a single bad thing than five thousand things. Nothing feels shocking in that environment. Keep in mind that Trump’s strategy is to flood the zone with so many bad things it’s hard for anything to break through the noise. It’s designed to make people so numb they don’t think they can do anything. It takes time to remind people they can
Especially with the online social media environment in the US repeatedly telling Americans that no one is fighting back. Comments like “we’re cooked”, “why is no one doing anything”, “where are the people protesting”, etc. have more of a negative impact than you would think
but you’re looking at things at way too short of a time scale here.
Am I? Democracy died within months in Germany when the Nazis took over.
I get that building up a movement takes time, but it’s not like Trump or Project 2025 are new things. Nothing he does is surprising, is it? And still, it seems the opposition is rather unprepared and unorganized. I really hope this changes quickly. Defeatism or doomerism don’t help, that’s true, but I also don’t see the sense of urgency necessary to build up an effective opposition. Then again, I’m also an ocean away, so maybe I don’t have all the insights.
But if people really are just giving up, we need to recognize it.
I think a lot of people are unhappy but don’t know what to do. Just going to a general protest doesn’t seem like enough. And there’s no obvious leader to the opposition.
This is the stage of the conflict where we try to minimize the damage until the next election. That’s not a very motivating message, but that’s where we are. I suggest you pick an organization and do what you can with them. There are others, but personally I picked Indivisible:
One thing to keep in mind is how geographically huge the US is comparatively and it makes it a lot harder to organize massive protests. Serbia is about the size of Wisconsin which is a relatively medium size state. Add that into the fact that the US is a very car dependent country where some people live 2 - 3 hours away from their capital or even a city. I’m not using this as an excuse, just a possible reason why ours in the US aren’t big yet. I went to a couple in my state and I was extremely happy with everyone there but also extremely disappointed with the turnout. And I had to drive an hour and a half just to get there. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for others in the bigger states.
It could be a lot of cope on my end, but I can’t just assume everyone is just giving up. The last thing the US needs right now is apathy.
Serbia has like a quarter population of NYC.
I don’t know why there aren’t any mass protests in the US, but that ain’t it.
I feel this is a lack oft creativity. Protests need to be peaceful, but disruptive. In a car based society, protest by car? If 5,000,000 cars “meet up” in any given metropolitan area, that areas productivity goes to zero, those in power won’t even have any recourse, there aren’t enough police/towtrucks to counter this, and if so it would take days or weeks. Only coordinated driving and parking/traffic jam required.
Effective protest should instill fear in those in power - the message is, with the sheer number of people right outside your building, could easily crush you if they so choose. A few guards can not offer protection in this case. The idea is, with this realization, that violence is not a good escalation, as in the end the powerful few will never come out on top.
This only works if the powerful few actually believe the masses will go as far as needed to effect the demanded change.
From outside, it appears the US protests favor comfort over conflict, thus are viewed as lacking credibility and therefore, pose no danger to the power class. As long as the individual prioritizes their selves before acting as a collective, including taking the risk of collective punishment, the protest remains unbelievable, therefore ineffective and easily ignored.
One thing to keep in mind is that this never seemed to have been an issue during the WoT or 1% protests.
You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m sitting here in Canada preparing for the unthinkable because the citizens of the country closest to us in every way can’t be bothered to take a day off work or get from behind the screen. Need apathy? If you haven’t noticed they’re full on into it for decades already.
It’s really hard dor americans to just take a day or two off work. It’s not like a new iphone dropped where they have to camp in front of a store.
I mean the problem is the people who are being worst affected by Trump are the kind of people who genuinely can’t afford to take a day off work without being fired and being thrown into homelessness. There are protests in the US but due to the lackluster worker protections we have people generally either can’t make it to them or are well enough off that they just really don’t care enough to go out. So they end up being much smaller then the one in Europe. Also add to that fact that a bunch of people here are dumb enough to like Trump and what he’s doing and the result is much smaller protests.
Ok. Point taken. I am disabled since extreme cancer a decade ago. I’m 50 years old. My 5 person family lives on less than what is considered extreme poverty for a single person in my province. Yet here we are preparing as best we can to fight back and organizing to resist an economic and possible military invasion that is completely unwarranted and based on many outright lies from a neighboring country who’s own people will not stand up to the tyranny they face daily. Why? because…oh my god…they have to go to work.
This involves me dusting off old skills as a paramedic and restocking all my kit. I don’t have money for that but here I am…doing it. I loaded rounds for the .303, a new lighter stock is on the way and when it gets here I will alter it so I can carry again. The garden is going in earlier in case I have to leave. Food storage is getting built even bigger. Everything American is getting wiped from our electronics and cupboards. The kids are learning things at 10 years old they shouldn’t have to ever learn and they’re doing it while missing out on lots of things they’re accustomed to and in some cases even need because we need to prepare to stand up for those who won’t or can’t.
Quit the fucking excuses and stand up already. If I can manage you can too.
I mean I went to a protest today in my city, so I’m not making excuses, I’m just explaining why it’s hard for people to go out and protest especially in America. Some of it definitely is attitude and apathy that needs to change but there is a good amount of it that it down to either poverty or lack of real community in most places in America.
So I am preparing my kids for no dad, even though I and my family had no say in the outcome of your citizens decisions and they get away with it cause they’re poor and no one wants to help organize or teach them because you all couldn’t be bothered. Gotcha.
The apologists are as bad if not worse than the instigators. Find a way.
That’s bullshit though. You don’t have to protest at Washington DC. You don’t think the people in Serbia didn’t drive or ride 2-3 hours to get there?
I hate to break it to you, but Americans are cowardly crabs in a bucket. More content with stepping on each other in a sad attempt to get ahead of the rest.
Since you’re drawing parallels to Serbia - yes, you do want to protest as close to the centre of power as possible, and that’s what Serbs did.
I don’t. The driving distance between Belgrade and Novi Sad, the second largest Serbian city, is ~1 h. And Belgrade by itself already has more than enough population for massive protests, because it has four times the population of Novi Sad and around 1/4 of the population of the entire country. This degree of centralisation and physical proximity is completely incomparable to US. US geography significantly diffuses the power of protests.
Also the Serbian protests have been initiated and are led by students who in general do not drive around much, it’s safe to assume most don’t have their own cars, etc. IIRC, some of those who participated in the yesterday protest were brought by buses to Belgrade, which was organised ahead of time by the protesters.
There are people protesting, you’re just not seeing it because the media is suppressing coverage of it
Here’s a protest yesterday in DC
Here’s another for Ukraine aid the other day in DC
I also think you underestimate how big the US is. 2-3 hours would be if you’re close by DC. People on the other side of the country in California, Washington State, Oregon, etc. are 5 hour plane rides away or 40+ hours of driving
YOU DON’T HAVE TON PROTEST WASHINGTON DC
I saw those protests on the news…
Let me know when it’s 100s of thousands at a protest at a state capitol.
Protest movements take time to grow. Especially when most within the US don’t have any idea they’re going on. Because the media coverage of protests is limited (though not zero, yes)
I know Indivisible is trying to get a larger DC specific group together on April 5th if you’re looking for larger in one place. Though there will also be protests in all 50 states that day too
People are protesting locally in tons city not just every state capitol. It’s helped get local news coverage when national news orgs have limited converage. It helps the average person be more likely to run into them and learn about it as well
To be honest, that doesn’t fly. Our conservatives voted with the right wing party in parliament once on a proposition and on a law that didn’t even pass a couple of weeks ago. That was announced on Tuesday, voted on on Wednesday and Friday. Over a million were on the streets by Sunday, distributed over the whole country with some protests exceeding 300.000 people.
While in the US, things are a lot worse and it’s been weeks and it’s been known to be coming for months. I would have expected millions on the streets by now, hell, I would have expected there to be huge protests on day one.
Of course, that’s not on those who try their best to get things organized. But it’s shocking to me, that there are so many people still remaining passive, and that’s not only on the media, other groups are dropping the ball here, too. First and foremost of course the Democrats but also local businesses, sport clubs, charities, unions, churches, they all join in when big protests like that are organized in Europe.
I think you misunderstand what I am saying. Once a movement has grown it can organize things more quickly, but you’re looking at things at way too short of a time scale here.
I assume you are referring to the recent protests in Germany based on your description. There were already growing protests of the AFD in Germany well before the CDU/CSU’s actions. That large protest wasn’t the first at all. There were protests growing earlier in 2025 and even some smaller ones going back to Jan 2024
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–2025_German_anti-extremism_protests
The fact that things are declining at such speed in a weird way makes getting protests spread harder. It’s a lot easier to unify around a single bad thing than five thousand things. Nothing feels shocking in that environment. Keep in mind that Trump’s strategy is to flood the zone with so many bad things it’s hard for anything to break through the noise. It’s designed to make people so numb they don’t think they can do anything. It takes time to remind people they can
Especially with the online social media environment in the US repeatedly telling Americans that no one is fighting back. Comments like “we’re cooked”, “why is no one doing anything”, “where are the people protesting”, etc. have more of a negative impact than you would think
Am I? Democracy died within months in Germany when the Nazis took over.
I get that building up a movement takes time, but it’s not like Trump or Project 2025 are new things. Nothing he does is surprising, is it? And still, it seems the opposition is rather unprepared and unorganized. I really hope this changes quickly. Defeatism or doomerism don’t help, that’s true, but I also don’t see the sense of urgency necessary to build up an effective opposition. Then again, I’m also an ocean away, so maybe I don’t have all the insights.
But if people really are just giving up, we need to recognize it.
I think a lot of people are unhappy but don’t know what to do. Just going to a general protest doesn’t seem like enough. And there’s no obvious leader to the opposition.
This is the stage of the conflict where we try to minimize the damage until the next election. That’s not a very motivating message, but that’s where we are. I suggest you pick an organization and do what you can with them. There are others, but personally I picked Indivisible: