My father is 72 and attended the most recent No Kings. He's been doing a lot of nursing care for my mom as she was dying of cancer. He has, therefore, been trapped in a very small world of home and the internet. Since she has just passed in the last month, he's going outside again. When he went to the protest instead of just doom scrolling, (doubtless made worse by the doom of watching your loved one die) he was truly uplifted. He came home enthusiastic and hopeful. So even if it accomplishes little in the way of world changing, I'm glad it brought back hope.
"an awful lot of people wonder what the point is, what the theory of change is, behind mass protests that do not engage in civil disobedience or disruption."
I'd add that this is equally true of the protests that do engage in civil disobedience and disruption. Every so often -- typically in connection with No Kings -- there's a big action over at the local prison that is used as the staging point to transport ICE abductees out of the city. We yell, shake the fence, block traffic, and throw shit (colloquial). It gets a little rowdy. We stay past the point where the cops declare it an unlawful assembly. Then we get teargassed. Then those who choose to stick around for ye olde kettling get kettled and spend a night in jail. Rinse (your eyes out) and repeat.
Is it aesthetically more pure than the suburban wine moms around the corner with their clever signs, posting to instagram? Sure. Are we making life slightly inconvenient for law enforcement? Sure. But like you say, there's no theory of change. I go because it is unconscionable to look away. But I'm under no illusion that this is doing anything.
This is what I think is so important about the example set by people in Minneapolis, and in other places publicly targeted for a “surge” by ICE and border patrol. Do I think the majority of those who took part in those actions were motivated by a conscious theory of change? No, almost certainly not (and many were quoted explicitly saying as much). But I do think there was an implicit theory of change in the way they went about not just resisting agents of the state but essentially replacing them with grass-roots community groups who actually served the functions that agents of the state claim to serve: keeping children safe from predators, doing wellness checks on vulnerable community members, alerting the community to potential threats to steer clear of, documenting missing people and providing assistance to their families. In all of this, the needs of the community itself were the main focus, not the rightness or wrongness of resisting the state in this way or that way, and it was all built on existing community roles and relationships. Yes, it was the product of a certain time and place and maybe can’t be directly replicated elsewhere, but I would like to think there’s some hope and inspiration to be taken from it.
This, absolutely. And it has been a coalition across politics which is (unfortunately, some might say) completely necessary. Not to say the wine moms have caused no problems, particularly for the indigenous and global majority organizers in Minneapolis who have been working for years/decades, but these conflicts are the productive tensions of building movements around community needs, not the pointless abstract theorizing cul-de-sacs that make up so much internet “discourse”
I think the theory of change is an end to what's happening. We don't have a unified idea of what that end looks like, or what things look like next, but it's at least not sending billions of dollars away for war and stopping the concentration camps internally. I've heard the No Kings protests called centrist, but getting centrists into the streets is kind of a big deal.
I dunno. I agree that mass protest hasn't done a lot in our favor systemically for a while. At the same time, the state has been really interested in confining the rules around what a "lawful assembly" looks like. Clearly, it feels threatened.
If the money we're funneling into war gets redirected back to the people, to social infrastructure, to sustainable infrastructure, the possibility for creation will help guide the way. It's hard to know what comes next when our imaginations have been so stifled. Having material support for local creativity will open so many doors.
I've been to every No Kings and more. The benefit is people building that muscle, networking, strategizing. I'll say most there are chomping at the bit for the other aspects that will drive impact-disruption and anarchy. It will take triggering event, i.e. insurrection act/martial law (November?). People are meeting there and then having later meetings to strategize and be ready. So a purpose is served.
Next, if your bookstore wants to stock my novel Farawayer I'll give them all profits, it's available from distributors. It's about a homeless vagabond in the early 1980s, blue collar military bad discharge reject from NJ, homophobic built in due to lineage and the tough streets, Archie Bunker type dad. But, saved at one point during the worst time in his life by a gay person, who lets him in and changes his entire perspective and life.
Lastly be aware that as of December, Canada changed their strict rules about asking for citizenship. Previously you had to have a parent born in Canada and it was expensive. They saw an early soft asylum opportunity with folks wanting to get the hell out of the US with their talents and money, and changed it to *any* lineage, going back to the 1700s, and only $75! My great great grandfather was born in Montreal so I applied for the citizenship. If you are LGBTQ+ especially if trans they will *expedite* your application and get it done extremely fast. See r/CanadianCitizenship
The issue of “representation” or the reflex to stay out of things at first is a well-known problem that gets on our nerves—and not just when it comes to union “representatives”—because they take independent action away from people. In my experience, however, this isn’t a problem for many of those being “represented” either. Over the decades, for example, there have been more and more workers here who have never gone on strike, don’t know how to do it—including many union activists. It’s just a long history of struggles for liberation and the question of who writes history—individual “heroes” or rather the masses of people? I think that the moment people take their cause into their own hands, we’re at least a step further along. That’s what makes the question of the NoKings protests a bit difficult for me to grasp. But unfortunately, I know far too little about it to be able to judge that conclusively. So perhaps a look back at the history of German social democracy: There was this well-known reformist here in Germany, Eduard Bernstein, who said, “The movement is everything to me; the goal is nothing.” Political groups and actors here continue to act according to this guiding principle (which divided the then-revolutionary social democracy) to this very day. The problem, in my opinion, is that people who ultimately act without results—because they lack a goal—use that as an excuse out of frustration, since nothing can be achieved that way, and ultimately say: “It’s all pointless...” and thus cease all efforts to seek a society free of exploitation and oppression.
That is why, regarding the protests, the question arises for me: “What is the next step? Where should the journey lead?”
My father is 72 and attended the most recent No Kings. He's been doing a lot of nursing care for my mom as she was dying of cancer. He has, therefore, been trapped in a very small world of home and the internet. Since she has just passed in the last month, he's going outside again. When he went to the protest instead of just doom scrolling, (doubtless made worse by the doom of watching your loved one die) he was truly uplifted. He came home enthusiastic and hopeful. So even if it accomplishes little in the way of world changing, I'm glad it brought back hope.
this is legit! I don't mean to specifically dig at No Kings. I think doing things is almost always better than not doing things.
Honestly I really believe big protests like that have use as morale boosts or networking opportunities, and that isn't nothing
"an awful lot of people wonder what the point is, what the theory of change is, behind mass protests that do not engage in civil disobedience or disruption."
I'd add that this is equally true of the protests that do engage in civil disobedience and disruption. Every so often -- typically in connection with No Kings -- there's a big action over at the local prison that is used as the staging point to transport ICE abductees out of the city. We yell, shake the fence, block traffic, and throw shit (colloquial). It gets a little rowdy. We stay past the point where the cops declare it an unlawful assembly. Then we get teargassed. Then those who choose to stick around for ye olde kettling get kettled and spend a night in jail. Rinse (your eyes out) and repeat.
Is it aesthetically more pure than the suburban wine moms around the corner with their clever signs, posting to instagram? Sure. Are we making life slightly inconvenient for law enforcement? Sure. But like you say, there's no theory of change. I go because it is unconscionable to look away. But I'm under no illusion that this is doing anything.
This is what I think is so important about the example set by people in Minneapolis, and in other places publicly targeted for a “surge” by ICE and border patrol. Do I think the majority of those who took part in those actions were motivated by a conscious theory of change? No, almost certainly not (and many were quoted explicitly saying as much). But I do think there was an implicit theory of change in the way they went about not just resisting agents of the state but essentially replacing them with grass-roots community groups who actually served the functions that agents of the state claim to serve: keeping children safe from predators, doing wellness checks on vulnerable community members, alerting the community to potential threats to steer clear of, documenting missing people and providing assistance to their families. In all of this, the needs of the community itself were the main focus, not the rightness or wrongness of resisting the state in this way or that way, and it was all built on existing community roles and relationships. Yes, it was the product of a certain time and place and maybe can’t be directly replicated elsewhere, but I would like to think there’s some hope and inspiration to be taken from it.
This, absolutely. And it has been a coalition across politics which is (unfortunately, some might say) completely necessary. Not to say the wine moms have caused no problems, particularly for the indigenous and global majority organizers in Minneapolis who have been working for years/decades, but these conflicts are the productive tensions of building movements around community needs, not the pointless abstract theorizing cul-de-sacs that make up so much internet “discourse”
I think the theory of change is an end to what's happening. We don't have a unified idea of what that end looks like, or what things look like next, but it's at least not sending billions of dollars away for war and stopping the concentration camps internally. I've heard the No Kings protests called centrist, but getting centrists into the streets is kind of a big deal.
I dunno. I agree that mass protest hasn't done a lot in our favor systemically for a while. At the same time, the state has been really interested in confining the rules around what a "lawful assembly" looks like. Clearly, it feels threatened.
If the money we're funneling into war gets redirected back to the people, to social infrastructure, to sustainable infrastructure, the possibility for creation will help guide the way. It's hard to know what comes next when our imaginations have been so stifled. Having material support for local creativity will open so many doors.
I've been to every No Kings and more. The benefit is people building that muscle, networking, strategizing. I'll say most there are chomping at the bit for the other aspects that will drive impact-disruption and anarchy. It will take triggering event, i.e. insurrection act/martial law (November?). People are meeting there and then having later meetings to strategize and be ready. So a purpose is served.
Next, if your bookstore wants to stock my novel Farawayer I'll give them all profits, it's available from distributors. It's about a homeless vagabond in the early 1980s, blue collar military bad discharge reject from NJ, homophobic built in due to lineage and the tough streets, Archie Bunker type dad. But, saved at one point during the worst time in his life by a gay person, who lets him in and changes his entire perspective and life.
Lastly be aware that as of December, Canada changed their strict rules about asking for citizenship. Previously you had to have a parent born in Canada and it was expensive. They saw an early soft asylum opportunity with folks wanting to get the hell out of the US with their talents and money, and changed it to *any* lineage, going back to the 1700s, and only $75! My great great grandfather was born in Montreal so I applied for the citizenship. If you are LGBTQ+ especially if trans they will *expedite* your application and get it done extremely fast. See r/CanadianCitizenship
Be welcome in the North ❤️
Extremely stoked about the reading list, thank you!
I like them and I will buy some books!
Thank you for the text, which I have translated into German here:
https://www.trueten.de/archives/14134-Der-Tod-der-Eigenverantwortung-oder-Vielleicht-war-diese-ganze-Praesidenten-Sache-doch-eine-schlechte-Idee.html
The issue of “representation” or the reflex to stay out of things at first is a well-known problem that gets on our nerves—and not just when it comes to union “representatives”—because they take independent action away from people. In my experience, however, this isn’t a problem for many of those being “represented” either. Over the decades, for example, there have been more and more workers here who have never gone on strike, don’t know how to do it—including many union activists. It’s just a long history of struggles for liberation and the question of who writes history—individual “heroes” or rather the masses of people? I think that the moment people take their cause into their own hands, we’re at least a step further along. That’s what makes the question of the NoKings protests a bit difficult for me to grasp. But unfortunately, I know far too little about it to be able to judge that conclusively. So perhaps a look back at the history of German social democracy: There was this well-known reformist here in Germany, Eduard Bernstein, who said, “The movement is everything to me; the goal is nothing.” Political groups and actors here continue to act according to this guiding principle (which divided the then-revolutionary social democracy) to this very day. The problem, in my opinion, is that people who ultimately act without results—because they lack a goal—use that as an excuse out of frustration, since nothing can be achieved that way, and ultimately say: “It’s all pointless...” and thus cease all efforts to seek a society free of exploitation and oppression.
That is why, regarding the protests, the question arises for me: “What is the next step? Where should the journey lead?”
It remains to be seen...