• tal@olio.cafe
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    2 days ago

    My kneejerk reaction was “it’s not going to do much” too, but I’ve kind of mulled it over and I’m kind of inclined to feel more charitable towards the Portland stuff.

    What did the Trump administration want when it was sending National Guard out? Images of conflict, material that they could use to show that there was some dire threat and dangerous criminality that the administration was handling. They got footage of a frog air-humping and some nude bicyclists that’s basically useless for that.

    Looking at Fox News’s front page, they have:

    • Emergency flights diverted from Portland hospital amid ‘laser party’ threats at ICE facility: report

    and

    • Portland mayor orders removal of police tape despite federal demand for perimeter at ICE facility, report says

    Which I think even the most die-hard MAGA fan is going to have a hard time getting too worked up over.

    And it did accomplish some of the goals that a protest in that it helped build make visible that there were people who did object to what was going on.

    I’m not sure that it was the absolute, optimal thing to do, but it might have been reasonably-canny.

      • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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        2 days ago

        I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. I knew that when Oregonians got serious about protesting trump, it would be a bunch of geared up military vs a bunch of naked unicyclers. And you just can’t sell that as threatening.

    • ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
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      2 days ago

      On the one hand I think you could be right, but on the other hand, the average maga idiot has thought of portland as being “burnt to the ground” and non stop rioting for the last 5 years. Which makes no sense obviously. I dont think they will be rationalizing themselves out of a position that was irrational to begin with

      • UltraMagnus@startrek.website
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        2 days ago

        Well, any event could be “the straw that breaks the camels back” for someone who is apathetic about politics or supports trump. No single protest or action is going to cause millions of people to suddenly flip, it’s going to be more like a slow trickle.

        (Of course, you can argue all day about it not being quick enough, or it not accomplishing its goals in time, but it’s not like other methods would be particularly faster)

    • mistermodal@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      Yeah just keep pointing out their hypocrisy while they shovel another twelve hundred people’s remains into unmarked graves why don’t you

      • Øπ3ŕ@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        WTF are you contributing, exactly? Put up or STFU and let yourself feel a fleeting moment of hope, FFS. 🖕🏼

        • PeacefulForest@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          It’s okay this guy is miserable - kept making comments on other Portland posts too about the naked cyclists. Clearly just jealous.

            • PeacefulForest@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              Where exactly can you point out my personal complicity?

              Clearly you’re just a troll. That’s why you troll around these chats and post nothing but anger and hostility in your comments, demanding people do more but giving no real solutions on what they should be doing, all while you yourself do nothing but berate others online. It’s pathetic and makes me consider you nothing more than a paid Russian propaganda machine.

              All this does is show how miserable you are in your own life.

              • mistermodal@lemmy.ml
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                1 day ago

                Because you advocate for ineffectual solutions against brutal violence. You want to know a fun fact about Gandhi? He offered medical assistance to the soldiers of the British Empire. Pacifism in the face of evil is bad enough, but browbeating people and sucking all the air out of the room with disgusting antics is complicity. Don’t bother trying to hide it, because the double standards of when liberals choose to roll over and show their belly and when they hiss and scratch is pretty goddamn clear!

                • PeacefulForest@lemmy.world
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                  15 hours ago

                  I see a lot of yapping and double standard. Where is your effort? I just see you’re doing a lot of browbeating on people who are doing something while all you do is criticize them online and attempt to suck all the air out of the room, according to your standards you’re complicit of genocide.

                  I think any form of protest is the most patriotic thing you can do. And I mean, might as well dress up as a frog or streak while you still have those freedoms, those in these other countries don’t have that freedom.

                  What a 🧌

                  • mistermodal@lemmy.ml
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                    15 hours ago

                    Are you surprised we haven’t focused to that when we are stuck on debating the effectiveness of actions you know don’t work? They are purely symbolic and done chiefly to make people feel better about their powerlessness. That itself is harmful, because you are lying to people about a miracle cure for fascism called doing fuck all.

                    I already answered the question broadly of what would even make strategic inaction like boycotting capable of pressuring organizations or political figures, it’s an organization that has real leverage politically, not an NGO that plaintively asks for better institutions or malicious ones to reform themselves. An organization that can apply pressure with the legitimacy of those demands. Demands alone are not impressive, and reminding everyone over and over what a good boy who follows the rules of protests and nonviolence and boycotting you are reinforces you have zero intention of being a threat to the people euthanizing your homeless population! You think that’s going to manifest in delinking from the USA? We both get all of our goods from China one way or another. What the US is ripping you apart with now particularly, like the UK, is destroying public services, bringing in pvt equity and our infamous insurance companies. You cannot boycott your hiking rent and Perestroika. Think bigger.

        • mistermodal@lemmy.ml
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          1 day ago

          You can’t articulate why this should give anyone hope, all you can do is scold them.