Every step forward matters at a time like this.
It’s so easy to be critical right now, to demand to know what ordinary people are doing to resist the evil in control of the world, and why they aren’t doing more.
It’s a fair question. This is an all hands on deck moment, and those who aren’t bothering to take a stand are making it more difficult. When certain people aren’t carrying their fair share of the weight, the burden is heavier for those that are.
It’s easy to wonder why the U.S. isn’t in a constant state of mass protest right now. Why the ‘No Kings’ marches are so far apart, why we’re not seeing stand-offs in the news like Ukraine’s Maidan Uprising back in 2013.
I think most of us around the world would love to see such an open rebellion. It’d make it clear that the population of the country are no longer willing to endure tyranny.
It’d also be bloody, and violent, and incredibly dangerous for the innocents caught in the crossfire.
As angry as we are, we shouldn’t hope to see kids get shot like we saw in Maidan. People in the U.S. still have some hope for a peaceful resolution without gunfire, and I don’t blame them at all for trying for that first.
Still, a total shut down of the country would be preferable and probably faster than what we’re seeing right now — and given that innocent people are being shot, are dying, are being rounded up and shoved in concentration camps, perhaps it’s fairer to say that that this attempt at peaceful revolution is currently mired in what some activists call the Gandhi Trap.
Here’s a handy video explaining what that is, and why it’s a problem. It’s about 7 minutes long, and I beg you to watch it and take it to heart, because even though it’s several years old, the message is still vital. Perhaps even more so now.
The U.S., like many nations, has a serious issue with the state’s Monopoly on Power. When you have a fascist government, morality versus legality becomes a matter of serious and high-stakes debate.
Whether violence in response to violence is acceptable really depends on how desperate you are.
Who perpetrates violence and who must endure it to bring about lasting change is a problematic question with loaded undertones when the government in power is actively targeting marginalized people.
Speaking as a white woman, I don’t think I have the right to demand non-violence and peaceful resistance from the people of colour being brutalized by the state. I didn’t back in the Black Lives Matter protests, and I don’t now that ICE is acting out a Gestapo cosplay in American streets today.
So, while I understand the people who want protests to stay peaceful and stick to voting and small, quiet actions, I’m not going to judge the people who want to see more.
If your head is in the crosshairs, you want people to fight harder for your life. Can’t blame anybody for that.
I’m not making an argument for small, incremental change. What I am going to say is that every little bit really does count. Not everyone is physically, or mentally, or practically capable or willing to leave work and stand in an Occupy style uprising for months at a time.
Not in a country where healthcare is dependent on having a job, the cost of living is astronomical and you’ve spent your whole life being beaten down by a system that prioritizes capital over human lives. People have to feed themselves, get their medicine and be there to take care of their kids.
Facing down guns is terrifying, especially when you know for a fact these guys will shoot you in the face and walk away fine. We all saw Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti die — and those were white people, not even the ones being singled out.
Not everyone is hardened enough to risk it all. Many people have too much to lose.
But even if you can’t stage a huge mass protest, you can take part in boycotts, spread awareness of marches on social media, pressure your representatives and participate in mutual aid networks. You can donate to local food banks in your communities, share links to legal aid funds set up for immigrants being detained, and so on.
These actions are small, don’t get me wrong. They’re often invisible next to the big, overwhelming marches that dominate the news and make city blocks look like riots. The big actions feel good to those of us watching from the outside because it looks like something is happening.
Those big actions that happen every few months are vastly outstripped by the small choices that people can make every single day.
Just look at what Canada’s boycott of American goods is doing to the U.S. economy. Grassroots movements can topple empires if you stick with it long enough.
One or two drops in a bucket won’t fill it. But millions of drops every day will make that bucket overflow.
Big actions and little actions both matter. You need both in order to ensure lasting change.
The big demonstrations and No Kings protests are satisfying. They look good for the cameras, they inspire people. That’s needed. But if you aren’t in the streets every day bashing on the gates of the White House and screaming bloody murder for your rights to be returned, they won’t accomplish much on their own.
Trump and his cronies are cowards, and they’re selfish. Their response to violence is raised guns and riot shields. We saw that back in his first term.
But the boycotts? Here in Canada, we’re bombarded every day with American business owners and politicians travelling up to beg us to come back and spend our money.
Entire industries are faltering without us, and we are unrelenting.
Trump’s buddies don’t care about your demands, but they do care about their money.
The little actions don’t seem so inspiring, not like the big showy demonstrations and the signs and the shouting in the streets. But they’re sustainable in the long term for a lot more people, and that is absolutely worth crowing about.
Honestly, I think we’re too quick to judge people for how they choose to fight back.
I’m just glad to see people doing something. An army working towards a common goal can do great things.
Solidarity wins.