I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I’m sure a lot of you have. For my part, I’ve been finally writing down my political experience, what I saw, etc…in a way that I think might be able to move some people on the right. But I also agree with this post. People always talk/write, etc…and rarely actually take action.
So, with that in mind, can we talk about what that looks like? Very specifically?
I suppose I’m hoping we can go a step beyond “go protest,” having unanimously agreed that we should all be out en masse to make it clear we’re pissed about…well…kinda everything.
But this is a fairly radical bunch. So, what do you all know about this? What concrete advice/tips/plans/ideas can we dumbass individual Americans learn from historic examples, political movements, etc…? Indeed, one of those questions might be: is this even the place to talk about this? If not, where? Does that already exist somewhere in the aether out there? Communications is always an interesting to me (I’ve wondered whether something like LoRa could be useful to setup in my area).
If I want to start a group locally, are there things I should think about? Practical tips beyond “talk to everyone you know?” Books to read? Etc…? Even if you get a group, it’s easy for it to mean nothing. How do you make it not mean nothing?
In the US, you have a second amendment right to have a firearm. Most states, even blue ones, allow open carry of rifles and long guns provided that you follow certain rules (i.e. no pointing them at other people, keep them unloaded, etc). That is to say, in many states, you are perfectly within your rights to open carry a long gun at a peaceful protest. And if a bunch of your friends bring long guns, well, hey, that’s legal too! And hey, if a whole lot of people at the protest have guns with them when the cops decide they want to be fucking dicks, well, then I guess that’s one of the decisions they were free to make.
For reference of how open carry at protests can weigh on how the authorities respond, see the documentary Winter on Fire.
Also, you don’t have to start crazy, going to big huge protests hundreds of miles away. Start out easy, go to some city council and county supervisor meetings and speak publicly about what you think is important. You’ll meet other people there and have a chance to network and organize with them, and make connections to bigger movements that way.
This is literally my interpretation of the right to bear arms and the right to an organized militia. Not to mention the right to protest and freedom of speech and freedom of press. Those were written for this very exact purpose. Maybe for other purposes too, maybe not, but this is the exact shining example of what I feel the forefathers had in mind regardless of their individual characters, this is the best gift they could’ve given their new country made up of multiple states. The Union of States in America. When we organize we need to make sure that whatever we do, we keep this in mind. And to make sure we aren’t afraid to be loud about what this nation is, and always was, at its core. And we need to take our goddamn freedoms for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness back and take them fucking seriously and never entertain anyone who doesn’t.
Where’s the goddamn sign-up link.