Can I ask honestly what you think we should be doing? I’m a traditionally Democratic voter in California, I have 2 kids, I don’t own guns. Should I go buy guns and wage a 1-man war against a military with tanks and drones a thousand miles from my house? Should I tell my kids “sorry, I know you like going to the park with me, but I have to go on a suicide mission because the principle is more important than the chances of success.” I think the concept that Americans have rolled over to fascism is pretty unfair; we’re a country as big as other continents and just because a strategic selection of districts were targeted by the minority in a way that “won the game” doesn’t mean people aren’t on the precipice of participating in something that actually looks like it would have a chance at success. There are no options for resistance right now that feel like the would even come close to be worth the risk to my family.
I’ve lobbied, marched, donated to causes, had honest talks with people on the other side trying to convince them empathetically rather than berating them, and to be honest, getting anything I’ve done hand-waved away by passive aggressive comments is as defeating as anything else. I’m pretty sure a big reason fascism is taking over is because people get their energy out by making increasingly vitriolic internet comments which is as inconsequential as it gets. Americans don’t organize until things get truly intolerable, and this frog boiling going on hasn’t crossed the line enough for people to reach critical mass.
Seems to me he has already given up. Which kind of proves the point of the post he responded to.
People are giving up in advance. No energy to fight to get another Biden.
So my advice is that avoiding that should be part of the fight.
I wouldn’t say I’ve given up, but I think my forms of resistance are invisible. We’re seeing a ton of censorship and media repositories and resources being attacked. My spouse is a physician, and they may have been part of some groups of physicians on Facebook that did peer organizing, and that is no longer a safe space, so I use my sysadmin skills to maintain private social networks for them to collaborate on; I am also doing a large archiving service that is semi-private using zimit and mwoffliner to go into kiwix so the government can’t kneecap their ability to provide medical care that may include things dis-favorable to the regime. I regularly snapshot and offline critical resources to them via a network of crawlers I maintain.
I recommend reading Every Man Dies Alone - even the smallest act of resistance is significant, even as small as leaving derogatory postcards around Berlin during the war. Providing support for those targeted by the regime surely goes further than that.
Resistance means helping the oppressed and sabotaging fascists, you don’t need to be a warrior. Think of the little things which make it a bigger whole, together with willpower we will shall overcome.
The important thing is to be visible, a demonstration outside a government building maybe.
Of course you can’t spend all day every day doing that, but take some friends, make some coffee and cakes, and make it a nice event for yourself out of it. If you come at the same time every day, hopefully others will join.
Alternatively if someone is already doing this, join them.
This is how grassroots start, when more people are active, it helps people other places to do the same, and when they communicate through the power of being many, it can become a movement.
Again if somebody is already doing it join, also if you can only spare ½ an hour per day, or even per week.
The power is in numbers, and you need to show you are one of those numbers.
Don’t argue against their points, argue your own point, that’s what needs to be visible.
Freedom and democracy would be good points IMO. But No to fascism is also a valid point.
Going all in for a month doesn’t work, steady for the distance is the winning strategy.
A gun is a good idea, yes. What you do with it is up to you, but do you really want to be the one in the fight without a gun when a federale decides they don’t like you?
As to what you can do, no one is telling anyone to go wage a one man war.
I think the scenarios where a gun helps me defend against any sort of organized fascist government are nonexistent. My local police effectively could assault a small nation with the equipment they have, no amount of handguns/shotguns/rifles can combat that, let alone the national guard who have access to drones, planes, surveillance, armored vehicles, body armor, and the ability to effectively infinitely resupply. There is no guerilla winning a hot war against a fascist government in 2025 unless you’re willing to sacrifice a generation of lives.
I think the % likelihood of scenarios where a family member or child defeats the security and has access to something that can do unnecessary harm are well above zero. I think the scenarios where I bring a gun into a situation that MIGHT warrant it, but that would result in an escalation instead of a de-escalation, are equally likely.
I figured out my dad’s safe combo and had access to his guns when I was an early teen. I expect my kids to have the same capabilities and curiosities. This isn’t a movie or a book, the real risk/rewards clearly make firearm ownership a non-starter for me.
You sort of answered your own question in your last sentence.
I don’t have all the answers. But what I do know, is you are literally living in a country where 70% of political experts polled say the United States is no longer a democracy. You are clearly not just seeing backsliding but full on marching towards absolute fascism.
So if you want the real answer, it’s that people are going to have to die and people are going to have to get very uncomfortable in order to turn this around. That, or (and the country is currently doing this) just accept fascism and hope it never comes for you.
If I was an American citizen, I would have been stockpiling food since January. I’d be spending as little money as I possibly can, squirreling away some savings. Most people can, despite what they say, if push really comes to shove. I’d be talking to like minded people and discussing what skills may be able to be traded for in a general strike or emergency.
I’ve laughed at for all of this multiple times, so I don’t really expect it will happen much. But the boots will be on your necks first, even if they eventually come for mine. I’m already planning my life on the assumption it’s coming for me. And I’m not even there.
Can I ask honestly what you think we should be doing? I’m a traditionally Democratic voter in California, I have 2 kids, I don’t own guns. Should I go buy guns and wage a 1-man war against a military with tanks and drones a thousand miles from my house? Should I tell my kids “sorry, I know you like going to the park with me, but I have to go on a suicide mission because the principle is more important than the chances of success.” I think the concept that Americans have rolled over to fascism is pretty unfair; we’re a country as big as other continents and just because a strategic selection of districts were targeted by the minority in a way that “won the game” doesn’t mean people aren’t on the precipice of participating in something that actually looks like it would have a chance at success. There are no options for resistance right now that feel like the would even come close to be worth the risk to my family.
I’ve lobbied, marched, donated to causes, had honest talks with people on the other side trying to convince them empathetically rather than berating them, and to be honest, getting anything I’ve done hand-waved away by passive aggressive comments is as defeating as anything else. I’m pretty sure a big reason fascism is taking over is because people get their energy out by making increasingly vitriolic internet comments which is as inconsequential as it gets. Americans don’t organize until things get truly intolerable, and this frog boiling going on hasn’t crossed the line enough for people to reach critical mass.
You’re arguing with a 1 month old account, fyi. Don’t get sucked into people trolling or telling you to give up.
If I didn’t know any better I would think there is a larger motive behind all the very blatant trolls that keep popping up on .ca.
Seems to me he has already given up. Which kind of proves the point of the post he responded to.
People are giving up in advance. No energy to fight to get another Biden.
So my advice is that avoiding that should be part of the fight.
I wouldn’t say I’ve given up, but I think my forms of resistance are invisible. We’re seeing a ton of censorship and media repositories and resources being attacked. My spouse is a physician, and they may have been part of some groups of physicians on Facebook that did peer organizing, and that is no longer a safe space, so I use my sysadmin skills to maintain private social networks for them to collaborate on; I am also doing a large archiving service that is semi-private using zimit and mwoffliner to go into kiwix so the government can’t kneecap their ability to provide medical care that may include things dis-favorable to the regime. I regularly snapshot and offline critical resources to them via a network of crawlers I maintain.
I recommend reading Every Man Dies Alone - even the smallest act of resistance is significant, even as small as leaving derogatory postcards around Berlin during the war. Providing support for those targeted by the regime surely goes further than that.
This is exactly what a good resistance looks like. Keep it up!
Good to hear you haven’t given up.
Keep up the good fight. 👍
Resistance means helping the oppressed and sabotaging fascists, you don’t need to be a warrior. Think of the little things which make it a bigger whole, together with willpower we will shall overcome.
I think it might be time we push for a general strike, and not this 3 years down the road bullshit.
A general strike and soon would fuck shit up for the leaches on top
This “3 years down the road bullshit” is necessary to prepare. Strikes take time, money, and organization.
The important thing is to be visible, a demonstration outside a government building maybe.
Of course you can’t spend all day every day doing that, but take some friends, make some coffee and cakes, and make it a nice event for yourself out of it. If you come at the same time every day, hopefully others will join.
Alternatively if someone is already doing this, join them.
This is how grassroots start, when more people are active, it helps people other places to do the same, and when they communicate through the power of being many, it can become a movement.
Again if somebody is already doing it join, also if you can only spare ½ an hour per day, or even per week.
The power is in numbers, and you need to show you are one of those numbers.
Don’t argue against their points, argue your own point, that’s what needs to be visible.
Freedom and democracy would be good points IMO. But No to fascism is also a valid point.
Going all in for a month doesn’t work, steady for the distance is the winning strategy.
A gun is a good idea, yes. What you do with it is up to you, but do you really want to be the one in the fight without a gun when a federale decides they don’t like you?
As to what you can do, no one is telling anyone to go wage a one man war.
I think the scenarios where a gun helps me defend against any sort of organized fascist government are nonexistent. My local police effectively could assault a small nation with the equipment they have, no amount of handguns/shotguns/rifles can combat that, let alone the national guard who have access to drones, planes, surveillance, armored vehicles, body armor, and the ability to effectively infinitely resupply. There is no guerilla winning a hot war against a fascist government in 2025 unless you’re willing to sacrifice a generation of lives.
I think the % likelihood of scenarios where a family member or child defeats the security and has access to something that can do unnecessary harm are well above zero. I think the scenarios where I bring a gun into a situation that MIGHT warrant it, but that would result in an escalation instead of a de-escalation, are equally likely.
I figured out my dad’s safe combo and had access to his guns when I was an early teen. I expect my kids to have the same capabilities and curiosities. This isn’t a movie or a book, the real risk/rewards clearly make firearm ownership a non-starter for me.
You sort of answered your own question in your last sentence.
I don’t have all the answers. But what I do know, is you are literally living in a country where 70% of political experts polled say the United States is no longer a democracy. You are clearly not just seeing backsliding but full on marching towards absolute fascism.
So if you want the real answer, it’s that people are going to have to die and people are going to have to get very uncomfortable in order to turn this around. That, or (and the country is currently doing this) just accept fascism and hope it never comes for you.
If I was an American citizen, I would have been stockpiling food since January. I’d be spending as little money as I possibly can, squirreling away some savings. Most people can, despite what they say, if push really comes to shove. I’d be talking to like minded people and discussing what skills may be able to be traded for in a general strike or emergency.
I’ve laughed at for all of this multiple times, so I don’t really expect it will happen much. But the boots will be on your necks first, even if they eventually come for mine. I’m already planning my life on the assumption it’s coming for me. And I’m not even there.