What are some methods of distributed civil disobedience for Americans?
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Distributed as in non centralized. Many people feel like there is nothing they can do to contribute to meaningful change, especially with how spread out Americans are, but surely there has got to be something.
Using the trend of blocking traffic as an example, I think a coordinated effort to not just block a highway in one city, but to block state routes and other arteries in many places would be more effective. Instead of one city having bad traffic for a day, it would be many towns and it would be harder to dismiss as a local problem if people across the states are engaging.
Be happy and grow a supportive, active, and independent community network of helpers
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Well, that's part of my point. Everyone who stopped eating at Chick Fil A stopped 10+ years ago, everyone else doesn't care. Anyone willing to boycott is already boycotting, and they can't boycott any harder until we have a method of acquiring necessities from somewhere else.
Ah! Perfect example as I won't touch Chick Fil A.
So yes, those who care and are politically aware are boycotting what they can, but the vast majority of Americans neither care or are aware.
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Everyone sits on multiple spectra for what they care about, and where their thresholds for acting are
Right, so what would push people over that threshold now?
- Its different for everyone, and there will usually be multiple influencing factors, not just one big one, but
- I already pointed out one big one in my last sentence.
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Be happy and grow a supportive, active, and independent community network of helpers
Not civil disobedience, but I agree. Unfortunately creating communities is probably a bigger ask than getting arrested in a protest.
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reproduction isnât a choice for some people. thatâs fucked up but itâs cold & hard reality.
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this just increases the ratio of parents in the next generation that are shitty people, effectively strengthening fascist movements by increasing the proportionment of lil hitlers vs everyone else in the kindergarten class.
i think this strategy is highly problematic if you think about it for literally even just a second, and i say that as someone who would never voluntarily have kids.
isnât a choice for some people
Previous poster isn't talking about those people; but about people who do have a choice and why they should decline.
this just increases the ratio of parents in the next generation that are shitty people
Correct. But that doesn't justify dropping a child into the dumpsterfire we're turning our planet into just so they can serve as a footsoldier in the fight against it. Children aren't sacrificial lambs.
effectively strengthening fascist movements by increasing the proportionment of lil hitlers vs everyone else in the kindergarten class.
What's to say good parenting can combat that to enough of an extent to actually make a difference? It's not rare for two genuinely good people to produce a little hellspawn that grows up to be a lil hitler despite their parent's best efforts. Good parenting is certainly an important factor, but that's far from a guarantee your kid will do good with their lives. They could just as well be the next actual Hitler.
We can't outbreed stupid or evil. If abstaining from having a kid for the sake of protecting that kid from an increasingly dire hellscape is some kind of failure to delay humanity's downfall, then humanity isn't something that should be preserved.
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If every blue state stopped paying federal taxes simultaneously they'd be fucked. Tax season isn't for another sixish months, just saying.
wrote last edited by [email protected]It has to be the employees not the state because companies withhold it and remit directly to the IRS. Not saying you should do this, but if you increase your
withholdingsexemptions then it won't go to the IRS. Though you will owe it in April and may have to pay penalties for underwitholding. -
Distributed as in non centralized. Many people feel like there is nothing they can do to contribute to meaningful change, especially with how spread out Americans are, but surely there has got to be something.
Using the trend of blocking traffic as an example, I think a coordinated effort to not just block a highway in one city, but to block state routes and other arteries in many places would be more effective. Instead of one city having bad traffic for a day, it would be many towns and it would be harder to dismiss as a local problem if people across the states are engaging.
Something I liked about the response to LA was people showing up at hotels where occupiers were staying and driving them out. There's a sort of group denunciation happening, and then also it just makes it hard to do the work - they don't have enough sleep, they have to travel farther to the intended area of action.
What about other ways to foul logistics? And what are other ways to shame/demoralize people supporting the regime? Totalitarians require everyday people to carry out their orders. The more people we peel away or disillusion the less control a totalitarian can exert.
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https://www.opb.org/news/series/racenw/race-northwest-united-states-jordan-lund-portland/
reminder to everyone that that's why Jordan doesn't like BLM.
Oh, god no, as stated, stories like this are why I don't like BLM:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2015/12/31/dunbar-slayings-prompt-a-rethinking-of-black-lives-matter/
These dead kids in Chicago were met with SILENCE from BLM. Their lives and deaths didn't matter because they did not fit the BLM narrative.
"The activists working to protest rogue cops must work just as hard to shatter indifference toward the violence plaguing normal citizens. Or else black lives south and west still wonât matter. Only our escape from the city will."
Unless the perpetrator is a cop, specifically a white cop, BLM is dead fucking silent. Which means they aren't really BLM. They're BLM*
*When it fits our agenda.
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You need to extricate yourself from your bubble if you think American's are meaningfully boycotting anything.
target would like a word
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Blocking traffic will only turn people away at best and get you run over at worst.
Maybe it depends on who you are blocking.
The ones I don't understand is when they just block and entire interstate or main road. Like, why? You are keeping other random people like parents and kids from going home? How is that helping? It just makes them all REALLY mad at you and your cause.
But if you blocked specific vehicles, like ICE vans. Now we are actually doing something productive.
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I have been fantasizing about figuring out where epstien is buried, digging his evil ass up and catapulting his corpse onto the white house lawn.
That would force them to release the files. It is so outrageous that it would get national attention, and people would support it because RELEASE THE FUCKING EPSTIEN FILES.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I think this would actually have the opposite effect. Itâs essentially the Dead Cat Strategy. Thatâs a political tactic where if youâre losing an argument and canât see a way to turn it around, just throw a dead cat on the table. Now everyone is suddenly talking about the dead cat, instead of the argument you were losing. It refers to when a politician is losing a debate, so they just start making outrageous statements to grab attention and divert the debate away from the argument.
Epsteinâs body would be a dead cat, as news would divert towards covering that instead of covering the files.
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Maybe it depends on who you are blocking.
The ones I don't understand is when they just block and entire interstate or main road. Like, why? You are keeping other random people like parents and kids from going home? How is that helping? It just makes them all REALLY mad at you and your cause.
But if you blocked specific vehicles, like ICE vans. Now we are actually doing something productive.
Oh, definitely, unfortunately that's rarely what they do.
And I'd add this... they rarely protest where they need to be protesting as well.
Netanyahu isn't even AWARE of the Gaza protests in the US and wouldn't give two shits if he was aware, but you take it to Israel and protest in Tel Aviv? That will get the attention you need.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/25/israel-protest-tel-aviv-army-war-gaza
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Distributed as in non centralized. Many people feel like there is nothing they can do to contribute to meaningful change, especially with how spread out Americans are, but surely there has got to be something.
Using the trend of blocking traffic as an example, I think a coordinated effort to not just block a highway in one city, but to block state routes and other arteries in many places would be more effective. Instead of one city having bad traffic for a day, it would be many towns and it would be harder to dismiss as a local problem if people across the states are engaging.
If you make a mistake on your taxes you can always file a correction later.
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Opting out of consumerism. Not that it's legal disobedience, but it's certainly social disobedience that would get the attention of and take power from the corporations who control our politicians. Yes we can't stop buying everything completely, going to a barter system for everything is not feasible. But we can at least stop buying so much crap.
There was a 'single day consumer stop' recently that was just plain silly. That won't even show up on a weekly report, let alone concern even managers.
Also, if they don't know it's due to a standpoint, they will look for every other likely reason available. It needs to be a movement
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I'm not talking about boycotting shitty companies, though. Just like, boycotting capitalism. To the degree that's even possible. We need food, shelter, and utilities.
But clothes? Repair, swap, thrift.
Entertainment? Cancel streaming services, stop going out to movies. Don't use social media sites that make money by showing you ads. Play cards or board games, read or listen to books from the library. Trade things with friends when you get bored of what you have instead of just buying new stuff. Touch grass.
I'm not saying I do all of this stuff or that it would be easy, but lots of people doing this consistently would make a much bigger difference than boycotting shitty companies piecemeal.
In that case, I was boycotting before it was cool.
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Distributed as in non centralized. Many people feel like there is nothing they can do to contribute to meaningful change, especially with how spread out Americans are, but surely there has got to be something.
Using the trend of blocking traffic as an example, I think a coordinated effort to not just block a highway in one city, but to block state routes and other arteries in many places would be more effective. Instead of one city having bad traffic for a day, it would be many towns and it would be harder to dismiss as a local problem if people across the states are engaging.
Everyone, DRIVE FUCKING SLOW.
"C'mon, that'll just piss myself off." Do you think the French living under nazi occupation wouldn't love to dangle their bumper in front of every German driver that comes along?
Do 58 in a 65.
Do 41 in a 45.Don't worry, because when I see you on the road driving slow, I'll join you for solidarity. I'll keep a safe distance behind, just attempting to
navigate international waters in the South China Seadrive as slow as we legally fucking want.Stick to the rule of "Stay to the right". Don't break traffic laws. Provide no incriminating behavior beyond "slower than normal".
Let the rest of the bastards deal with it. Those bastards, whose privilege blesses them with the worst part of their day being "shitty traffic," who then arrive to the office and bitch about it to the other old ladies who share that same privilege, ALL OF WHOM proceeded to wax poetic about the nostalgia of their gun-laden childhoods the morning after another elementary classroom was shot up, yet who didn't acknowledge THE SHOOTING amongst each other.
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Something I liked about the response to LA was people showing up at hotels where occupiers were staying and driving them out. There's a sort of group denunciation happening, and then also it just makes it hard to do the work - they don't have enough sleep, they have to travel farther to the intended area of action.
What about other ways to foul logistics? And what are other ways to shame/demoralize people supporting the regime? Totalitarians require everyday people to carry out their orders. The more people we peel away or disillusion the less control a totalitarian can exert.
We need a community dedicated to these questions.
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I think this would actually have the opposite effect. Itâs essentially the Dead Cat Strategy. Thatâs a political tactic where if youâre losing an argument and canât see a way to turn it around, just throw a dead cat on the table. Now everyone is suddenly talking about the dead cat, instead of the argument you were losing. It refers to when a politician is losing a debate, so they just start making outrageous statements to grab attention and divert the debate away from the argument.
Epsteinâs body would be a dead cat, as news would divert towards covering that instead of covering the files.
So like, all of 2025 so far.
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Oh, god no, as stated, stories like this are why I don't like BLM:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2015/12/31/dunbar-slayings-prompt-a-rethinking-of-black-lives-matter/
These dead kids in Chicago were met with SILENCE from BLM. Their lives and deaths didn't matter because they did not fit the BLM narrative.
"The activists working to protest rogue cops must work just as hard to shatter indifference toward the violence plaguing normal citizens. Or else black lives south and west still wonât matter. Only our escape from the city will."
Unless the perpetrator is a cop, specifically a white cop, BLM is dead fucking silent. Which means they aren't really BLM. They're BLM*
*When it fits our agenda.
The article is the essence of All Lives Matter. And that isn't a good thing.
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isnât a choice for some people
Previous poster isn't talking about those people; but about people who do have a choice and why they should decline.
this just increases the ratio of parents in the next generation that are shitty people
Correct. But that doesn't justify dropping a child into the dumpsterfire we're turning our planet into just so they can serve as a footsoldier in the fight against it. Children aren't sacrificial lambs.
effectively strengthening fascist movements by increasing the proportionment of lil hitlers vs everyone else in the kindergarten class.
What's to say good parenting can combat that to enough of an extent to actually make a difference? It's not rare for two genuinely good people to produce a little hellspawn that grows up to be a lil hitler despite their parent's best efforts. Good parenting is certainly an important factor, but that's far from a guarantee your kid will do good with their lives. They could just as well be the next actual Hitler.
We can't outbreed stupid or evil. If abstaining from having a kid for the sake of protecting that kid from an increasingly dire hellscape is some kind of failure to delay humanity's downfall, then humanity isn't something that should be preserved.
well first, it isnât exactly a binary continuum whether or not one has reproductive autonomy. many people are somewhere between the caricature of a literal sex slave and someone just stuck in an unhappy marriage. without any delimiters in the original comment i donât think itâs wild to assume that it does refer to these people, generally⌠how could it not? iâm willing to bet a significant portion of the population is subjectively not exactly âchoosingâ to reproduce in the same way we choose to do other things so it feels a little dismissive for you to just say these people donât matter for the sake of your rhetoric.
second, im not really justifying have children nor did i do so originally. honestly, willful antinatalism is an incredibly obscure opinion in public discourse - most antinatalist trends are results of socioeconomic realities - so i donât really feel the need to even attempt justifying reproducing. like i said, iâd never really have kids myself. but people are going to do it no matter what i think and thereâs no public opinion campaign that will ever change that, at least as humanity currently stands.
finally, im not even going to really respond to your last point. if you want to argue against the overwhelming consensus and body of evidence from academia demonstrating that who oneâs parents are massively influence their outcomes in life then go ahead but i dont think anyone in your audience at that point has a brain, tbh. of course it isnt the only deciding factor. but this is like saying we should be concerned about repainting our racing stripes when the engine block is literally about to fall out. even if i concede your point that doesnât change the fact that one of the biggest ways who someone becomes in life is determined is by who they are born to and/or raised by, therefore is one of the biggest levers by which future demographic and political trends will be decided.
& i agree the world is shit; we live in nigh apocalyptic times, but this weird overvaluing of the sanctity of human life that antinatalist do feels similar to the pearl clutching republicans have over abortion and fetuses. a sacrificial lamb? dude get over yourself. weâre all gonna die. kids die everyday. that doesnât mean you have to retreat into cynic pessimism⌠who are you, or any of us, to be the anubis weighing the value of souls that might come into this world? your position is just so blindingly anthropocentric and arrogant.
