my affinity group went to the local protest and it was so poorly organized (people didn't know where to go or what was happening) so we just co-opted their rally. Found one of their overworked megaphone volunteers and offered him our help, ran to the front and then we were off. Led the crowd in pro-palestine and anti-imperialist chants and blocked traffic a few times. And comrades, the libs were literally using chatGPT for their chants, god help us.

And oh my god, the number of snarky white women who told us "uh you actually aren't allowed to block traffic you know", yeah but as you can see, we are. There were like 3 cops total at the entire rally because the crowd posed zero threat, but plenty of citizen deputies. Once the rally went over the permit time all these libs flew right off but we had a based core of people who kept the street shut for another half hour or so while the departing liberals on the sidewalks looked on aghast at us brutally and violently forcing cars to take a 2 minute detour.

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 21 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

And comrades, the libs were literally using chatGPT for their chants, god help us.

What...what does that sound like

[–] TheLastHero@hexbear.net 9 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

we didn't use them, only got a look at an organizer's phone, but I assume the cadence would be clunky and the content soulless

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 7 points 2 hours ago

are you sure that was for chants or where they just checking like "what is a protest"?

[–] DoiDoi@hexbear.net 13 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Show me what democracy looks like!

angel-biblical

This is what democracy looks like!

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 8 points 3 hours ago

I don't think the AI is gonna be able to come up with accurate anything, much less biblical angels

[–] SevenSkalls@hexbear.net 21 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 6 minutes ago) (1 children)

Hell ya. That's how you do it. Coopt their rallies like the libs try to coopt leftist energy.

[–] TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

And like chuds coopt a bunch of things, too.

[–] SevenSkalls@hexbear.net 1 points 5 minutes ago

I still kind of feel sorry for the Pepe le frog artist who didn't even mean to make a Nazi symbol T_T

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 10 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

the libs were literally using chatGPT for their chants, god help us.

Dont tease me like that! What were the chants?

[–] TheLastHero@hexbear.net 7 points 3 hours ago

sorry, we didn't use them so i don't know. One of the original lib organizers ran up to us and gave my friend the phone with the chants, and my friend later told me it was open mid chatGPT conversation so my friend just handed it back and we did the old classics and improvised.

there were a lot of libs bragging (??) about their chatGPT designed signs though, and from what I remember it was a lot of self-serving stuff "this is what a free, fierce, and sexy American looks like"

[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 64 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

Protest!

I've literally seen that twice in the last ~10m at Bluesky.

[–] FortifiedAttack@hexbear.net 45 points 5 hours ago

All I can think when I see that sign is:

"Yes, yes of course you would be..."

[–] SovietBeerTruckOperator@hexbear.net 42 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Honestly I think these signs are made half self-awarely. Like these are Twitter and Reddit Libs who know this pisses leftists off and make them to signal that this isn't a leftist protest.

[–] dil@hexbear.net 1 points 18 minutes ago

Most libs don't even think about "leftists", in the same way their brain short circuits at "America good, China bad"

Leftists bad bc :it-is-known:, but they don't care about what we believe or what would piss us off. There's no need to make a sign to make us mad, since we are wrong and don't matter. Hell, "leftist" isn't even part of their vocabulary - the political spectrum ends at "liberal".

They honestly believe that Kamala would make things better, and that if everyone had just voted hard enough then we could rest knowing that she'd do everything she reasonably could to make the world a better place. I talked to a woman who still can't wrap her head around why anyone would support Trump.

Libs stop thinking after "Democrats good, Republicans bad". We shouldn't give them credit for critical thinking beyond that.

[–] GeneralSwitch2Boycott@hexbear.net 37 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Yeah, they're pretty consciously fascistic and anti-communist now that they can feel the bolstering of anti-capitalist rhetoric from the masses breathing down their neck. We need to go harder on them (agitation) and expose them for the right wing psychos they truly are.

[–] sweatersocialist@hexbear.net 22 points 6 hours ago

i think most of us would probably still just be at work lol

[–] Dimmer06@hexbear.net 50 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I went to my local protest. While it was huge I have to say I think I was more scared inside of it than anyone outside would have been of it. The whole thing was incredibly poorly organized. Everyone was body to body in the middle of it with no paths to get through. People brought dogs and small children into that which probably didn't go well. Walking through I kept getting smacked by people being careless with their shitty cardboard signs with smug one liners painted on them. There was no unified chanting or anything like that but also it was too loud to actually talk with anyone or hear what any of the speakers were saying. It's unclear who set the rally up or if there's anyway to get involved further. I've been in moshpits that have been better organized.

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 56 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

synthesis: we need to be using these rallies to organise people in ways that materialise towards more useful ends than "Hands Øff NATO!!!"

[–] Lochat@hexbear.net 31 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

If you can do it, you would be my hero. In honest truth, if these people could be mobilized to real action, or cause real problems to the status-quo, I feel it would take a uniquely, effectively-if-not-literally superhuman being.

Remember, these are the same types of people who screamed how they would "riot" if they over-turned Roe-V-Wade. Look at Jan 6th. See the difference? Twitter posts versus a literal attempted coup and multiple attempted (or at the very least, desired) murders, on top of the actual "acabs" that were harmed. Hell, Bill O'Rilley called Dr. Tiller, "Doctor Tiller the baby killer" until one of his fucked in the head listeners assassinated him for providing medical care to women (in a church, if I recall?). Give me one liberal with any soapbox and following of, of any note, who has spat 1/100th of the level of vitriol and consistent hate towards these evil fuck who let preteens die of medical complications and/or give birth to children made ofremoved, that evil Irish fuck did to a doctor doing real, good, medical work.

Bill changed the world (for the worse) Rachael Maddow, or whichever "liberal" you want to use, collects their fucking check and goes home. You'd need to fundamentally change their worldview, and since their worldview is based on the vapid, billionaire-controlled media they consume, you'd need to change that. Good luck.

[–] SovietBeerTruckOperator@hexbear.net 19 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Yeah a few years ago I would have been in the "well maybe this will radicalize some Libs" camp, but I'm pretty cynical now. I've seen several waves of these liberal protests and at best I think they're are useless and at worse actually counter productive. It really just feels like an irl r/politics thread.

[–] 30_to_50_Feral_PAWGs@hexbear.net 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

The libs need to feel the sting of declining material conditions before they'll be ripe for radicalization -- thus far, they have been fairly insulated from any consequences beyond a vague sense of discontent, or a dim awareness that some of their rights have been eroded away. Civil religion dictates that this will all blow over in four years when the bad orange king is gone and they go to the ballot box to ~~pray~~ vote for a new good king that will give them back their "rights," at least until the next bad king comes along.

They probably won't stay cowed forever, but if you're expecting direct action out of them, you're going to be waiting a while.

[–] Lemister@hexbear.net 11 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

People that go on protests for NATO isnt the group that should be targeted for radicalization. The “non-voters” harbor the greatest potential of possible class consciousness. They are already alienated from the state and too busy working or making ends meet.

[–] SevenSkalls@hexbear.net 10 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

There were a lot of first-time protesters at these protests. The material conditions are such that the number of "non-political" folk will be shrinking and they will be looking for something to do and get coopted by these events.

A lot of protests, riots, and strikes started organically in other revolutions (like the French or Russian one). The Bolsheviks were able to take advantage of the Russian ones even though they didn't organize them initially. I'm wondering if an organized left can eventually do something like that if these kinds of things continue to happen as US economic conditions break down.

[–] Lemister@hexbear.net 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Yes the destruction of american SoL will give rise to larger grounds for marxism to flourish. This is inevitable and logical. And with "non-political" folk I didnt mean the suburban "we are comfortable" types, I meant the lowest classes. All the poorest and most miserable people I know are very apolitical and alienated from political action, they also blamed poor people (including themselves) on ideological reason.

[–] SevenSkalls@hexbear.net 1 points 6 minutes ago

Gotcha. Ya, makes sense because politics has never helped them no matter who's in power. Some of them joined Trump sadly but a lot just stayed out of politics still.

[–] jack@hexbear.net 9 points 5 hours ago

100%, this is what the essence of revolutionary work as contradictions build is all about

[–] SovietBeerTruckOperator@hexbear.net 18 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Good luck but my past experiences don't leave me hopeful

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 17 points 6 hours ago

There will always be a few people who get radicalised matter what but i bet it wont be fun for people doing the ground work

[–] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 12 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Hot take: everybody needs to chill out being soft or hard....on protests in a subreddit doesn't matter. Just post your take

[–] SovietBeerTruckOperator@hexbear.net 14 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

Hot take alert! : I actually kinda Panera Bread. It's like, fine.

[–] stink@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 2 hours ago

Praxis is stealing a cup from the register on your lunch break and filling it with charged lemonade

[–] fox@hexbear.net 6 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Big fan of the lemonade that kills you

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 2 points 2 hours ago

i didn't know they had it until the deaths and then i was like "hmm maybe i want some" but all the flavors were shitty

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 4 points 4 hours ago

Gotta get a half-chub for these protests. Can seem to eager but don't want to insult them either.

[–] lib1@hexbear.net 29 points 6 hours ago (4 children)

My local protest didn’t seem to have any demands. Is that always a red flag?

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 5 points 3 hours ago

I'd say not always but you should interpret it in context for the situation.

Having no demands is a criticism against many loose oppositional groups. In some ways its hard to see how they would have "a demand" because they aren't an organization. They are a transient mass unified by sentiment.

Its not impossible to have such an even on the road to a productive outcome. But in this case I'm very skeptical.

[–] Lochat@hexbear.net 27 points 6 hours ago

Sorry, didn't you see on "stormfront" how they posted pictures of signs with one-liners that land somehow between "cringe" and "bad"? You telling me that's not making a difference?

Wait, hold on, let me get out of the road, there's an oversized lifted truck driven by an 80 year old with cataracts in both eyes who's going to die in a stroke behind the wheel at some point at in the near future driving towards me.

I wouldn't want to impede traffic, that's not what civil disobedience is about...

Anyhow, where was I...?

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 15 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah but I cant see any protest in the USA yesterday that had decent demands. Either purely vibes based or shit like "Hands off NATO!".

[–] jack@hexbear.net 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

https://hexbear.net/post/4531201

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 2 points 50 minutes ago

Good point! I stand corrected. I forgot that Palestinian demos were out in force too.

[–] SovietBeerTruckOperator@hexbear.net 10 points 6 hours ago

Yes

[–] Lochat@hexbear.net 17 points 6 hours ago

Protest = good.

I = protest.

I = Good.

Q.E.D., motherfucker.

I earned this mimosa.

[–] ThermonuclearEgg@hexbear.net 7 points 5 hours ago

is-this Is this dialectics?

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