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It’s a horrific moment to see that people honestly believe that there’s no other alternative at this point than to resort to political violence.

I mean… is it? I think it’s pretty obvious in the context of the regime essentially giving itself carte blanch to perpetrate political violence on its desired scapegoats and opponents.

I’m frankly getting pretty fucking tired of people complaining about how this is a startling development and being shocked by what’s happening. They wrote a playbook back in 2019. They published it on the open internet. They said they would follow it. They are now following it. You are not allowed to be surprised by any of this.

We need a general strike. The country would be brought to its knees if deprived of profit and labor. That tactic was extremely effective in Chile in 2019, and had they not fallen for the trick of liberal reform, they would've had a successful revolution on their hands with virtually no bloodshed.

If you aren't in a union, then please consider joining the IWW to unionize your workplace (bonus: you'll get higher wages, better benefits, and more time off if you succeed!) to strengthen a general strike if we finally manage to enact one (the UAW is planning one for May 1st 2028, but it could happen sooner)

• 🌍 US/Global: IWW (Français) - (Español)

And for our international friends, you should join one as well, as fascism is gaining momentum globally. If your country isn't listed below, just contact the IWW directly in the link above.

• 🇦🇷 Argentina: FORA
• 🇦🇺 Australia: ASF-IWA
• 🇧🇷 Brazil: FOB
• 🇧🇬 Bulgaria: ARS, CITUB
• 🇩🇪 Germany: FAU
• 🇬🇷 Greece: ESE
• 🇮🇹 Italy: USI
• 🇳🇱 🇧🇪 Netherlands & Belgium: Vriji Bond
• 🇪🇸 Spain: CNT
• 🇸🇪 Sweden: SAC
• 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: UVW

Gee, almost as if Russian propaganda is working.

Before the Civil War one politician opined that if a war started you'd be able to mop up all the blood spilled with one handkerchief.

Anyone who thinks a new fight will be any easier has probably never been in a real fight.

This reflects a feeling of being backed into a corner. What else are we going to do when our political views and goals and ffs human beings are being criminalized? Every decent thing getting rolled back and every horrible thing dialed up to 11. Fuck republicans. One way or another they will regret this. Whether people vote them out or get violent with them remains to be seen but this will not last, obviously.

This is just people waking up to reality. Trump has the White House, the senate, the House of Representatives, and the courts. He controls the military and has already begun deployment to "democratic" cities. His buddy in Texas is redistricting to help him consolidate power, and I am sure Abbot is not the only one. Every move Trump makes is designed to cripple opposition to his regime. Republican states are purging voter rolls and enacting bullshit laws designed to disenfranchise people of colour.

Milquetoast democrats have made only the most pathetic gestures of opposition to Trump. The first genuine thing Trump ever said was when he expressed surprise yesterday at how little resistance he has faced from the left. Republicans were right about one thing: the American left is a bunch of pussies.

If more Americans think political violence is the only way out of the mess Americans made, it's probably because they are starting to develop a vague but accurate understanding of what is happening in their country.

Well if an ICE officer stops my husband based on his appearance we’ve both agreed that we should resist that arrest.

That would end in violence and probably our deaths. What else can we do? Let them take us god knows where?

You can't vote your way out of fascism. Trump already launched an insurrection to hold on to power. He won't let it go now that he's better entrenched.

"Those who make peaceful reform impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Well it's true. You can't be diplomatic with fascists. You can't "get on the same level" with billionaires.

They have no reason to listen or care, unless we give them a reason to listen or care.

Violence is how we beat the Nazis the first time. If there's a cleaner option that's actually feasible, then yes please... but failing that, cutting the head off the snake is a pretty tried and true method. And if it grows back, cut that one off too - they'll get the message eventually.

Is killing people that are openly declaring that they want to kill you even "political violence"? I would say it is not, because at that point you are not going after them because of their affiliation with any political party, but because they are trying to kill you.

On track to what ..for fuck sakes?

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

• Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, c. 1787

Not that I think political violence (or violence of any sort, for that matter) should be our first, second, or even thirty-fifth resort, but at a certain point I think one must come to grips with the fact that - whether it fits in with their delicate sensibilities or not - when confronted with an existential peril it does sometimes become necessary to defend oneself. (Fun fact: This is why self-defense can be presented as a valid defense against murder charges!)

Sure, we should absolutely make any and all attempts to be inclusive (Republicans HATE this!) and tolerant (GOP: hiss IT BURNS!) and attempt to reach solutions through education, research, negotiation, compromise and all that lovely (woke?) stuff, but... For some reason, it seems like there's consistently only one side that ever shows up to the table willing to actually do any of that. And that's just how it's been for fucking DECADES now. There's probably a lot of you (just generally speaking, not necessarily meaning Lemmy's demographic per se) who aren't even old enough to remember a time before the GOP began using "government shutdowns" and "debt ceilings" and "literal fucking coup attempts" as part of their standard, day-to-day politicking. Believe it or not (and I know this will probably be the hardest one to buy, but I swear it to be true) there was a time when the Republicans would - even if they WERE NOT in power at the time - STILL SHOW UP AND DO THEIR FUCKING JOBS. I know, what a concept, eh? Imagine going to work every day and just... doing your job, like a fucking idiot, instead of throwing absolute meltdown tantrums over your lack of control over other people's genitals.

Does any of this strike you as the behavior of (an) entity(ies) engaging in anything even remotely resembling something that could be construed as "good-faith negotiation" - let alone even approaching something as audacious as "compromise?" This isn't a willing, eager party to an arbitration, quite, is it? No... Something more akin to an assailant with a knife at our throat(s) demanding to inspect our genitals to make sure we're where they think we should be at the moment certainly sounds more apt to me...

I don't want there to be violence. Any. At all, really. But at what point does the moral imperative toward nonviolence get outweighed by the moral obligation to the people being kidnapped by masked (supposed) government agents and disappeared to very real, literal concentration camps? How many genocides at once do we need to hit the tipping point where it's finally acceptable to stand up and say, "That's enough. This far. No farther." But actually back that up, for a change.

If that means by force, then unfortunately, so be it. Might doesn't make right, but that certainly doesn't preclude it from enforcing it, does it?

John Brown was right.

Soap box, ballot box, ammo box. They're trying to take away the 1st 2, so...

Unfortunately that appears to be the only way to get rid of them. They continually ignore the established laws and protests and " sternly worded emails/letters/phonecalls.

PBS running these insipid polls lately is so fucking offensive.

Americans are already doing violence on Americans to execute their fascist vision of this country, en masse, within and without institutions. Violent change is here. The violence question is over. Public opinion is for TV.

As always, Republicans lead the pack, with more Republicans supporting political violence than Democrats. The scary part is how much the Democrat statistics have gone up, and the fact they're getting close to the levels of support seen in Republicans

America is fucked up. I don't have a solution, just pointing out the sad state of affairs

I have become worried I’ll need to defend myself against violent republicans because they are always talking about and actively hurting others.

That’s just people who admit it out loud. I know a few people who hint at this too but are afraid to say it out loud, especially if they have an Alexa-type device.

The Rest of The World: “duh!”

Pick up a history book.

Fascists don't allow fair elections.

Fascists don't stop when asked politely.

Unfortunately, that 30% is correct.

Arm yourselves and everyone you know. Form networks. Communicate via encrypted messaging apps.