There’s a selection bias in effect, on several fronts.
People who want a fight may not actually know who they are fighting or why. Consequently, you get a bunch of idiots and assholes piling into ICE or enlisting in the US military, because they’ve been pickled on reactionary propaganda and convinced this will liberate them from the Liberal Fascism that Jonah Goldberg told them they were living under.
People who fight and lose aren’t around to keep fighting. They end up in prisons or hospitals or broke or dead. You don’t see them doing anything to fight actively anymore.
Tons of resistance efforts and opposition organizing goes totally unreported. In part this is a form of government/corporate censorship, shaped by the priorities of reactionary national media. In part, there simply isn’t anything “newsworthy” to report. Who is going to tune into the “Minutes of the most recent Food Not Bombs” organizing event? Who is going to subscribe to a newspaper dedicated to covering street-corner protests and the sermons of local church groups and the odd Facebook meetup of twelve enthusiastic but aimless wanna-be activists?
Opposition is expensive and not terribly profitable. Getting a higher profile requires materials and labor. If you don’t have them, we don’t see you. By contrast, going with the establishment (or the Loyal Opposition) can be both lucrative and status-raising. Easier to be a Megan McArdle or Dana Milbank writing for the Liberal Moderate Sensible Resistance than an Ashton P. Woods or Kat Abughazaleh, running outsider campaigns entirely on local profiles and raw charisma.
In the end, its easy to assume opposition organizations and activists don’t exist simply because you’re not in a position to see them. It’s easy to feel like you’re part of an organization that’s operating as a lonely last hold out, because you’re in a dark forest of misinformation and occluded dissent.
Part of finding like-minded people has to be getting yourself out there to be seen. Going to rallies and mingling with people, going to large public events and keeping your eyes/ears open. Going to fucking Church - I know you’re going to say you hate it but I’m sorry, that’s where a lot of organizing has always happened in this country and still does. A lot of it just means going out and meeting more people and making more friends.
Shit is happening you can’t see. Shit is happening that you’ll never know about. That’s the nature of any resistance movement. The French Resistance wasn’t doing block walks and Pride Parades in the middle of the German Occupation. The NAACP spent a long time organizing in basements before it became a cohesive national group. We’ve still got a significant portion of our LGBTQ population that has to “come out of the closet”, because it’s extremely hazardous to your physical, mental, and financial well-being to be queer before you turn 30.
It’s easy to feel like you’re part of an organization that’s operating as a lonely last hold out, because you’re in a dark forest of misinformation and occluded dissent.
"Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause.
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward."
Everyone wants to talk a big game. But, most people don’t want that fight.
There’s a selection bias in effect, on several fronts.
People who want a fight may not actually know who they are fighting or why. Consequently, you get a bunch of idiots and assholes piling into ICE or enlisting in the US military, because they’ve been pickled on reactionary propaganda and convinced this will liberate them from the Liberal Fascism that Jonah Goldberg told them they were living under.
People who fight and lose aren’t around to keep fighting. They end up in prisons or hospitals or broke or dead. You don’t see them doing anything to fight actively anymore.
Tons of resistance efforts and opposition organizing goes totally unreported. In part this is a form of government/corporate censorship, shaped by the priorities of reactionary national media. In part, there simply isn’t anything “newsworthy” to report. Who is going to tune into the “Minutes of the most recent Food Not Bombs” organizing event? Who is going to subscribe to a newspaper dedicated to covering street-corner protests and the sermons of local church groups and the odd Facebook meetup of twelve enthusiastic but aimless wanna-be activists?
Opposition is expensive and not terribly profitable. Getting a higher profile requires materials and labor. If you don’t have them, we don’t see you. By contrast, going with the establishment (or the Loyal Opposition) can be both lucrative and status-raising. Easier to be a Megan McArdle or Dana Milbank writing for the Liberal Moderate Sensible Resistance than an Ashton P. Woods or Kat Abughazaleh, running outsider campaigns entirely on local profiles and raw charisma.
In the end, its easy to assume opposition organizations and activists don’t exist simply because you’re not in a position to see them. It’s easy to feel like you’re part of an organization that’s operating as a lonely last hold out, because you’re in a dark forest of misinformation and occluded dissent.
Part of finding like-minded people has to be getting yourself out there to be seen. Going to rallies and mingling with people, going to large public events and keeping your eyes/ears open. Going to fucking Church - I know you’re going to say you hate it but I’m sorry, that’s where a lot of organizing has always happened in this country and still does. A lot of it just means going out and meeting more people and making more friends.
Shit is happening you can’t see. Shit is happening that you’ll never know about. That’s the nature of any resistance movement. The French Resistance wasn’t doing block walks and Pride Parades in the middle of the German Occupation. The NAACP spent a long time organizing in basements before it became a cohesive national group. We’ve still got a significant portion of our LGBTQ population that has to “come out of the closet”, because it’s extremely hazardous to your physical, mental, and financial well-being to be queer before you turn 30.
Very much this. As was said in Andor: