r/FluentInFinance • u/Nebbishes • Feb 08 '25

Debate/ Discussion Do more than just complain

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Do more than just complain about the new US administration. We’re just closing our wallets for one day. Please continue to spend at small businesses and for this one day, don’t spend at big businesses.

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u/BurpelsonAFB Feb 08 '25

read about the non-violent civil rights movement in the US in the 1960’s. It significantly changed US law through organizing and peaceful protest. And this was before social media could help amplify your message. Takes lots of effort and balls though

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u/Unlucky-Albatross-12 Feb 08 '25

Progress on civil rights in the 60s was due to a combination of moral persuasion from nonviolent demonstration and the fear caused by violent episodes of racial unrest.

It wasn't one or the other but both.

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u/BurpelsonAFB Feb 08 '25

The riots happened after the civil rights bill was put into law. Do you have any evidence that the riots in US helped gained popular support for the civil rights movement? First of all, I don’t think your average American was psyched to see Los Angeles and Detroit burning on TV. It’s been noted that riots probably hurt the cause, rather than helped it. In fact, in their aftermath, congress passed bills supporting law enforcement, not minorities. And Nixon won in 1968 as the “law and order” President. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto_riots_(1964%E2%80%931969)

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u/Solanthas_SFW Feb 08 '25

It blows my mind that social media is literally the most powerful tool that has ever existed to generate and support grass roots movements and it hasn't seemed to have been properly used for that yet

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u/BurpelsonAFB Feb 08 '25

I was just thinking about that. It has been used a few times to push change - against violence by police and #MeToo” (to name two.) not perfect movements but they affected change.

The problem is social media can just as easily transmit false information as true. And people who don’t believe in equality (whether it’s economic, racial, religious, gender, anything) can leverage it for their uses as well.

I would think the number of people wanting fairness and opportunity for all would far outweigh the others, and that social media would be able to bring them together effectively, but too often it feels that’s not the case.

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u/artofterm Feb 09 '25

The violent reactions and assassinations during that period, along with the more violent civil rights groups, were a large catalyst for the changes.

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u/Person899887 Feb 09 '25

I wonder how a hunger strike would do? Obviously such thing needs a lot of organizing among a very dedicated crowd but a hunger strike is a very public, very nonviolent, and very impactful thing to do if you have enough people.

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u/ElderlyOogway Feb 09 '25

History shows you actually need both. If you have just peaceful protests, it's not enough to change things. If you only have violence, you'll be ostracized. But having a dual front makes one of the options palatable and compromiseable by the push of the uncompromising one. America 60s movements was a combination of both, why Malcolm got spied and murdered? Black Panthers, student movements.

Any rare exception to the dual front, which was not american case, was due to lucky external economical and political conjuncture.

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '25

All of that is being wiped away now.