50501 General

Support Black Lives Matter. Support defending the police. Support ending racial policing. Support prison reform. Support protecting civil rights.

50501 will be far more successful if we start paying rightful attention to Black Americans. For all the shit going on right now, they have suffered more and continue to suffer more than the rest of us.

Declaration of Democracy

The government of the United States no longer serves the people of our country. When the framework of human rights defined by the Constitution is not upheld as law then it becomes not just a right, but a duty, for every citizen to stand together and to correct the problem.

In such times as this, we have only two paths to take. Complicity and quiet acceptance, or a transient period of upheaval to prevent the forces of tyranny and evil from taking over. To both reason for and justify our response, the actions of our president are presented unchanged from a document which once served a similar purpose to this one.

The Declaration of Independence

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolution, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriation of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation.

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States.

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world.

For imposing taxes on us without our consent.

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury.

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses.

We stop here, no longer willing to let history repeat.

Instead, we state:

• We will not wait for another attack, consolidation of power, or abuse.
• We will not wait for corrupted government and legal systems to protect us.
• We will not wait to protect our rights as defined by the constitution.
• We will not wait to stand, as a diverse group of people, to stop tyranny.

We face clearly the uncomfortable truth.

The United States is under attack.

On July 4th of 2025 we call upon the brave people of our country from California to Maine, Hawaii, and Alaska, and all democratic leaders, to appear in Washington D.C. as a diverse and united force. We come together with clear and resolute intent. We are ending the attack on our country, and are returning the United States to democracy.

On this, we, The People, demand the the following conditions be met.

1. Donald John Trump and James David Vance will be charged with and convicted of treason for failing to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
2. A stand in president and vice president will take their place during the transitional period back to a democracy which upholds the rule of law and the Constitution.
3. The People will hold an immediate and speedy trial to charge with treason and to detain all government officials and wealthy citizens which have aided this regimes ascent to power.
4. Emptied government positions will be filled democratically, people who have been shown to uphold the standards of the Constitution.
5. Corrupt actions made against the will of the people will be reversed, including:
   1. Giving immediate due process for all who are detained illegally.
   2. Restoring independent government structures and employees fired illegally.
   3. Reviewing all visas which were revoked illegally with option for reversal.
   4. Resetting tariffs.
6. Laws passed only to further an assault on our democracy will be identified and voted upon for abolishment by the newly elected supreme court.
7. Laws preventing one person from receiving one valid vote will be abolished in place of a system where every U.S. citizens voting power is equivalent.
8. Laws to prevent citizens of the United States from amassing wealth beyond any reasonable amount will be established immediately.

Until our demands are met, we will peacefully occupy the yards of federal government buildings in Washington D.C. with intent to prevent any further consolidation of the power of tyranny and to halt this attack on our people, our country, and our allies.

We fight to protect our constitution, to protect human rights, and to protect our neighbors both near and far, on the following familiar basis.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Please, discuss, copy, plan for, and share this.

With buy in, we have enough time before July 4th to plan a coordinated response across movements.

https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm You would also be supporting the postal system, which they plan to privatize.

Idea by https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1jrlp2n/the_usps_is_our_solution_to_defeating_the_social/

Where is the Law Team? Activists and professionals focused on law and security related issues.

The stock market just crashed by 2 trillion! This is the Republican Recession folks!

[email protected]

This community lets you influence the next actions of 50501.

Repost from https://reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1jpzmrt/musk_stepping_down_is_part_of_broader_plans/ because I think it is important.

Rumors are milling about that Musk is stepping down, cool, great, grand and dandy. "Progress" is what it will seem like, as if they are running.

Suffice to say I've been watching and listening for a bit so lets get to the part where it's bad (edit:) if we allow ourselves and the public to grow complacent.

Project 2025

• People have been focused on the "flood" aspect of P2025, forgetting that this was planned over a long span of time with contingencies. Such as the fact Project 2025 has already compiled a massive list of "loyalists" who have applied to help them as employees in their little new-world-order business.

The Hatchet Man

• A common trick of businesses in Drumpy-boys era was to release someone into the system of a business, letting them cut and hack and harm, only to then "remove" them in some manner with all the assurances that "they can't do anything now, we're safe" before doing the real damage that was intended.

Orange-man and the GOP are going to pull a fast one on the general public. Musk will "step down", then all of those gutted safety-net positions will be backfilled with loyalists who will answer to primarily to GOP leadership and Orange-guy.

You might be saying "Why would he re-instate X or Y or Z departments?" for many, he wont. Not to mention others will be made/renamed to perform other tasks that seem like its back to normal on paper, they wont be either.

Oversight groups meant to come down on companies? Corpos? Musk? Nothing. What will happen however is that the entire system will be so utterly corrupted from the inside as to mean nothing anymore.

The heat dies down, people calm down a bit because it looks like things are going back to normal, the threat wont be so immediate, this is on purpose. But it'll have been the win-condition. The treatment for a wounded nation will then be to poison it fully from the top, down.

Project 2025 can't be defeated with a simple impeachment, it can't be broken with voting out some major faces like the pres or vp... This isn't something we "return to normal" over.

Regardless of the ending to this fiasco, this entire system is getting a re-write as was anticipated by the founding fathers...right now you folks are deciding who gets to hold the pen.

Thanks to @Taste-T-Krumpetz on reddit and many others saying individual protests are not enough and for pushing us to think further. Many folks are seeing the necessity of more impactful and sustained action, including and beyond street protest, and more sustained economic disruption.

It's also really important to disrupt all business as usual. Every day that goes by where we function like it is business as usual, going to work and shutting up while we're there, is normalizing this in our bodies, hearts and minds.

And, since they're flooding the zone, we can't all act on every single thing that pops up on the regime's timing. We have to be strategic and already in action. We know exactly what they're doing and what they're aiming for, so, we don't need to wait for them to do it before we act. Plus, they've already done enough that there are plenty of places to start.

So. I have been thinking along the following principles as far as guiding action:

1. No business as usual (economic disruption through boycotts / stopping spending, visibility, protest, vigils, sit ins, slow downs, stoppages, disrupting the systems that feed the regime's power in any way and making asks and demands that weaken the pillars of power.)
2. Building movements (Ongoing, cross-sector, based in class struggle and mutual aid. Weaken the pillars of power by reducing people's reliance on it and strengthening the people's reliance on each other. Connect with one another. Everything you do, invite at least one person to do it with you.)
3. Starting and acting from where you are (Your current roles and positions in the social order and what is important to you. For example, I am a white person, a higher ed instructor, adjunct laborer, union member, student debt holder, parent, caregiver for someone with a disability, live in low income housing, neighbor to many immigrants, etc. Any / all of these can be places I start and focus on and build from, and notice the connections between. Action is available to everyone, all the time.)
4. Our work as our power (And work as widely understood and including all forms of unpaid labor / social reproduction. Make our work benefit the people, democracy, pressure our institutions and workplaces, build workplace power, and take away any support we can from the regime in our work.)
5. Everyday / Every day action (Again, action is available to everyone all the time. Commit to acting every day, even in everyday ways.)

For me, as an adjunct professor, currently teaching online, I realized I have a lot of freedom about when and where I work. And, especially since Covid started, many other professors do as well. What is to stop us from starting to build power with daily or weekly "work-ins" at strategic locations, to bring visibility to the issues that affect our students and us and everyone in higher ed or education more broadly. This could be City Hall, courts, ICE buildings, etc. There could be one for each city. These could be a whole day with a clear schedule and people could come and go as they needed. There could be things like teach-ins, reading groups, work-ins, demonstration, dance parties, etc. In addition to building power and visibility in resisting the Trump regime, these could be access points for building power and organizing about workplace issues like bargaining and the budget, and cross-organizing across workplaces and sectors, taking further collection action, sharing calls to action, etc. Additionally, students could be invited so we could build different, new relationships of solidarity with our students. This also helps us build organizing power towards larger actions like work stoppages and strikes and also has the potential to bring media attention. This could provide us an opportunity to connect different things that are under attack by the Trump regime (trans rights, dept. of education, student debt, immigrant rights / deportations, , by explaining how all of these issues connect and impact students and our communities.

I'll also direct folks to the Repository of 50501 Related Resources (https://50501.chat/post/23757)

Since we want to do a general strike, shouldn't we call for unions to be made? Is there some resources to join or form a union in your workplace? (I will add resources to my list.)

I’m going to Washington D.C. on April 5th with my Dad. My mom has been freaking out because she’s convinced I’ll get abducted off the street and Trump will send me to El Salvador. I believe this is very unlikely and I’m going to D.C. anyways. Though I feel really bad freaking my mom out.

Edit: I am white. I’m not worried about being abducted. I just feel bad my mom is freaking out, and I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with family members that didn’t want them to protest.

Just heard the news from Parnas on substack

Livestream: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP82KuMgT/

Together, we can stop this but we MUST be united. We all have a role to play in this and together, all of our efforts build into something massive. Even the tiniest effort makes a difference when it's all of us.

1. Everyone needs to be getting on Lemmy and Bluesky TODAY. 50501 has a mirrored instance of this subreddit on Lemmy. Don't be discouraged by the lack of people there, we need to build it up. I suggest using new usernames there. If you're not on Signal, get on there too. See this mod post for signing up to the Lemmy instance:

https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1j5f967/platform_announcement_50501_lemmy/

2. Anytime a political leader takes a stand, CALL THEM and show support. They need to know the people have their back. It's easy for this admin to gaslight us and our leaders so we need to validate each other.

3. Build local communities. Make connections at town halls, rallies and protests. Add people on Signal. Go to coffee house meetings. Academic professors have been speaking to people in various coffee houses in NY, let's get this movement across the country. Support academic speakers by coming out to listen to them speak, bring a donation.

4. Share evidence of our marches so other Americans see them. Our national marches are dependent on media attention. Since the media has been compromised, it's up to us to be our own press. Additionally, share evidence of good news and progress because this encourages us to unite and keep going.

5. They are trying to make us afraid but there are more of us than them. 99% is more than 1%. They are trying to "flood the zone", which is an authoritarian tactic used to make us feel overwhelmed with all the constant bullshit and like we can't do anything to stop this. It's easy to be afraid now. But if people don't stop this now and they gain total control, it becomes infinitely harder to stop and we will all be in a position where we wish we had acted. Don't let it get to that point.

6. Lawyers have been saying over and over again they are working diligently but they need the people in the streets keeping up the pressure. They've been calling for sustained protests. This is a fight for our democracy. 4 hours on a Saturday isn't going to cut it. This means we need either a protest where 3.5% of the population is camping out with a large amount of the population financially supporting them or protests where people are out there in shifts, ideally 3.5% of the population.

I'm not a particularly patriotic person but this stupid shit has drawn it out of me and I know other people feel that way too. Fighting for freedom is an American ideology; it's in our history, our media and our people. It's not just going to go away.

I live ~30 minutes outside DC and am planning on attending the protest on April 5. I have a 3yo and 5yo and would like to bring them, but I'm a bit nervous that might be a bad idea.

Anyone here involved in planning or know more details that can give me some advice on how kid-friendly the event might be?

For context, I've been attending political protests since my first in 2003 (against the invasion of Iraq....man do I feel old). I've been to some huge, heavily marketed events like the Women's March in 2017 or the various Marches for Science which I felt would be perfectly kid-friendly. I've also been to some heavily marketed events (a lot in 2020) which I absolutely would NOT want to bring a small child to.

Obviously, if I bring my kids I'm not going to be getting into much more than holding a sign and sticking to the less rowdy parts of the crowd. If things look like it's heating up a bit, my family and I will be out right away. But if this event seems like it might not have a great vibe for kids, I might think about taking them to a smaller event in Frederick or Annapolis instead.

I want to potentially start an archive, if there isn't one. I need a place to keep up with the evidence of the regime, because there is a lot of bullshit they are doing and we need to organize our evidence to show to people the ugly side of the Trump regime. Turnout, protests, informal videos, footage, evidence articles, anything related. If you need to upload videos, use catbox.moe.

A video has emerged of the arrest of a Turkish Tuft University graduate, showing her argue briefly with the men in hoodies and black jackets before being taken away.

Tufts University has confirmed that the person is one of their graduates, and that her lawyer has not managed to get in touch with her.

Statement of Tufts University on Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3llayvzabtk23

Via @[email protected] on Mastodon: https://infosec.exchange/@JessTheUnstill/114230118930979696

We know our authoritative govt officials are using Signal to avoid official channels that document conversations.

Signal's also a non-profit with a board of people who seem pro human rights https://signalfoundation.org/en/

Can we can ask Signal for help to:

block government officials from using signal

release conversations that promote authoritarianism (though it may be impossible to decrypt)

something else?

But also, what's an actionable outcome of this.

If (1), they will find another app. If (2), leak to media to publish? but there's no law enforcement anymore.

This may be grasping at straws, but is there something productive we can do here?