this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026
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Genuine question - what makes the No Kings protests ineffective (and not in a sense of "this won't overthrow the oligarchy" but in a sense of "this doesn't help at all"?)
They have no demands or consequences laid out if those demands are not met, they have no clearly outlined goals or mission. A 3 hour event every few months isn't inconveniencing any of the power structure or a threat to the status quo. Their ridiculously proposed 1 day general strike on May 1 will do nothing either as people will shift their purchases to another day. Anything other than a prolonged protest and general strike, with clear demands and goals, nothing will be accomplished.
It's a pressure release value to prevent an actual uprising
You know, I don't think you're right about that. Doing a one day general strike does a couple things. The first is just make it easier for people to protest. If no one is buying things anyway, why even show up for work? The second is to prepare people for what a longer general strike would be like. There will be things that you don't realize you buy without thinking. And it also challenges people to use what they already have or go without. And the third is that is still affects the numbers. If you don't buy it today like you were planning... You might not buy it tomorrow either. Maybe you forget. Maybe you find an alternative. Plans can be cancelled for that day or week because of the logistics.
But, why don't I just ask what you would rather happen instead? Because you post all over here and tantrum but you don't really want to reveal what you actually want.
That's a lot of maybes for situations that won't happen. What does happen is people will either buy what they need the day before, the day after or on the actual day. Most of them are not engaging in an act of protest but an act of socializing. To many this is treated like a back yard party and not means for change and the oligarchy prefers it that way. It's not a threat to their existence or harms profits.
Is socializing somehow counter or inhibitive to protesting? And are you basing this off firsthand experience or what's portrayed in the media?
I don't know, calling for a general strike on May 1 seems pretty big.
The fact they only happen a couple times a year for a single day and only on weekends makes them pretty damn ineffective.
I mean, being ineffective is the default. Something needs to be somehow exceptional to be effective (or we wouldn't need to do anything at all). It's like medicine; when someone suggests a treatment to a disease we expect them to prove that it works before we debate its usefulness. So in that vein, what kind of effect should we expect the sixth round of No Kings to have?
Same as every other round: getting people who are vocally against the situation together in one place so they can connect. The protest isn't the end goal, the protest is a networking opportunity.
Okay there are three problems with this:
It's not being sold as that; it's being sold as actual resistance against the Trump regime.
There's a fundamental limit on the effectiveness of this, since there's a limited number of people who are vocally against the situation and willing to do something about it. One would expect this limit to be reached by the fifth time, meaning the time is ripe for a change in strategy.
When are we going to see the effects of the last five rounds? For the most part the level of resistance has stayed the same for the last 9 or so months outside of maybe Minneapolis, and the determining factor was ICE presence more than anything else. There's just no evidence that No Kings has really done anything.
They are effective in hijacking and sheepdogging.
Make sure they can vent and sublimate their anger in a non-threathening way by having their Sunday walks with edgy signs.
And mostly that they do nothing else and wait only a few years when they can finally have their crushing revenge by voting for the next 'leftist' corporate dem.
Surely this time it will be different.
Says who? Your interpretation of it as such is your own business. And even if it were "sold" as such, that does not diminish the real value of networking.
Says who? Each event is a new opportunity for new people to join, it's a new opportunity for repeat attendees to meet even more of each other.
I personally know several people who have become more involved in various direct action groups as an immediate consequence of going to these rallies. Just because you personally aren't seeing the result doesn't mean it isn't happening.
Have you seen how people talk about these protests? Maybe there's a silent majority of people who know they're going to a glorified resistance-themed hangout, but then again maybe there's actually a yeti on Mars and we just haven't seen it yet.
Networking only has value if you know it's merely networking; it can never be a substitute for real work.
Like I said, there's a fundamental limit on the supply of new people.
Which they should be able to do in the direct action the first five rounds of No Kings have presumably gotten them started on.
What kind of direct action?
Sure, but it means there's not enough results.
Says who? Plenty of things work without people understanding their true nature.
There's zero evidence that we're anywhere even remotely close to that limit. Every one of these had been bigger than the previous one.
How about you start your own multi-million person resistance movement and start getting your own results, instead of griping about how No Kings isn't doing things the way you'd personally do them.
You seem so confident in your assessment of how things should be happening, surely you can whip up a proper direct action movement real quick, and then the No Kings participants will see how superior your movement is.
Let me know when the first event will be.