this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2026
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Ok I get the joke but we have to stay peaceful in our protesting. Rioting is what they want. It gives them the excuse to launch full on martial law. Don’t give them the excuse
They're gonna do that regardless, might as well get some bricks in
Peaceful protest is the only way to get this done. Do you not understand that you’d be giving them exactly what they want?
I'm saying that they don't need us to start the violence, it's already happening. They've already got what they want.
Yeah but have you seen how public sentiment has shifted thanks to the heroic protesting from the people of Minneapolis? They have managed to keep it peaceful and they’ve gotten the broad support of the country and ICE is being forced to pull out. If they had started rioting the government would’ve used it as the excuse to ramp up and assert control over the chaos. They WANTED people to riot. Don’t take the bait! Don’t cede them all the power. This is a battle for the support of the people
Minneapolis has lasted a lot longer and gotten more people killed than Portland. The real take is: you need both. MLK Jr. gets no traction without Malcolm X.
There were far more ICE agents deployed in Minneapolis than there were in Portland. Why was the image of the self immolating monk so powerful in protest to the Vietnam war? Malcom X’s ideology actually softened over the years before he was killed, he even saw that all out violence is not the answer. Peaceful protest is the only way this ends well for any of us
Peaceful protest as a whole solution is how it ends well for the upper class.
What are you talking about? The most successful movements in the last hundred years were peaceful protests. Mandela, Ghandi, MLK, were they just trying to appease the upper class??
Completely discounting the fact that all the socialist revolutions were kneecapped by US hegemony, yes that's exactly what I'm saying. They begged the ruling class for privileges, that we are now seeing dismantled, rather than fighting for actual rights that couldn't be taken by anyone. In doing so, they co-opted broader movements that would have seen more permanent change. This is a common tactic, any time a groundswell of support comes for a leftist movement, liberals come along to make sure it doesn't have any real teeth.
You cannot deny that Ghandi was effective in ending British oppression in India and that Mandela was effective in ending apartheid in South Africa and that MLK was effective in winning civil rights in the US through means of nonviolent civil disobedience. It’s like you’re arguing that if you’re not being violent then you’re doing nothing. Our rights have whittled away over the last 50 years because the masses have been complacent and allowed it to happen. That has nothing to do with violence or nonviolence even. It has to do with people being apathetic. Now that things are coming to a head we stand to gain more support from the masses through non violent civil disobedience. Just because you are not throwing bricks does not mean you aren’t stopping the powerful from doing as they please
MLK was closer to Malcom X's position than Malcolm X was to MLK's position at time of death.
King’s commitment to nonviolence never wavered. He truly believed in peaceful disobedience. He became disillusioned with gradually progressivism but that’s not the same thing at all. Of course Malcom X still rejected nonviolence but his philosophy is a dead end and it was already falling apart in his lifetime
Aaron Bushnell
they don't need the excuse
It’s a lot easier for them to get away with it if people are rioting. Peaceful protest creates more energy from the masses
If they don't get the riot they want, they'll just stage one with paid actors and instigators planted in the crowd. Or they'll just skip the whole thing and post some AI bullshit as 'proof' of the riots.
Remaining peaceful at all costs gains us nothing.
We still have to get out and take to the streets, we have to be disobedient, but we cannot turn violent. You’re ceding them the power that there’s no point if they’ll do what the want anyway, but the reality is that if we keep sustained peaceful protest we’ll get too much support from the rest of the country for them to continue. If we turn violent the “nonpolitical folk” will be able to keep their heads in the sand longer
That's just it, though. It doesn't have to be us that turns violent. It just has to look like us. And these fascists are very much willing and capable of doing false flag operations to 'justify' everything they want to do. They'll plant some of their people in the crowd, commit violence, and then flood the media with endlessly repeated pictures and video of that violence. (Or they'll make some bullshit AI video of 'leftist violence' and skip the extra steps.) And the "nonpolitical folk" you're trying to court will eat that shit up, breakfast lunch and dinner, without the slightest hint of critical thought.
You can complain about 'ceding them the power' all you want ... but they already do have the power to do this. And they'll do it. Guaranteed.
But that's okay. The struggle isn't over when they declare martial law and enact their brutal crackdowns. That's when the real struggle begins.
Let’s not give it to them freely though. If they’re going to lie, make them lie, don’t let it be the truth, it makes their position a lot weaker. There is still hope we can stop them. The fact they want ICE around the polls for intimidation means they’re worried about us voting, it’s not over yet. They don’t have all the power
"A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle,and the oppressed is often left no recourse but to use methods that mirror those of the oppressor. At a point, one can only fight fire with fire"
–Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
We won’t get the support we need if we go out there and start setting things on fire. Most of the country doesn’t even know what’s happening right now. We have to get them on our side. Don’t have too much faith in the people to do the right thing. We have to convince them first
What are you even arguing in this quote? People are peacefully protesting now. If the violence against peaceful protest continues to escalate then tactics will need to shift to resist that.
I am arguing that I don’t think it’s a good idea for people to go out and start violent riots right now
So we peacefully protest the concentration camps?
Yes unfortunately that is the reality. You have to remember how little awareness the average American has. If we start acting violently that’s all they’ll see, but if we stay non-violent in our civil disobedience it’s a lot harder for them to dismiss us.
I can't tell what you think my point is. I don't think Nelson Mandela was saying to just go do a bunch of violence. Its unfortunate but at some point people will start defending themselves instead of being killed. Its going to be called violence whether or not that defense is peaceful. I'm not advocating for violence, but were not the ones being violent!
In part I was responding to the thread as a whole, not just you so sorry for any confusion. You’re right, Mandela was saying that only after a certain point a few more extreme measures were required. I just don’t want people playing into the hand of the current administration. If they have to lie about what the protesters are doing then their position is a lot weaker than it would be telling the truth. Yes they’ll try and spin the narrative, but we’ve got a better shot not freely giving it to them
Bruh, the point of excuses is long past. We have people being kidnapped and murdered on our fucking streets by government thugs who receive not even so much as an investigation.
Violence is, and has always been, a part of protesting. Protests without violence are easier to dismiss. This doesn't mean that violent protest is the only way, nor does it even mean most protests must end up violent, but as Dr. King said, "A riot is the language of the unheard."
Sometimes, you have you make them listen.
You are right! We ARE long past the point of excuses. We NEED TO PROTEST. The people still haven’t taken to the street in mass though. The point is we make it harder to convince more and more people to join in and give their support if we turn violent. We have to win the hearts and minds of an apathetic population that has allowed this to happen in the first place. We gain nothing but more justification from the government to shut us down if we turn to rioting