longer.blue

We are the crazy ones. Yes, and not in the romanticized, revolutionary way. We’ve normalized ineffective resistance. We go to marches, hold signs, chant for a few hours, go home, and feel like we “did something.” Meanwhile, the systems we oppose remain completely unthreatened. Why? Because we haven't put real leverage on the table. We settle for protest after protest. Protest without escalation becomes noise. The establishment has adapted to absorb these outcries like a sponge, without making concessions. Protests may raise awareness, but if they’re not backed by economic disruption or political consequences, the people in power wait them out. They’ve learned that they don’t need to respond. The pattern is: Protest happens, hashtags trend and nothing material changes. It’s ritualized outrage, a pressure valve, not a threat. What have they done to stop the destruction of democracy? Nothing significant. Gerrymandering persists. Voting rights are eroded. Wealth inequality worsens. Corporate capture of policy deepens. And what is our answer? A rally. Maybe a candlelight vigil. Maybe a petition. This is the definition of losing. We need stronger action… a STRIKE with a goal to meet. Now this is the pressure point. Strikes are disruptive. Strikes are economic weapons. Strikes make power bleed. They don’t want us talking about strikes because strikes make demands that can’t be ignored. Protest is speech. A strike is a consequence. It affects profit, productivity, and prestige. NO one is talking about strikes. WHY? Because: 1. Labor has been fragmented. Union power has been deliberately dismantled for decades. 2. Fear. People are terrified of losing jobs, healthcare, and homes. 3. Isolation. The culture of individualism has replaced solidarity. 4. Co-option. Corporate media frames any radical action as “extremist” or impractical. 5. Misdirection. We’re told to vote harder, protest louder, and never question the system’s legitimacy. But the truth is: without economic disruption, power has no reason to listen.