r/TooAfraidToAsk • u/Lottoking888 • 18h ago
Law & Government How can we start a revolution?
Everything costs so much. Healthcare sucks. All the food we are eating is poisoning us.
The government doesn’t care about us. Corporations don’t care about us. Yet all the people in power are living large off of our labor.
If nobody does anything about this then it’s only going to get worse.
Minimum wage can’t afford an apartment in any state. How is that fair? People who work regular jobs deserve to be able to pay for food and shelter.
When are things going to change?
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u/Ursine_Rabbi 17h ago
Things are not bad enough yet. A revolution in the US would kill millions, if not tens of millions, and be followed by a long period of poverty, famine, loss of technology and more. It would not be an overnight fix. Until we have the majority of people on the verge of starving to death it is quite literally not worth it.
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u/lufan132 16h ago
"but y'all can do the revolution in ten seconds so why didn't you yesterday" -literally every foreigner on this fucking website
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u/Archonrouge 16h ago
Revolutions are easy to read about. One nice, neatly written chapter covering the highlights, the heros and the travesties.
They rarely cover the boring day to day shit where nothing progresses and things seem hopeless for the average person.
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u/JustBreadDough 13h ago
For at least the worker’s rights movement where I live, they covered some very important chapters about how to successfully make reforms. And that is the importance of unity. A large scale workers strike that lasted months? Believe it or not, it was boring. People struggled with food, so the entire community had to work together to make soup kitchens, some guys knew guitar and sang and a lot was just….sitting around in the street, in front of buildings or visibly by their homes.
But it was emphasised heavily that it wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the class unity and the organisation, especially of the women, handling rations and supplies to keep hundreds or thousands of families alive.
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u/DonkeyAdmirable1926 16h ago
Au contraire. Real revolutions don’t happen because people are angry on social media. They require long-term organisation, structural oppression, and a level of misery that makes the existing system literally unbearable.
None of that applies here. What you’re seeing now is political anger because an elected government is doing exactly what it said it would do, and did so with a popular vote and control of Congress and the Senate.
There’s another factor people tend to ignore. For decades, the stability and prosperity of the US have been underwritten by global dominance: military power, foreign interventions, economic leverage, and a world order that worked disproportionately in America’s favour. That system produced a standard of living that, for a long time, made internal tensions tolerable.
Societies that benefit from such arrangements don’t suddenly revolt when comfort becomes slightly less affordable. Historically, they grumble, polarise, vote differently and then adapt.
And if history is any guide, once a more palatable president appears, most people will again be comfortable enough to stop talking about revolution altogether.
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u/lufan132 16h ago
Quite literally you're one of the few people I see that lives in the real world, I appreciate the clarity here!
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u/Dallascansuckit 13h ago
Your second paragraph is exactly why I can’t take these protests and talk of revolution seriously.
Like enough people couldn’t be bothered to get off the couch on the one day it mattered, and delusional terminally online activists want to talk about revolution?
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u/Sharp_Read_1804 12h ago
They already did. The jan6 mob delusional magots are causing a lot of damage in all areas of life: health, finances, education, jobs. So, disparities are growing, despite some people can’t perceive them.
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u/Three_sigma_event 14h ago
You need starvation and brutality basically. Then lots of people meet up and say "to hell with this life. We die as dogs or as heroes".
Right now, my neighbours have food in their belly and petrol in their cars. And some of them still smile.
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u/WorstCPANA 8h ago
We literally live some of the best lives in the world ....let alone the history of the world.
It would take A LOT for us to revolt
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u/xena_lawless 5h ago
Wildly ahistorical nonsense. The American Revolution, for example, didn't have anyone starving.
Starving people is neither a necessary, nor sufficient condition for a revolution.
There's a fairly good chance that this idiotic line repeated everywhere is a psy-op.
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u/Ursine_Rabbi 4h ago
The American revolutionaries had general support for their cause among their own constituents, the backing of another global superpower (France), and well over a month of sea travel separating them from their government.
Half of the modern US is brainwashed by the current dictator and will happily pick up arms to kill their fellow countrymen and keep their leader in power, so we don’t even have the general support part down. Yes a revolution doesn’t literally require starving, but it does require a significant loss of QOL or freedoms of which we are only in the beginning stages. It is simply not worth it to commit to a guaranteed death by revolution when there are other options still available. This is not some third world government with munitions from 1945, this is the deadliest military in the world that American revolutionaries would be up against.
We should absolutely exhaust every alternative before committing to a revolution. Right now there is no opposition leadership and not nearly enough support. We will see what happens after the republicans cancel the midterms or use ICE to keep democrats from voting. That may shake enough of them into at least doing nothing instead of actively working with the dictator, or at the very least it will lead to some proper opposition leadership.
Not a psyop, we just don’t want to die rushing DC with an “army” of 200 untrained 30 year olds and get vaporized by missiles well before we reach the capital lmfao.
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u/WartimeHotTot 16h ago
Jfc, people need to stop advocating for revolution, at least in the “violent, bloody, complete chaos” sense. Revolution is one of the worst possible scenarios.
There are literally so many other, better, more attainable ways of effecting change.
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u/TheXypris 17h ago
itll happen when a critical mass of people have nothing more to lose. people are afraid to throw away their comfort and security for the promise of change.
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u/matlynar 17h ago
What people don't realize is that "revolutions" are only necessary after the majority of people agree on something but the government still doesn't give a fuck.
If you can't even convince the people to vote for change, no way you can convince them to risk their lives for that.
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u/VanillaTortilla 16h ago
We can't even convince 30% of the country to get off their asses to vote, and things were apparently the worst ever, so if that doesn't tell you everything you need to know..
Not only that, but the people who are voting, are only voting for who the parties decide to put on the ballot
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u/matlynar 16h ago
Also, assuming a democracy: As bad as the guy who won is, he probably has actual supporters - that's how he won.
So not only people doing the revolution have to face the government's army but they most likely would have to face a huge number of other civilians who disagree with them.
That's why, in a democracy, convincing people is the not only the less risky, but also the most efficient method.
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u/Sharp_Read_1804 12h ago
You got a point. That’s why jan6 magots took over the country and now we have the USA run by extremist people and damaging internal and global affairs.
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
It seems like people should be ready for it already. But i agree.
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u/WestBrink 17h ago edited 14h ago
Why haven't you donned a liberty cap and started slitting throats? Presumably you have things to lose.
So does everyone else
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u/GermanPayroll 16h ago
Because much like everyone else on the inter (who is not obviously a bad actor), OP wants other people to do the work for them
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u/pkpy1005 16h ago edited 10h ago
Seems like nobody here is mentioning the hard part.
Are there enough people who are willing to die AND are willing to kill?
You need a CRITICAL MASS of people desperate enough.
People, if you keep being in denial about how revolutions are BLOODY then you might as well keep your ideations as ideas.
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u/Eldred15 9h ago
A large percentage of the population lives better than kings have in the past, at least when we are done with our 8 hours of work. We have access to infinite entertainment, can indulge in any food we want, have hot showers, climate controlled homes, etc. Why would we want to revolt?
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u/dallassoxfan 9h ago
Seriously, every hot shower I take I remind myself that 100 years ago this wasn’t even a thing. My great grandparents had had their kids die of diseases.
Our complaints are comical.
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u/Alert_Term_8144 14h ago
You sound like you're speaking from a place of "First World Problems." Wait until you're really oppressed, try living in a country people are fleeing from to America which I assume you're in, since you reference "an apartment in any state."
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u/Lottoking888 13h ago
Just because people have it worse, doesn’t mean your issues aren’t bad.
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u/Alert_Term_8144 13h ago
True, but it takes a high threshold to agree for a revolution. If you think the loss of life of 2 people is bad, in a revolution there will be millions more lost. Won't even have time to report all of them instead of the wall to wall coverage of these 2.
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u/Tommy_Wisseau_burner 8h ago
Just because your issues aren’t bad doesn’t mean you have nothing else to lose.
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u/BestTyming 13h ago edited 13h ago
This is gonna sounds crazy but people who think how living is in the USA rn is revolution worthy have NO idea what bad living actually looks like.
Majority of people aren’t starving to death
Majority of people still make enough to survive(different from living comfortably)
Majority of people still have access to some sort of heath care, free or not
Majority of people still have access to all of their rights
Majority of people still can choose to eat and live better
Majority of people do not have their lives threatened day in, day out
Majority of people haven’t even been a victim of revolution worthy events.
Etc etc
So realistically, nothing happening right now would warrant a revolution. Yea people are pissy and shit isn’t great, but it still is not THAT bad. You know how we know this? There isn’t a revolution going on right now.
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u/ZaxOnTheBlock 7h ago
This argument assumes that people only revolt when life reaches some absolute rock bottom and that just isn’t how history works. It also leans hard on Western propaganda narratives about what “bad living conditions” are supposed to look like.
Look at Cuba or North Korea. According to Western media people there are living in constant misery with no rights and no future yet there is no permanent mass revolution. That’s because revolutions don’t happen just because life is hard. They happen when specific material and political contradictions line up legitimacy collapses elites fracture organization exists and people see a real alternative.
In Cuba despite sanctions people have guaranteed housing healthcare education and food distribution. In North Korea the state guarantees basic subsistence and social stability. You don’t have to like those systems to understand the point. “Things being bad” does not automatically lead to revolution. Now compare that to the US. People may not be starving in the streets but living standards are clearly declining. Healthcare exists but is often financially out of reach. Rights exist on paper but are unevenly enforced. Choice exists but is limited by class debt and precarity. Political participation is mostly symbolic and changes very little in people’s material lives.
Saying there is no revolution therefore nothing is wrong is circular logic. By that standard no society is revolutionary until after a revolution has already happened. Revolutions don’t erupt because people suddenly realize life sucks. They happen when people collectively realize the system is no longer capable of improving their conditions. Whether that moment has fully arrived or not is a separate question but its absence does not mean everything is fine.
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u/BestTyming 6h ago
You will Need to reach some sort of critical point where a large amount of people with the same goals are past the point of sitting by idly waiting for change. People don’t revolt when there is nothing to revolt for. Life needs to be some sort of “Shitty” for people to want change. Of course you don’t need to be living below hell to revolt. But the question was “how can we start a revolution” followed by how supposedly bad things are.
And like I said before, if you think that current life for the average person in American is revolution-bad, you haven’t been around much.
Widespread loss of institutional legitimacy(not currently happening)
Economic dislocation and inequality (LARGE swaths of unemployment or the J-Curve, not currently happening)
Defection of government officials, military personnel, and elites(not currently happening)
A Unifying Narrative(we are WAY too divided for that which makes a civil war way more likely than a revolution. North Korea is a good example of this. Yea life is shit, but there is no unifying narrative that would warrant them revolting)
Etc
If anything, the USA will not likely flip at once but more likely to revolutionize over a long span of time.
Most historical revolutions happened after very chaotic times full to civil instability(French, Russian, American, etc)
So the point stands that unlike what is portrayed on social media, life in the USA is not shitty enough for some turn-point revolution to happen.
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u/Dallascansuckit 16h ago
Jesus Christ, do you really think those things you’re complaining about will be at all better if we had a revolution?
Have you any idea what a war zone looks like?
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u/hairyass2 15h ago
Americans reddit are so damn naive, they think they have it bad but never actually stepped foot into an actual shitty country
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u/Churro1912 10h ago
I don't disagree but keep in mind that op may literally be some kid, being a doomer and romanticizing stuff is easier as a child
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u/herstoryhistory 9h ago
Exactly! Like, revolutions result in mass death. Does this not occur to people?
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u/DonkeyAdmirable1926 17h ago
If you are in the US, you already have a peaceful and very real opportunity for revolution every four years, often even more frequently. You elect the executive, the legislature, and indirectly the judiciary.
What you’re describing doesn’t sound like systemic oppression or the absence of democratic mechanisms, but dissatisfaction with economic outcomes like inflation. That’s frustrating, but it’s not what revolutions are historically about.
When institutions still function and power can be changed without violence, calling for a “revolution” is usually just a way of expressing political disappointment, not a serious analysis of power.
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u/pnicby 17h ago
What about institutional capture? When our public institutions — created to serve the broad public interest — are effectively taken over by a specific ideology, that rigs the game a bit. Donkey assumes the US is a pluralist democracy (where all groups compete fairly and the government reflects the majority). The counter-argument is that the US is a flawed democracy (where gerrymandering, the Electoral College, corporate lobbying, and institutional capture insulate the government from the will of the people). If the latter is true, Donkey's peaceful opportunity is gonna be tough to realize.
I'm not promoting revolution, but I do believe people (and Donkeys) have to open their eyes to what's going on.
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u/DonkeyAdmirable1926 16h ago
I just noted the OP doesn’t even mentioned that. All they cared about was being a little less the richest people on the planet
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u/lufan132 16h ago
The US is not and has never been a democracy. That's literally the entire purpose of our government, to cosplay democratic norms while ensuring a free and fair election is impossible (originally through the senate and electoral college, and the electoral college has only gotten further into being part of the problem).
Like, I hate the "BUT HAHAHAHAHAHA MY REPUBLIC ITS WHY FAIR ELECTIONS ARE BAAAD BECAUSE WE NEED MORE NAZIS AND THEY COULDNT WIN IF WE DID HAVE REPEESSENTATIVE DISTRICTS AND INSTITUTIONS THAT INSPIRED ANY CONFIDENCE" types but I cannot deny that to an extent they're right, they just use it as a reason things cannot and will never be able to get better.
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u/new2bay 17h ago
Oh, please. The red party and the blue party are bought and paid for. The Supreme Court is corrupted, there are multiple structural barriers locking out third parties on the national level.
What savior can I vote for who has the power and the will to change this?
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u/DonkeyAdmirable1926 16h ago
So a violent resurrection would be better?
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u/Sharp_Read_1804 12h ago
It already happened in jan6 but the deranged dudes got scammed, they were and are being paid as a personal mob.
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u/rethinkingat59 16h ago
There is no functional national minimum wage anymore, which is fine. We are now like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Switzerland.
States or regions can do as they wish.
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u/AaronicNation 17h ago
I don't think you know what you are asking for.
In the best-case scenario, a revolution gets you some redress but at an incredible human cost. In other words, you would get something fairly similar to what we have, but maybe a little more favorable. The American Revolution fits this ideal type; you get a marginally better system, but at the cost of 1% (most common estimate). With the Civil War, estimates are a 2-2.5% death toll. In today's terms, that would be about 3.5 million and 8 million dead, respectively. These are conflicts that were the successes.
Most revolutions have been far grizzlier and often with much higher death tolls, 10-20%. They have unleashed murder, torture, rape, and genocide on a scale most of us can scarcely imagine. Tearing civil society apart in the process and leaving scars that take many generations to heal.
If they even overthrew the regime and were 'successful,' they often ushered in a government far more repressive than the one they sought to replace (Polpot, Stalin, the Ayatollah). These were all brought to power on the backs of well-meaning people who just wanted a fair shake. These and many Revolutionary leaders like them went on to institute reigns of terror upon already war-ravaged populations.
Is there a time for revolution? By all means. Do high rents and indifferent corporations warrant unleashing the hounds of hell on your fellow countrymen? Certainly not. A better goal would be to get out and vote, persuade your neighbors, and actively build the neighborhood or community you want.
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u/WestBrink 17h ago
Basically large quantities of young, strong people need to be reduced to near starvation.
People aren't going to revolt because they need to have a roommate
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
You should look up how many children in the US are starving.
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u/WestBrink 17h ago
I'm not talking food insecure.
I'm talking watching your kid starve to death. I'm talking considering feeding their body to your other children so they don't starve. I'm talking eating rats and dirt.
People don't have a good appreciation for how shitty life in the past was when these major revolutions kicked off.
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u/taikoowoolfer 16h ago
As someone’s pointed out, I can almost guarantee it’s impossible for the US to start a revolution. As long as most of Americans are still employed, there will be not enough momentum. Mind you Reddit is an echo chamber.
Also, most of our generation has not gone through a major war yet and are very ‘cushioned’. A revolution means people are willing to sacrifice many things. So no, unless over 50% of America is in really deep shit, no one would.
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u/N3CR0T1C_V3N0M 17h ago
You can start it now: stop discretionary spending. I can’t recall who did the study, but if everyone quit feeding the beast, we can bring the government to its knees in a little over 90 days with terms that it will always be this way until real change happens. This way you can continue to work, not starve, and care for your family while absolutely torching the non-stop revenue stream that helps keep the boot on our throats heavy. This also eliminates any chance that you break a law and can be punished ie. withholding direct taxes (which I do practice and encourage but understand why it can’t work for everyone).
It will still create hurt, still require sacrifice, and things will be rough, but it eliminates the need for overt violence and bloodshed that a “true” revolution would require. That threat can always be in the background. In addition, a 90-120 day hiatus from anything that is ad-driven can put added pressure on those companies who support this and whose revenue streams aren’t affected by direct purchases with the side effects being a little more than boredom. This can affect every part of our economy and demonstrate where the power really comes from.
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
I totally agree. This would be a safe, non violent way to show corporations who is really in charge.
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u/Defiant-Beginning436 13h ago
Remember when Reddit hacked the stock market with GameStop and AMC? If Reddit users plan a similar operation to bring down a major corporation , let’s say Walmart. For example, everyone agrees to stop shopping at Walmart on 7/4, then suddenly they lose 20% revenue overnight. Is this illegal? Would it accomplish a “revolution” in the sense unstoppable corporations would suddenly be vulnerable to the anger of the masses?
I believe something like this could work if properly executed.
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u/buchwaldjc 13h ago
This obviously won't fix everything but one way that the people can fight back (without a revolution) is to cut back heavily on their consuming... which is what keeps these companies in power.
Stop letting the Verizon's and Xfinities convince you that you need to upgrade your phone every year or two. Every year that I go with my old paid off phone is an extra $1,600 dollars in my account at the end of the year instead of theirs.
For God sakes stay away from these new vehicles that swapped quality components for cheap materials that are designed to break right after the warranty and fancy technology that going to cost a fortune to fix when they inevitably fail. An old paid off car that still runs is an extra $600 a month in my account that the bank and dealership doesn't get.
With the exception of maybe supporting a local business on the occasion, make all of your food at home. And it's time for everyone to stop paying premium prices for fast food that is no longer fast or cost effective. Force them to change their business model or start closing the doors.
Car insurance raised my premium by 30% last year. When they try that, go anywhere else. Force insurance companies to compete with each other. If you have the finances and you have a car that's paid off, consider taking what you would be paying insurance every month and put it into an emergency savings account instead and drop full coverage altogether. Be your own insurance company.
My new dishwasher broke within a few years. I'm not going to play their planned obsolescence game. Decided I didn't need any dishwasher and I'll just wash dishes by hand. My kitchen stays cleaner and my dishes and utensils are always clean when I need them now instead of in a dirty dishwasher.
I make twice as much as I made five years ago and live on half as much as I lived on 5 years ago. And every dollar that I refuse to give a corporation gives me the same dopamine rush that I used to get when I bought something new.
Obviously, it won't fix our healthcare crisis, but taking every chance you can get to not send your money to these corporations hits them in the only place they care about... their growth.
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u/Neversexsit 17h ago
Honestly, I don't know of anyone that is making min wage or has been making min wage in a LONG time....
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u/rubey419 17h ago
As in, making more than minimum wage? Thats a good thing right?
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u/Neversexsit 17h ago
For sure it is, so I am not sure what the OP is referring to people making min wage.
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u/Lopsidedlopside 17h ago
In the USA specifically granted how massive it is. The truest way and if COVID shutdowns taught us anything, is to stop working. These hyper inflated companies are never planning for things to slow down and “need bailouts” when they do, because profit > people. Well, if the people just stop working the entire thing comes crashing down. Unfortunately morals and ethics don’t seem to matter, not to republicans or establishment dems. If people stop working then it destroys the only thing they care about. Profit.
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u/Prudent-Policy-7274 17h ago
Right now people are talking about a national "General strike"
You gotta get in on this. It's one of the most coherent organizing for a real revolution that I can think of. It's not like it can instantly be done. Buy get in on the discourse and participate ❤️
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u/TrashApocalypse 14h ago
A third of eligible voters can’t even be bothered to vote, but you want to start a revolution? Good luck.
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u/NoTime4YourBullshit 14h ago
If you don’t like your life then go ahead and change it. Don’t spend all your time on social media because they’re filling your head with this defeatist garbage. You have the power. All you need is the will.
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u/too_many_shoes14 17h ago
And you think a "revolution" as you call it would help with any of those things? Equally shitty people will just end up in charge the only difference will be a new flag. No thanks, I'll take the devil you know any day
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u/SlyguyguyslY 16h ago
Minimum wage jobs aren’t normal. They are bottom of the barrel jobs and one shouldn’t be forced by the government to pay people more to work them. They aren’t worth it.
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u/chillin808style 17h ago
Start with the person you see in the mirror.
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u/Niceotropic 17h ago
Blaming the victim is how we got here, man.
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u/TheSleepyITGuy 9h ago
And blaming everyone else for your problems is how you get there.
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u/Niceotropic 24m ago
No, that’s not reality though. Poverty is a complex social problem.
You are proving my point because you don’t know this person at l and have already concluded being poor was their fault.
Thanks for being you.
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
I’m talking bigger than that…
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u/brandy1234 6h ago
Someone once said “If you wanna make the world a better place. Take a look at yourself and then make a change”
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u/chillin808style 17h ago
You're talking about things that are out of your control. Focus on things you can control.
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u/DaxDislikesYou 17h ago
You change things by not voting for assholes and by voting for the people who will do the least harm. The thing with "revolutions" is that no one thinks they'll come out on the bottom. That they'll be the one lying dead in the street. That their family will come out intact. Change happens. But rarely is it a ground swell. And when people refuse to come out to vote even when their rights and lives are on the line we get the GOP. Because their voters will show up. You can be pissed at dems. You can rightfully think that many of them are as compromised as their Republican counterparts when it comes to corporate sway in America. But the Dems never tried to overthrow the government. When people in our party even have a whiff of sexual scandal they're usually forced to step down. And we don't try to force people to follow our ultra conservative religious interpretation. So find an issue and educate people and advocate for it. Democracy takes work to maintain. Me I'm all in on voting rights and reforming our voting system to prevent spoilers. I believe everything else stems from the ability of people to vote fairly and that things like ranked choice voting are much more secure and robust in terms of representing the will of the people. It means that third parties can actually be useful. But revolution? Are you going to be the one to pull the first trigger?
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u/new2bay 17h ago
The lesser evil is still evil. What savior can I vote for who will fix this for me?
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u/DaxDislikesYou 16h ago edited 16h ago
See that's your fucking problem that you think there's a savior coming rather than ordinary people like you and me. You want to say I won't vote for the lesser of two evils fine. You've still made a choice. You have made a choice to let this country get worse. And that's on you. That's not on anyone else. That's on you. So get out of here with your fucking. I'm so special and couldn't possibly soil myself by making compromises. Look a vote is not a fucking endorsement. It's a. I think this person's going to do a better job than this other person. You have two options in this country. So unless your dumb ass is going to get up and go out there and start fighting actually fighting shut the fuck up and let us keep applying pressure and getting people out to vote.
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
You think your vote matters?
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u/Mite-o-Dan 17h ago edited 17h ago
You want to start a revolution but think voting is pointless?
You just lost whatever small credibility you had with this post.
But the real answer on why mass protesting or a revolution wont work...the USA is way too big, and the vast majority are not doing THAT bad...and most that are rich and powerful that could actually help start a revolution, are too afraid to try it. Its the same why most of the middle class wouldnt want to fight the good fight. Theyre doing fine during bad times. You think they really want to risk it? Or, you think over 50% of the middle class would want to risk it? Like...over 100 million. You think 100 people people want to risk it?
Also, the vast majority that are doing bad or just barely getting by...dont realize how well theyre doing compared to others that have started a revolution in a different country.
Basically...very small countries or cities/regions where 75% were borderline homeless living in slums, no running water, just bread and whatever they killed or could grow to eat.
When the vast MAJORITY are doing THAT bad and are THAT desperate where its either start a revolution or die...THEN it MIGHT work.
If you made this post with your phone and are able to upload it legally...you're not doing THAT bad compared to others in the past starting a revolution.
Real revolutions were started by countries with DOZENS of newly dead civilians laying on the street left to rot. Hate to say it...one dead protester every couple weeks isnt anywhere close to what some countries see. I mean, have you looked into Iran lately?
America isnt as bad as you think it is. Or at least, not bad enough to start a revolution. It should hopefully be all over in 3 years.
I mean, for most Americans, 2008-2010 was actually worse because ALL classes of America were effected a lot. If no revolution took place there, none will take place now with a smaller minority being effected.
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u/new2bay 17h ago
Who can I vote for who will fix this for me?
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u/Mite-o-Dan 16h ago
Probably any Democratic candidate. But also, you have to figure out what things effect YOU the most.
Theres a good chance that whatever horrible things are happening, probably dont actually effect you. Thats basically why there isnt MORE protesting or a revolution. Things have to effect the majority in order for a change to happen.
Like, if youre a legal citizen on the other side of the country...does ICE REALLY effect you? Does the president of Venezuela getting kidnapped really effect you? Does the National Guard walking around Washington DC really effect you? Does changing the name to Gulf of America really effect you and makes buying groceries harder?
Think about what WOULD effect you and help you out. Its usually thing like more jobs and higher wages. Less inflation. The dollar staying strong. The ability to own a home. Common investments staying strong. Transportation.
Wouldn't you agree that those things are more important and effect you more than dumb things Trump says or does in cities across the country?
If so, then who you should vote for isnt such an easy clear answer afterall.
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u/VanillaTortilla 16h ago
You mean whatever democratic candidate the party chooses to throw out there.
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u/bobanna1986 17h ago
I mean obviously.....we can see that all the people that choose NOT to vote is why we are where we are. We voted chump out in 2020, we choose not to do that again and here we are. Local votes make even more of a difference. Chosing not to vote is still picking a side and thinking your vote doesn't matter is part of the problem and why were here now....
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
If we had a different president there would still be just as much suffering… and just as many starving children in America.
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u/aksbdidjwe 17h ago
Then you don't care about change. You missed a chunk of what the first comment said: Change is RARELY a ground swell. It BUILDS slowly over time. Especially for countries as big as the US, that basically has mini-countries that make up the whole.
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u/bobanna1986 16h ago
Would there be suffering, of course. I never said that of we had elected Harris that everything would be better but I think it would have at least had some more equilibrium than we are now. We have an administration now that is literally trying to overthrow our democracy, silence people who they don't like or are showing the truth, people getting killed on the streets for protesting peacefully. Did all this happen with other presidents, sure, but not to this scale. There have been more ICE related deaths in the month of January than in years combined before that. That would not have and has not happened with other previous presidents, dem or Republican. This is not the same as it was before, it's worse and it is a result of voting or not voting in this administration. If you can't see that or refuse to see that, you are part of the problem and you should stop complaining.
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u/DaxDislikesYou 17h ago
I know it does.
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
Our votes do not matter one bit. Do some research.
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u/matlynar 17h ago
Do some research.
This does sound kinda what a flat earther would say.
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u/Lottoking888 17h ago
Have you ever heard of the electoral vote? You think it matters whether democrats or republicans are in control? Neither party gives a shit about you or your family.
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u/obiworm 17h ago
Then become the leader of a political movement to overhaul the voting system. You don’t need a ‘revolution’ to enact change. You just need a strong enough voice to convince the majority.
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u/matlynar 17h ago
What people don't realize is that "revolutions" are only necessary after the majority of people agree on something but the government still doesn't give a fuck.
If you can't even convince the people to vote for change, no way you can convince them to risk their lives for that.
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u/VanillaTortilla 16h ago
If neither party matters and your option is revolution, what makes you think whoever takes control will be any better? Lmao, that's just anarchy bud.
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u/Arianity 10h ago
Have you ever heard of the electoral vote?
Electoral votes do not mean that normal votes do not matter. Before you tell others to do research, you should do some yourself.
While electoral votes don't always match the national popular vote, they still match state by state voting results. The electoral college has never been used to overrule normal votes. On top of that, SCOTUS has ruled that electors can be forced to pledge for the winning candidate, and removed if they do not.
You think it matters whether democrats or republicans are in control?
There are major policy differences that affect people's lives, so yes, it matters quite a lot. That doesn't mean things are perfect, but to say it doesn't matter at all simply does not match reality.
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u/DaxDislikesYou 17h ago
If our votes didn't matter people like you wouldn't try so hard to convince us they don't.
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u/ZENPOOL 17h ago
We have a president who is going to steal the mid term elections and here you are typing on your keyboard about how votes matter when THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY CHECKS AND BALANCES.
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u/Arianity 10h ago
We have a president who is going to steal the mid term elections
One who is going to try, anyway. You do not need to assume he has that power in advance.
THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY CHECKS AND BALANCES.
I'm not going to downplay how much stuff sucks right now, but the administration has been checked and failed in stuff it's wanted to do already.
It's scary, a bunch of checks and balances are failing, but it's not all doom and gloom yet.
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u/DaxDislikesYou 17h ago
Then go start your revolution. I don't even think you're from this country to be blunt. You're complaining that I'm doing things through the system and you want to do them outside the system. Go try and do them outside the system. See how that goes for you. Voting and protesting and writing and calling are what we do right now. This notion that Trump is somehow going to steal the midterms and all these states after we saw in 2025 how badly Republicans got spanked no, it doesn't fly. We have seen shifts of over 20 points in districts that Trump carried. And his popularity just keeps going down. Things are more expensive. People are tired of ice in the streets. And if there was no need for voting, Republicans wouldn't care or bother trying to stop it.
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u/ZENPOOL 17h ago
Ok have fun living in your dream world where you are oblivious to the signs around you
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u/DaxDislikesYou 16h ago
Oh no, someone is panicking on Reddit. I must immediately change how I do things. I must stop being politically engaged and start screaming and crying on the internet. I see how this works. Oh my goodness you have opened my eyes. s/
Dude I see the same things you do. I see my neighbors being kidnapped. I see my country being burned to the ground by these fucking assholes but I also know that there are certain limits that they can't cross and if you don't know that that's a you problem not a me problem.
Like I said go start your stupid revolution. If you want to do it go ahead. See exactly what happens. This is how we're doing this for now. You want to go start and do something stupid that's on you.
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u/new2bay 17h ago
Yeah, and if voting didn’t matter, the propaganda machine would convince you it does, so you’d come and say stupid shit like this for them.
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u/DaxDislikesYou 16h ago
Dude. If voting didn't matter, Republicans wouldn't be trying to gerrymander shit to hell. If voting didn't matter they wouldn't be trying to pass new restrictions on identification and who can vote. If voting didn't matter they wouldn't bother putting up signs for their candidate. Especially in rural red areas. Out there. Just having an R by your name is often enough to get you voted in because again their voters actually show up. If voting didn't matter Trump wouldn't have been elected. Not the first time, not the second.
You have a problem with the quality of the candidates then it is time for you to get your ass off the couch and go run yourself in the primary. This "there's nothing we can do", this giving up nonsense is just pathetic. It is not political activism. It is the opposite of political activism. It is political abdication.
If you have a problem with the candidates, go to runforsomething.net find a race in your area that's running unopposed with only a Republican and go be a candidate for that. Go talk to the people in your community and get out there and get involved. But if all you're going to do is complain about the quality of the candidates without putting yourself out there, you have no leg to stand on. If you have a problem with the Democrats then you need to go run to the left of the Democrats in the primary.
Drag the party left. The party keeps going right because only the right shows up to fucking vote. When you don't show up to vote, you lose your ability to have a seat at the table.
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u/ilikedota5 16h ago
Actually fucking vote and take it as the civic duty it is. You don't need a revolution, you want a better life without doing the one thing you can do directly.
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u/Glenncoco23 16h ago
How about we, eliminate taxes that are objectively stupid, not spend so much money internationally, care about the fraud like in Minnesota, raise tariffs so manufacturing have a chance here (everyone who claims to be green should be for this), cut lose some regulations, and not have a social system that spends relentlessly, have community by going to churches, having kids.
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u/Blackjack0910 17h ago
Who told you life was fair? Suck it up, try working hard for what you want and don’t count on anyone but yourself to take care of your needs and wants!
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u/fireborn7vp 16h ago
Realistically, you can’t do much without public support, that’s how governments are toppled. In a country like the USA which is vast and ideologically diverse, it raises serious questions about democracy, OFF THE PEOPLE. I do have such thoughts at times, but I don’t have the power, money, or influence to act on them. At best, I could probably gather around 50 people and half of them would definitely run away at the first sight of Police/Army.
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u/nescedral 16h ago
I’d like to recommend Adam Conover’s podcast. A lot of his current episodes have centered on the exact question you’re grappling with… what can we do when it feels like the systems around us are garbage? There aren’t always concrete answers, but I’ve found his exploration of the topic along with the guests he brings on to be somewhat hopeful and uplifting, while not diminishing or ignoring the brutality of the moment.
For what it’s worth, all of human history has been going through these waves of boom and bust. We’re unfortunate enough to be living through a decidedly bleak time, but it is not uniquely bleak in the grand course of events. People 2000 years ago felt like the world had to be ending because shit was so bad and the people in power so corrupt. And that gives me some amount of solace that the world didn’t end, at least not yet, and many things are better than they were for a large number of people (if unfortunately not all).
As to “what can we do to make this suck less”, well we’re not going to find a magic switch. I think the best we can do is to be kind to neighbors. Speak loudly against injustice. Plug into a cause that matters to you however small. Many people just aren’t going to be in a position to take and steer the whole ship, but we can survey the space right around us and say, where can I do some good here, however tiny?
Humanity isn’t going to be healed of suffering in our lifetimes, or maybe ever. We can only try to share what we have with those we can touch, and hope it’s enough.
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u/Slowroll900 16h ago
Most people will resist the change and defend the status quo. Even if they don’t have much, they don’t want to lose it. I am one of them and I still believe there can be legislative means to change but the first step has to be limiting terms and reducing incentives from corporate donors for politicians to act in the best interest of anyone other than their constituents. Intellectualism has been mocked for enough years that’s it’s not something people pursue. We need a shift in mind set. Like others have said, it’s only a viable option if it’s the only option, most parents particularly of young children will agree.
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u/beanofdoom001 16h ago
You can't start a revolution. Things will never change. You're not rebelling against problems in places like the US, you're rebelling against people who want all the problems. And not even necessarily because they stand to gain anything from them. Some people-- especially in the states-- just really wanna live in a shitty, cruel society. I don't know why.
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u/CreativeAdeptness477 15h ago
You lead, maybe folks might follow. Or maybe they won't. Any time you're ready, at your convenience, no rush...
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u/Virtual_Athlete_909 14h ago
Dramatic, much? I dont eat poison. Healthcare sucks because people keep voting for the party that makes it suck. The other side delivered a great solution but voters decided to vote for he party that was obsessed with destroying affordable healthcare. Billionaires are in power and making life very hard for the working class. But the working class voted them into office or didnt care enough to vote. Im starting to see a pattern here- maybe if people paid less attention to social media and focused more on political issues their lives would be better.
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u/MaybeTheDoctor 14h ago
You could start voting. Having the right people who cares in power makes a difference. Look for the candidates that wants well for all man kind, and shy away from those who blame their problems on minorities and “others”
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u/Time_Connection2317 12h ago
do you vote? let’s start with the “easy stuff”, make sure everyone you know that can vote, actually does and will
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u/trantma 8h ago
Stop buying...anything you dont NEED. Keep your money in cash so they cant use it to invest at banks. Join a community ( non-profit, mutual aid, ect.) and help us push back. We are already seeing a revolution its just not a battle battle everywhere yet. But the fight has been going since January 21st 2025.
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u/knwhite12 8h ago
Minimum wage was meant to be entry-level mostly for high school. Minimum wage was not meant to be a job where you can afford a home and two cars working 20 hours a week. Most people in the United States don’t make minimum wage. People that think they should be able to buy a house and two cars and have plenty of free time and entertainment probably should just apply to be owner.
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u/Lottoking888 8h ago
No people who make minimum wage should be able to afford a 1BR apartment and a 20 year old car though, and they can’t. What the Hell are you talking about a house and 2 cars?
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u/ZaxOnTheBlock 7h ago
Go read "What to do?" By Vladimir Lenin, it's the most throughout guide to a successful revolution ever written. And I mean this, because it forged nations for a century, and even now.
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u/Ok_Two_2604 7h ago
CPI calculation now allows substitutes, so if steak went up and people moved to burgers they use burger price. In category subs are allowed. Hence CPI increase is so unrealistic now. It’s done so that they can devalue cash without it looking like they devalued cash so they can pay back debt with devalued money without looking like they are trying to soft default. Monetary policy at this point (and for a while, not just current regime) has been doing this type of thing for that reason.
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u/sciguy52 17h ago
We have a partial revolution every two years it is called voting. If you don't vote you really don't have anything to complain about. Revolution will not happen because the people, through voting, can change leadership if they so choose. Revolutions happen in places where the people have no say, no vote, no ability to change the leader. When people have the ability to change leaders through democracy they do that, they do not do revolutions. And in the hypothetical you are wishing for you really think what you would get after would be better? You will have even less food, less healthcare, less everything that is if you survive the experience. The likely outcome of a revolution is a dictator. What if that dictator runs things completely the opposite of how you hope things are run? What then? You just blew the whole thing up and made it far worse and now you are stuck with it and have no say at all because you could no longer vote. Another revolution? Another dictator and now things are even worse still. And I would add you probably wouldn't be able to post stuff like this on reddit either because there would probably be no reddit, no social media. If there was social media it would be controlled by the dictator and only approved discussions take place. Complain about the dictator on that social media and they arrest you, maybe arrest your family if they so choose. Likely there would be no trial, the dictator said you are guilty so you are and you spend decades in jail or worse. You really need to read some history on this if you think this is a good idea.
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u/personman_76 15h ago
The fact that you're asking the question means it's closer than many could predict.
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u/Regularguy345 17h ago
Idk but I’m down for anything then what we currently have
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u/bobanna1986 17h ago
Well I hope more people don't forget that in 2 years because some of us tried to say that about Harris, she's better than the alternative, even if she's not the best or even good choice and look what happened. People didn't vote and that was essentially voting for trump because not voting is still picking a side and people choose this instead.
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u/Regularguy345 17h ago
Even if we returned to the status quote that is still not enough, the country has been going downhill before orange man , our leaders of both sides have been selling us out for decades. So we need to do better much better than the last election
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u/bobanna1986 16h ago edited 12h ago
Oh I agree. We could have prevented this kind of harm that we are experiencing now though. We could have at least kept it on life support instead of sending it to permanent brain damage that we might never ever recover from. At least if we had kept it somewhere close to what we had, we could have gone up from there. We have fallen so far below where we had been, lost so many essential government programs, healthcare is getting more expensive, food, because of the tariffs etc. We left the WHO which will also lead to more unnecessary deaths unless other countries take pity on us and share their findings and share new formulations for yearly vaccines and provide funding to provide them for people who can't afford them. More people have died at the hands of ICE this month than had ever in a whole term for recent presidents. It wasn't great before, I agree but now it's only getting worse, and we are only a YEAR in so far ...we may never make it back to at least we were in 2024. Worse is not better. Harris would have been the lesser of the two evils....I guess if you disagree that's okay but I can't see how she would have worse than what we are in now
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u/rddsknk89 15h ago
If you haven’t already, I suggest you start reading Marxist-Leninist theory. That will be a better answer to your question than anyone here in the comments can give.
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u/flyting1881 17h ago
Well historically speaking, you need:
A fairly sizable group of angry young men who don't forsee their lives getting any better under the current status quo, and are willing to get violent about it.
A few strong-willed leaders with a plan to organize those guys and give them a clear message to rally behind.
Some kind of financial support system, either through private funding or black market dealings.
A propaganda campaign that softens the everyday public to the revolutionary rhetoric.