this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2025
841 points (99.1% liked)

Progressive Politics

2466 readers
1040 users here now

Welcome to Progressive Politics! A place for news updates and political discussion from a left perspective. Conservatives and centrists are welcome just try and keep it civil :)

(Sidebar still a work in progress post recommendations if you have them such as reading lists)

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

cross-posted from: https://50501.chat/post/93776

We are building a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis—and today’s numbers are proof that the people—the majority—are taking action to stop a hostile government takeover.

Because let’s be clear: We do not have a functioning democracy anymore. Trump and his billionaire allies have dismantled our system of checks and balances, stacked the courts, silenced dissent, and declared themselves above the law.

They are disappearing people, attacking universities and the free press, and purging agencies meant to protect the people—from the environment to civil rights to public health.

This is not politics as usual. This is a hostile takeover by billionaires, corporations, and authoritarian enablers.

They are gutting the country for parts—and selling us out in the process.

They are not leaders. They are traitors to the people of this country.

So we are building a People’s Movement. And history shows that when just 3.5% of the population engages in sustained, peaceful resistance—transformative change is inevitable.

But we have to earn it. And we have to fight for it.

We may no longer have a functioning democracy—but we still have a chance to restore it. The window is closing though. And we are the ones who must rise to meet this moment.

So here’s what you can do: 📱 Use the 5 Calls app or Resist Bot to contact your elected officials—every single day.

🎤 Demand town halls. Show up at their public appearances.

🚫 Boycott the corporations funding this hostile takeover.

🗣️ Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors. Don’t let them sleep through this moment.

📸 Share protest footage, updates, and facts on social media. Amplify the truth—because the billionaires are trying to drown it out.

📲 And follow us to stay connected, get updates, and join future actions.

We are not alone. We are not powerless. And we are not backing down.

#50501movement #PeoplesMovement #FiftyFiftyOne #50501 #ImpeachTrump #HandsOff #April5


Originally Posted By u/FiftyFifty1Movement At 2025-04-05 07:56:36 PM | Source


top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] kSPvhmTOlwvMd7Y7E@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago

the pictures of rallies were absolutely impressive. Good job America !

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

They just destroyed 6 to 10 years of retirement funds for most of us and the number of money loss is increasing.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

If I'd known it was going to be this bad I would've shifted my assets but now I'd just lock in the losses.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

5.2 Million*

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

What really matters is the next election cycle, Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and gaining control in state govs.

https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Congress_elections,_2026

[–] AidsKitty@lemmy.world 13 points 13 hours ago

The only difference in what is happening now in comparison to the last 50 years is that they aren't hiding it anymore. They are just doing it right out in the open.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml -5 points 6 hours ago

This is not politics as usual. This is a hostile takeover by billionaires, corporations, and authoritarian enablers.

Lol

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world -1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (3 children)

If everyone at the protests went to Washington and ripped this fascist out of the White House we would be done with this mess.

The world is watching and seeing if America can rid itself of it's Russian asset president and his coup.

Unless America can free itself then the world falls under Chinese control and then Dictator Xi owns the world.

Inb4 my tankie bot stalker Davel shows up to do his job.

[–] witten@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

If everyone at the protests went to Washington and ripped this fascist out of the White House we would be done with this mess.

I keep seeing this take from Lemmy keyboard warriors, and honestly it's kind of frustrating. It's like saying: If all the soccer moms and college students and retirees and other everyday people who spent their entire lives blissfully living in an ostensible democracy just skipped all the boring organizing and community building and radicalization and Overton window shifting.. and just went straight to the violent revolution part, this would be all fixed right away.

Well, DUH. But that's not how any of this works in the real world. Movements take time to build, and you're doing a disservice to that movement building by trying to minimize these initial protest efforts.

[–] glitchdx@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

we've been in "initial protest efforts" since the Reagan administration. I'll not apologize for being slightly frustrated by the pace of things.

[–] witten@lemmy.world 0 points 7 hours ago

I don't disagree at all with that, and honestly I share your frustration. But now the wheels of change are finally beginning to move.. and it's up to you whether you're going to help push.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world -1 points 6 hours ago

I keep seeing this from civil activitsts who are informed on history.

Lazy troll fuck off

[–] AES_Enjoyer@reddthat.com -1 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Not davel, but what's this racism? You talk about China and Russia the same way Nazis talked about Judeo-Bolshevism

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 hours ago

Because American Civil Religion doesn't allow for the idea that America that large scale problems could be from domestic sources, so they have to be the result of foreign corruption.

It's exactly like the Judeo-Bolshevism conspiracy.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 0 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

I talk about dictators all the same.

You make excuses for dictators

[–] AES_Enjoyer@reddthat.com 1 points 31 minutes ago

Pretty sure the approval rate of Xi is an order of magnitude above that of Biden and higher than Trump's. In American "democracy", you get to choose who will enact genocide, welfare cuts, and mass imprisonment of "nonwhite" population.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 hours ago

Unless they're American dictators, then you assume that they're merely agents of sinister foreigners, rather than dictators in their own right.

[–] LavaPlanet@lemm.ee 42 points 1 day ago (2 children)

All the news outlets are reporting "thousands" and showing smaller protests, they're trying to sweep it under the rug. Even here in Australia they're reporting "thousands". To try and minimise. (Murdoch media)

[–] vvilld@lemmy.world 11 points 17 hours ago

There were 100k+ in DC alone.

[–] Lifter@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There are thousands of protests though, with thousands of people each.

[–] LavaPlanet@lemm.ee 14 points 1 day ago

They're specifically referring to the amount of people who turned up. Saying thousands, when it's actually millions, changes the power and therefore the narrative, they hope. Have a look what is being reported, vs what's available to see, in personal accounts online. It's a good way to notice how much is screened and changed to serve the billionaires who own the media. It's an important thing to notice. If we had accurate reporting, and free media, not owned by billionaires with capitalist agendas. Would authoritarians even get voted in.

[–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago

Proud of these people!

[–] MyDogLovesMe@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago (33 children)

I hate to ask this, but is this really going to make any difference with Trump/Musk et al. ?

I mean, they sure as fuck aren’t going to clean up their act (maybe try to hide it more now); sure as shit they won’t leave the office/WH either. None of their policies will change by their own hand.

So.

What did it change yesterday?

3 M across the country? I think you need 3 Million in one place - ie Washington DC. Enough to show them, Jan 6 was nothing.

Otherwise, I fear they will just, “ride out the news cycle and double down again before The People can organize again.

The spark is lit now, but it hasn’t caught yet enough to burn this evil shit down.

BLOW ON IT!!!

Let’s get this to 10, 20M nationwide, with millions descend in on wherever Trump is at the moment (golf course? Lol).

This was big, but not big enough I fear.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 9 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

God, I'm sick of these concern trolls trying to dissuade the people from taking action in Every. Single. Thread about protests. You're wrong, go away if you have nothing positive to contribute. We're just getting started.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world

[–] MyDogLovesMe@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

If you’re calling me a troll, let me clarify something. When I said blow on it, i meant to encorage “the spark”; for you sir however, I use it in the pejorative.

[–] arotrios@lemmy.world 82 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

More people showed up in DC yesterday (100k ) than at Jan 6th (80k high estimate - snopes.com ).

This is the beginning, not the end result. Protest activity is off the charts and rising steadily:

Link to full article from WagingNonViolence.org


These movements take time to build, but this one is building much faster than previous efforts. I've been on the front lines since the 2nd Iraq War protests (which were huge) and this movement is already larger, smarter, and more organized.

It is making a difference - don't allow yourself to believe otherwise. You can see the cracks starting already with the infighting at the top of Trump's team and the defection of key republicans.

They're just as scared of our mob as they are of theirs.

Because we're stronger than they are - there are a lot more of us - and we have REAL cause to be angry now.

[–] Auntievenim@lemmy.world 36 points 1 day ago

What's really interesting about the effort to dismiss these protests is by comparing them to centrally organized protests of the past like the women's march. Those antiwar protests are probably the closest comparison since there was no institutional backing then either.

The thing that gets me is that this movement is literally from reddit, by redditors, organized by real people exclusively. No corporate sponsors or dem support, no campaigning or fundraising. Just people going to the streets saying "we are peaceful now. Do not force our hand" and 3 million came out.

Keep pushing the message keep spreading the info, this is the result after only 2 months of activity that went completely unseen on any mainstream media. Make them regret it. Make them being afraid your greatest weapon. Those republican stooges love to hear MSm isn't covering something. Wake them up. Turn them into patriots willing to fight for this country. Dismantle this regime and return power to Americans.

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This wasn't the first nationwide protest of his second term nor will it be the last. This was the 4th nationwide 50501 protest. Plus other movement like Tesla Takedown had large nationwide protests prior too. It's just that now it's gotten large enough that the media can no longer ignore it. It took time to get here. Each protest keeps getting larger than the last

Millions of people have just been put in touch with the various local groups organizing these protests. Usually at these protests they'll be people going around giving info, sigining people up for mailing lists, etc. That's a good part of how each protest gets bigger

Besides just protests, that will enable much more action and more rapid action in the future. For instance Indivisible does tons of work on directed pressure of congress and local leaders. 50501 organized smaller boycotts in the past when the crowds were smaller. Now they can organize boycotts more with more effect

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

One thing unique about Trump/Musk is they really do live in a Kool-Aid filled bubble.

Hitler, Stalin, especially "modern" dictators like Putin and Kim seem well-informed. Surrounded by yes-men, sure, but they have a good information apparatus, some intelligence, and a much "higher" view than their general population. They know some lies they tell, they know what they're doing.

Trump? Musk? They are utterly coddled by algorithmic, warped, narcissistic information environments. Everything post they see, everything people tell them, every waking moment strokes titanic egos. They live in a disinformation bubble, which is both a weakness (it leads to objectively self-harming decisions traditional dictators wouldn't make) and a danger (they are extremely insulated from protests. They truly think they're Chosen Ones in the eyes of "good" Americans).

Hence, I think they are going to ignore large protests because they earnestly think it isn't a big deal. Which is good, as it might allow the protests to get extremely large and gravity to take effect.

[–] Geetnerd@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

The thing is, Trump is dumber that Musk, but he's older, wiser (which is not intelligence, just knowledge gained from experience,) and Trump knows, and has accepted that the "peasants" don't like him, and he's never liked them. He's learned how to con, and grift, and brainwash them over the decades.

But Musk... he's genuinely blindsided, and hurt that the peasants don't see him as Saviour Tony Stark. He's been insulated in his entitled, spoiled, Whiter than White Princely bubble his entire life, and is genuinely destroyed when told no, or mocked. When he was booed off stage at the Chapelle concert, his employees were genuinely concerned he was going to off himself. The narcissistic wound of rejection hurt him that bad. And it's happening again.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 3 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

“modern” dictators like Putin and Kim seem well-informed.

Putin thought he would take Ukraine in 3 days.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Speaking of information bubbles; there's no evidence Putin ever actually said this.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 0 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago

According to that article, the "Three days" claim came from the Murdoch tabloid The Sun, who in turn claim it came from "an anonymous source"

[–] Geetnerd@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

He thought Trump was going to win the 2000 election. That Trump would follow his order, and not aid Ukraine in any way. He was so sure he openly assembled his invasion force before the election.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

To be fair, this is reasonable considering how the first Ukraine assault and Georgia.

load more comments (29 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›