This is a depressing article. As someone who was hit by police batons protesting the Vietnam War, it's discouraging that Trump's repression is apparently working. And apparently began in the Fall 2024 BEFORE Trump actually took over. So OBEYING IN ADVANCE subduing our historically most active protest movements on colleges is very sad. And concerning. The No Kings movement is NOT college based. The Bulwark repeatedly made fun of boomers like me who are the organizing force in many communities. I wish college students would become passionate about saving America from this totalitarian Trump government.
Curious that campus protesters are apparently shifting toward No Kings demonstrations. I live in a city with a prominent university and have been to every No Kings event yet still don’t see many young people in attendance. Mostly old people like me.
I'm sorry, but these campus crusaders are the same people who said Gaza was the moral issue of our time and exclaimed that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians. If these things are true, then they should be willing to put their careers, education, and even their bodies on the line. A Tik Tok dance video isn't going to cut it.
Great discussions in the comments, but its not only the middle east, where were the prostest against innocent killings in the Caribbean? where was the youth outrage about Maduros kidnapping and in the process civilians were killed as well? Not a peep! The hypocrisy is astounding.
okay damn, these comments are so dismissive. many of us who protested in 23/24 saw an administration led by the democrats (!!!) crack down on them. i know people, both jewish and non-jewish, who either lost or were threatened with losing their scholarships, job offers, and enrollment status. meanwhile now, trump is even more bullish against dissent. we are fucking scared. we feel more angry toward dems because they were supposed to be our party, and they weren’t. there was a cognitive break as young people who had an idealized vision of the “left”.
furthermore, in 23/24, we were the only people even trying to protest! we had to make ourselves bigger and push harder because we were completely alone and isolated.
This made me laugh out loud, to the chagrin of the people in the cafe where I am working: "a lot of activism is taking place online". What a stupid, weak comment.
I think it is pretty clear that a good part of the reason the protests dried up after the election (aside from what was pointed out above) is that the Russians had achieved their objective of getting Trump back in office, and thus turned off their efforts to radicalize people.
Re: campaigning via hologram, “ Narendra Modi revolutionized Indian political campaigning by using 3D holographic projections (Pepper's Ghost technology) to appear simultaneously at hundreds of rallies during the 2012 Gujarat elections and the 2014 general elections. This technique enabled him to reach millions of voters across India, with over 1,000 "virtual" appearances.”
AFAIK, Modi has not repeated this in the many election campaigns since. There must be a reason, which I cannot discern.
Even BEFORE Trump got elected they were protesting Democrats more than Republicans. That can't be explained by events that happened AFTER Trump got elected. 🤔
Most likely Republican and or Russian and/or other foreign actors funded the demonstrations to help Trump!
There have been lots of insightful comments to this great, observant post. But I sum it up thusly; these supposed radicals were only radical because they knew that Biden and Harris would respect their freedom of speech. They know that Trump would at minimum try to interfere or even penalize them for it, therefore they've clammed up, because when comes down to it they're cowards. I do not include Palestinian, or foreign born, students who are quite understandably afraid of being detained and deported for demonstrating. But I give no such regard to those native-born firebrands who gave Biden and Harris no quarter for Gaza, but are now strikingly silent for Trump. And you can rest assured that when the next Democratic president is seated that they will suddenly be galvanized to wail again against any perceived ethical shortcomings. In short, these people are insufferable frauds who should be not be taken seriously.
I can attest to a certain percentage of the most vocal and belligerent pro-Palestinian folks in my area as being unbearable narcissists. I am not tarring the entire 'movement,' or minimizing the reality of what Israel has done and continues to do. But in the narrow sense I'm referring to, there's no doubt that a meaningful percentage of the folks I see wearing keffiye's and hijacking every single protest are egoists of the first order. No surprise - leftism in my experience has always had this kind of element, a certain kind of person looking for some moral crusade or the other to parade as evidence of their rightness and goodness, their moral superiority and self righteousness. Exactly the same as the most vocal, aggressive, and self-serving trans 'activists' (all of whom seem to be trans women....). I expect that Ms. Egan's reasoning is largely correct as to the silence of campus protesters, but I suspect also that some percentage of the folks who made the most noise are not the kind to stand up to the unfriendly exercise of power.
Stop making excuses for foolish people who vote or do not vote against their own interests and are “shocked, shocked” by the results. MAGA Republican voters dependent on social security believed that the “Cheeto Faced Fascist” would not touch their benefits and they were wrong. Pro -Palestinian students boycott Kamala and guess what the Department of Education revokes their Federal aid. Talk about dumb
Do you think it maybe had something to do with the way the Democratic party stood by and said nothing while cops cracked the skulls of Gaza protestors? I don't think it's that surprising that they aren't able to call on the students' support any more.
It's not just the campus protests. There is no real leadership coming from establishment Democrats. The big activist orgs are quiet. The whole Left seems paralyzed in a way I haven't seen before.
"The whole Left seems paralyzed in a way I haven't seen before."
Not true, at all. I can speak from my involvement in two Indivisible groups and online with Swing Left and Ground Truth - thousands of people who were not engaged before are involved with organizing, immediate response to ICE, contacting elected officials, etc. It's not loud and obnoxious like the asinine conservosphere, but we're changing things, bigly. These elections that swung so hard for Democrats, you think that just happened? Hell, no. Thousands of folks are organizing, calling, knocking on doors, making connections, talking to their neighbors.
The fact is that these protestors are normally far left and the far-left hate liberals and liberal presidents far more than conservatives and conservative presidents. They know a liberal president is far less likely to have brutal federal crackdown. You can see how they demean liberal suburban voters like "liberal winemoms " and "bruch people" while view Trump voters in a extremely sympathetic way as "misguided". Liberals are "smug" and "arrogant" while Christian Nationalists("working class") are just misguided.
The biggest fact about socialists and leftists is that they hate liberals far more than conservatives. They see us biggest obstacle to "revolution" because liberals don't surrender to leftists, but they think we should because their is a lot of ideological overlap.
Probably too embarrassed to protest the guy they "let" win the election who will decimate what's left of Gaza for sure.
This is a depressing article. As someone who was hit by police batons protesting the Vietnam War, it's discouraging that Trump's repression is apparently working. And apparently began in the Fall 2024 BEFORE Trump actually took over. So OBEYING IN ADVANCE subduing our historically most active protest movements on colleges is very sad. And concerning. The No Kings movement is NOT college based. The Bulwark repeatedly made fun of boomers like me who are the organizing force in many communities. I wish college students would become passionate about saving America from this totalitarian Trump government.
Curious that campus protesters are apparently shifting toward No Kings demonstrations. I live in a city with a prominent university and have been to every No Kings event yet still don’t see many young people in attendance. Mostly old people like me.
I'm sorry, but these campus crusaders are the same people who said Gaza was the moral issue of our time and exclaimed that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians. If these things are true, then they should be willing to put their careers, education, and even their bodies on the line. A Tik Tok dance video isn't going to cut it.
Great discussions in the comments, but its not only the middle east, where were the prostest against innocent killings in the Caribbean? where was the youth outrage about Maduros kidnapping and in the process civilians were killed as well? Not a peep! The hypocrisy is astounding.
okay damn, these comments are so dismissive. many of us who protested in 23/24 saw an administration led by the democrats (!!!) crack down on them. i know people, both jewish and non-jewish, who either lost or were threatened with losing their scholarships, job offers, and enrollment status. meanwhile now, trump is even more bullish against dissent. we are fucking scared. we feel more angry toward dems because they were supposed to be our party, and they weren’t. there was a cognitive break as young people who had an idealized vision of the “left”.
furthermore, in 23/24, we were the only people even trying to protest! we had to make ourselves bigger and push harder because we were completely alone and isolated.
like how is none of this obvious?
This made me laugh out loud, to the chagrin of the people in the cafe where I am working: "a lot of activism is taking place online". What a stupid, weak comment.
I think it is pretty clear that a good part of the reason the protests dried up after the election (aside from what was pointed out above) is that the Russians had achieved their objective of getting Trump back in office, and thus turned off their efforts to radicalize people.
Being Pro Palestinian is sexy (Marxist Oppressor/Oppressed styling). Being Anti-Israel isn't.
Re: campaigning via hologram, “ Narendra Modi revolutionized Indian political campaigning by using 3D holographic projections (Pepper's Ghost technology) to appear simultaneously at hundreds of rallies during the 2012 Gujarat elections and the 2014 general elections. This technique enabled him to reach millions of voters across India, with over 1,000 "virtual" appearances.”
AFAIK, Modi has not repeated this in the many election campaigns since. There must be a reason, which I cannot discern.
Even BEFORE Trump got elected they were protesting Democrats more than Republicans. That can't be explained by events that happened AFTER Trump got elected. 🤔
Most likely Republican and or Russian and/or other foreign actors funded the demonstrations to help Trump!
There have been lots of insightful comments to this great, observant post. But I sum it up thusly; these supposed radicals were only radical because they knew that Biden and Harris would respect their freedom of speech. They know that Trump would at minimum try to interfere or even penalize them for it, therefore they've clammed up, because when comes down to it they're cowards. I do not include Palestinian, or foreign born, students who are quite understandably afraid of being detained and deported for demonstrating. But I give no such regard to those native-born firebrands who gave Biden and Harris no quarter for Gaza, but are now strikingly silent for Trump. And you can rest assured that when the next Democratic president is seated that they will suddenly be galvanized to wail again against any perceived ethical shortcomings. In short, these people are insufferable frauds who should be not be taken seriously.
I can attest to a certain percentage of the most vocal and belligerent pro-Palestinian folks in my area as being unbearable narcissists. I am not tarring the entire 'movement,' or minimizing the reality of what Israel has done and continues to do. But in the narrow sense I'm referring to, there's no doubt that a meaningful percentage of the folks I see wearing keffiye's and hijacking every single protest are egoists of the first order. No surprise - leftism in my experience has always had this kind of element, a certain kind of person looking for some moral crusade or the other to parade as evidence of their rightness and goodness, their moral superiority and self righteousness. Exactly the same as the most vocal, aggressive, and self-serving trans 'activists' (all of whom seem to be trans women....). I expect that Ms. Egan's reasoning is largely correct as to the silence of campus protesters, but I suspect also that some percentage of the folks who made the most noise are not the kind to stand up to the unfriendly exercise of power.
Stop making excuses for foolish people who vote or do not vote against their own interests and are “shocked, shocked” by the results. MAGA Republican voters dependent on social security believed that the “Cheeto Faced Fascist” would not touch their benefits and they were wrong. Pro -Palestinian students boycott Kamala and guess what the Department of Education revokes their Federal aid. Talk about dumb
Do you think it maybe had something to do with the way the Democratic party stood by and said nothing while cops cracked the skulls of Gaza protestors? I don't think it's that surprising that they aren't able to call on the students' support any more.
It's not just the campus protests. There is no real leadership coming from establishment Democrats. The big activist orgs are quiet. The whole Left seems paralyzed in a way I haven't seen before.
"The whole Left seems paralyzed in a way I haven't seen before."
Not true, at all. I can speak from my involvement in two Indivisible groups and online with Swing Left and Ground Truth - thousands of people who were not engaged before are involved with organizing, immediate response to ICE, contacting elected officials, etc. It's not loud and obnoxious like the asinine conservosphere, but we're changing things, bigly. These elections that swung so hard for Democrats, you think that just happened? Hell, no. Thousands of folks are organizing, calling, knocking on doors, making connections, talking to their neighbors.
Join your local Indivisible and get involved.
The fact is that these protestors are normally far left and the far-left hate liberals and liberal presidents far more than conservatives and conservative presidents. They know a liberal president is far less likely to have brutal federal crackdown. You can see how they demean liberal suburban voters like "liberal winemoms " and "bruch people" while view Trump voters in a extremely sympathetic way as "misguided". Liberals are "smug" and "arrogant" while Christian Nationalists("working class") are just misguided.
The biggest fact about socialists and leftists is that they hate liberals far more than conservatives. They see us biggest obstacle to "revolution" because liberals don't surrender to leftists, but they think we should because their is a lot of ideological overlap.