Demonstrations: GO BIG!

… much easier said than done

Million Man March in 1995—the largest demonstration ever held in Washington DC. This is the last demonstration I attended. I am on the extreme right, just past the edge of the photo.

Ever since we realized how many constitutional guardrails Trump planned to crash through, I have been wondering when (or whether) a decisive demonstration would take place. As I have said in a previous post, small demonstrations have their place:

From a strategic point of view, small demonstrations play a role. We are encouraged when we see other people spending their time visibly resisting Trump. But small demonstrations do not impress Trump supporters, and they will not change any votes. What will impress Trump supporters is a truly gigantic demonstration.

I’ve been reading military history for 60 years and I am struck by the resemblance of political and military strategy. Both are founded on the use of force— in one case psychological / economic / electoral and in the other psychological / economic / physical.

But there’s also a gigantic difference. In the case of a military campaign, competent training and leadership make an army cohesive. When the leadership says attack, that’s what happens. In the case of American politics, there is a fundamental disconnect between top political leadership and the rank and file. For example, no matter how much political leaders urged Americans to vote in 2024, 90 million stayed home.

Thus, political strategy has two major problems, finding the right objective and motivating people to move in that direction. Leadership must come up with an objective that is so compelling and attractive that unpaid millions will devote time, money and energy to it. In fact, it is often ordinary people who end up choosing the objective.

Tesla Boycott / Demonstrations

This was the case with the Tesla demonstrations. There was already Tesla vandalism in Germany and New Zealand before it showed up in the United States, but the massive movement toward nonviolent Tesla demonstrations in the United States came from two independent sparks.

Second in time by two days was a demonstration at a Tesla dealership in Tucson AZ on February 7 organized by Phineas Anderson, an 83-year-old retired headmaster of a private school. It attracted 52 people. These demonstrations have continued almost weekly since, always attracting hundreds of people.

However, two days before the first Tucson demonstration, 15 people gathered at a Tesla charging station in Waterville, ME for a demonstration organized by Elizabeth Leonard. The high temperature on Feb 5 was 22°.

This modest event would have had little impact, if Boston U Prof. Joan Donovan had not read about it online in the Waterville Morning Sentinel. She shared the event with her 25K followers on BlueSky. She must have gotten quite a response because she issued a call for a protest at Tesla dealerships on February 15.

The ideas spread quickly via Bluesky and more than 30 protests took place on Feb 15. The #TeslaTakedown movement was on its way.

Tesla protest in NYC—"Elon Musk can go to Mars; we don't need your Nazi cars.”

In retrospect, the Tesla boycotts/demonstrations seem obvious and natural. Elon Musk is by far the most hated figure in the Trump Administration, He’s a big black bullseye at the center of the DOGE wrecking crew. Tesla dealerships are located in affluent zip codes, where people don’t tend to work weekends—much more convenient than demonstrating against the Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota. The demonstrations continue to be energized by the knowledge that the Tesla’s stock price is going down-down-down. It’s great to feel that ordinary folks can have an impact, even on the richest man in the world.

Massive Washington DC Demonstration?

Still, the anti-Trump movement has not yet had its 2017 Women’s March (5 million participants worldwide) or its 1995 Million Man March (850,000 participants on the National Mall).

The first group that tried to organize a nationwide demonstration was an informal association of activists who called themselves 50501, an acronym meaning “50 protests, 50 states, one day"). Planning for these protests began in late 2024 on Reddit, even before Trump took office. The resulting three demonstrations (Feb 5, Feb 17, March 4) attracted participants who were already intensely anti Trump before his presidency began. In contrast, most people at this point were still trying to wrap their minds around the demolition job that Musk and Trump were performing on the federal government.

After March 4, the 50501 organizers ceased their own project and joined efforts to support the emerging plans for the April 5 Hands Off! National Day of Action. This event was organized by Indivisible, MoveOn, Women’s March, Public Citizen, and Third Age, alongside many other grassroots organizations, but it appears that computer support was supplied by Indivisible.

Hopefully, this is the right event at the right time. The main action will be on the Mall in Washington DC, but almost 1000 other local demonstrations will take place in all 50 states.

Big—Big—Big

It is a characteristic of the human mind that BIG is very attractive. We love to stare at elephants and whales, we are bored by grasshoppers and minnows. We are thrilled when Senator Cory Booker speaks for 25 hours.

It is my hope that April 5 will become the Woodstock of the anti-Trump movement. And we can even top this, if necessary— 500,000 of us can go camp on the National Mall for as long as it takes. How long does it take to carry 500,000 people away in paddy wagons?

Jonathan V Last of the Bulwark sees a future of big demonstrations in the next two years:

This movement should have millions of highly activated people attached to it by the end of 2025, building to a show of strength in the summer of 2026. The goal should be a day when 2 million people show up in either New York or Washington and demonstrate that there is an unprecedented mass movement opposing the authoritarians running the federal government.

That’s the moment you force the rest of America to take a side. And the moment you dare Trump to do what he’s always wanted: To take the mask all the way off and use force against American citizens.

You are cordially invited by the Constitution to the

💥💥💥 April 5 Hands Off! National Day of Action.💥💥💥

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️ Gigantic nationwide demonstration! 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

on the National Mall and 998 local demonstrations.

Click this link to find a “Hands Off” demonstration near you.

https://handsoff2025.com/

🩷🩷Finally, a Fantasy Future, May It Come True! 🩷🩷

1. DECISIVE ACT: Trump crashes Social Security. Checks do not arrive.

2. 40% of Trump’s voters turn on him, leaving only the most committed behind.

3. Democrats regain the house in 2026.

4. Democrats impeach trump in 2027.

5. Depending on how outraged former Trump voters are, the Senate may convict Trump or pressure him to resign.

6. This would be a good time for “Occupy DC” Mass Camp Out in Washington DC.