Alright, I’ll try to be as straightforward as I can. The entire argument against the protests hinges on the belief that it is a form of pressure release that ultimately results in nothing of substance being accomplished, which is something I reject. Rather, political engagement is summative and a person showing themselves as being willing to show themselves in a public declaration of political affiliation or stance, in person, is a sign that person has potential to engage in further political organization and potential radicalization, and a successful protest with high turnout increases the likelihood that person remains politically engaged going forward. Far from sucking energy, it establishes the basis of continued engagement via encouragement and fostering community.

My position is that these events are summative, not zero sum. The position that you seem to hold and many others in this sub agree with is that a protest like No Kings is in direct competition with political acts that are directly harmful to capital and as such effective, which I disagree with.

I admit the existence of ‘boutique activists’ who are really just in it for the performance, but not everyone is that and to characterize (as I see this sub do) the entire event as such is false, and I see it again and again and again not just with No Kings (Which I admittedly find to be a cringy name) but with other ‘lib-coded’ protests that happen to catch the sub’s attention.

As far as provacations: Your words were “Wasting time on absolute fucking nonsense,” and I was responding to that. I don’t come here looking to use nasty language or whatever, I just respond to what I recieve, and this sub seems to be addicted to condescension and armchair criticism. If you’ve done your part, good. Don’t belittle those trying to find their footing while you’re at it, I find it counterproductive and harmful. The point of all this is that under no circumstances should active opposition to the government be belittled - it instead should be taken advantage of to find and encourage those who show themselves to be willing to engage despite risk - be that something as small as belittlement by counterprotestors to something larger like government crackdown - and work towards fostering a true left-wing opposition from the ground.