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Scrivener7
(58,401 posts)this as the "break the glass" moment that it is.
usonian
(23,626 posts)
Joinfortmill
(20,128 posts)To paraphrase the great Ms. Angelou.
MiHale
(12,639 posts)Exactly what does a ‘national strike’ entail? I have heard this many times and really have no clue. Stop paying taxes? Stop going to work? Stop buying stuff?
I dead serious this isn’t a flame post… I need to be educated.
Escape
(379 posts)I am all for doing whatever we have to do to stop the insanity, but I don't understand the National Strike plan.
What steps and actions do we take? How will it affect the working class? What do we hope to gain from it? How does it weaken Trump and his minions?
Just like you, MiHale, I am not against the idea. I just don't understand it.
HarryM
(447 posts)You stay home. Do not leave the house. Do not go to work, school, or spend any money. It will cripple the economy within a couple of days if enough people follow. It's all they need to see who is really in charge.
Here's a link to a Wikipedia article regarding it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_strike
MiHale
(12,639 posts)For us that’s kinda easy….retired, live rural, stock up for winter every year to keep trips down into town. We garden and preserve our veggies for winter use and beyond. Usually have anywhere between 3 to 5 months of food stored. Can hunt and fish if needed.
Most people in this country cannot do a quarter of that. I could be wrong but I think a strike would take at least a month to start to be effective.
means no paycheck, which means no rent or mortgage payments.
Cirsium
(3,389 posts)What were those sit down strikers in Flint thinking?
LuckyCharms
(21,876 posts)just before the strike. And you buy only the things you need to survive.
When the strike begins, you buy NOTHING.
You stay home, you don't go to work...nothing.
It's a good idea that could succeed, but most of the American people don't have the will to do this.
There will always be an excuse why it can't be done. Therefore, we will never have the sheer number of people required to pull it off, because too many people can't even be bothered to get out and vote, let alone risk losing their jobs for a common cause. And too many people don't have the will to sacrifice themselves in this manner.
MiHale
(12,639 posts)Thanks, Lucky..
Being retired and homesteading it’s easy for us. It would take at least a month for effects to be felt. Most people don’t have the stomach to last that long.
HarryM
(447 posts)If enough businesses were idle for only three days, they would get the message. It is all it would take.
Hotler
(13,738 posts)paleotn
(21,610 posts)Weak and wimpy. We melt down when our cell service craps out. 
We either stop acting like babies or we get run over. Your choice.
3_Limes
(370 posts)Just fill me in on who'll be paying my bills while I'm not working and I'm in.
Joinfortmill
(20,128 posts)
Attilatheblond
(8,321 posts)Americans tend to think US workers can do what people in many European nations with national health care can do. We can't. Most workers here are indentured servants who have to behave how employers want them to, on the job and off the job. Step out of line too often and people end up with no health care, no matter how well they budget to be able to afford a few days striking.
AverageOldGuy
(3,367 posts)I once heard a meteorologist explain that a hurricane starts when a butterfly in west Africa flutters its wings. That small flutter disturbs a tiny bit of air - - - which then disturbs a little more air and on and on and on until a Cat 5 hurricane slams into the US Gulf Coast. If you have never done this, do it -- during hurricane season, check the National Hurricane Center website daily and you will see the track of hurricanes -- they form as a minor disturbance off the western coast of Africa, gradually form into a storm, then a tropical storm, then a hurricane.
So maybe we need some butterflies. Maybe the same people who organized No Kings Day could organize a national strike day. No Kings Day grew to nationwide protests in over 3,000 locations. Imagine if we had 3,000 small strikes for two days nationwide. Then, a couple of weeks later 6,000 -- then 12,000 -- then . . .
Gandhi once said:
then they laugh at you,
then they fight you,
then you win!"
They are fighting us now -- they even murdered one of us a couple of days ago.
pandr32
(13,805 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 11, 2026, 12:46 PM - Edit history (1)
Their kitchens aren't stocked. Lots of people go out to grab a bite. We shop local farmers' markets and Costco.
If there is a huge boycott we should know who and what to stay away from. What of our jobs?
3_Limes
(370 posts)The people who keep posting this idea don't have or need jobs and assume that none of us do either. It's completely out of touch with the lived reality of the average American. (I'm kind of embarrassed when I see it coming around yet again, but I guess it's a great dream at the intersection of liberalism and the idle rich. And they can dream too.)
pandr32
(13,805 posts)Many have children, too, or family members in care. Would it include hospitals and health services? Should we pull our money out of the market (if we have any in there)?
Perhaps a list of the worst--top contributors to this regime would help. We could target them in a boycott to hurt them specifically. Don't use their services or buy from them. But, we must be prepared to hold until they are seriously crippled. It would send a strong message to others participating in this economy.
MichMan
(16,663 posts)pandr32
(13,805 posts)A very flawed proposal, for sure. We need a doable one.
Farmer-Rick
(12,490 posts)From Minneapolis to DC would work better.
People could join up as it moves across the country. If it goes on long enough, eventually the corporate owned media will talk about it. Then as it gets closer and closer to DC, the pedo Trump humpers will get nervous. They will cry and whine about it.
A caravan like the fake one that was coming from South America. It will make the MAGA nervous. If the pedo sends troops, the caravan can just stop and wait, until the troops allow us through. Yeah, they'll send chemicals and try to arrest us but how are they going to get everyone out of their cars, trucks, vans and caravans?
No violence necessary. No threats, just say we are going to DC to petition our government to remove pedo Trump. That's all. We just want him fired and we have to a right to express that.
Doesn't even have to be 10s of millions of people. People can join for awhile then go home and join up when it gets to DC.
HAB911
(10,296 posts)but can 300 million cats be herded? I'm old and economic pressure is the only tool in my toolbox.
HarryM
(447 posts)It's called "canned tuna."
I bet you could herd 300 million with the right bait.
HAB911
(10,296 posts)Mr.Bee
(1,647 posts)Until Everyone, Everywhere, Walks Off Their Jobs!
KPN
(17,146 posts)strikes/marches across the nation at the same time.
malthaussen
(18,412 posts)That's a filthy Commie-pinko European action.
Furthermore, if we did stage a General Strike, the Administration would rub its hands gleefully and invoke the Insurrection Act, and there are enough dumbasses in the military who would accept that as an excuse to act like assholes. Yes, unlike ICE, some of them do need an excuse, however flimsy.
-- Mal
llmart
(17,330 posts)econonic. This country and most of it's citizens care about only one thing first and foremost and that is the ecomony. The US is defined mostly by it's economy, not quality of life for everyone. So, commit to a month or more of not buying anything except the bare necessities of life - and I do mean bare. It can be a win-win for those of us committing to it because a lot of people might learn just how little they need to have a comfortable life, and their budgets and savings would benefit from it. It might even lead to permanent lifestyle changes.
But as someone else said, Americans don't do sacrifice. Even here on DU you'll find quite a number of people who wouldn't commit to it even if we all know it would work.
3_Limes
(370 posts)We'd be much more able, and easily as willing to gamble our livelihoods on protest that changes things. But we don't. So, wanting to keep our access to healthcare, keep our kids fed and a roof over us, we have to be a little more patient and a little more subtle
malthaussen
(18,412 posts)There's a real dislike of Europe and Social Democracy in the US, and the knee-jerk reaction of many to any "European" action would be rejection. It is not a measured and reasonable response to economic reality. And really, it is quite clear that economic reality does not drive the decisions of Americans, or their votes, or we would have the sort of social safety net Europe has.
I'm not sure what the motive is, but I feel like it is some sort of subconscious need imbibed with American brand Mother's Milk that demands that we do everything differently from the rest of the world, and that automatically defines "different" as "better."
-- Mal
gopiscrap
(24,549 posts)EdmondDantes_
(1,394 posts)Even the worst government isn't able to kill everyone. Good's death is both a crime and a tragedy, but stop treating Trump like he's more capable than he is. Particularly when the only proposed solution has never happened. Trump will be beaten the way other horrible presidents have been, through voting.
Joinfortmill
(20,128 posts)ICE will be at voting places in 2026. People who are fearful of being targeted will not vote. And that's the least of it.
SamuelTheThird
(621 posts)It's going to be a true clusterfuck, at best
Cirsium
(3,389 posts)The comments on this tread are disturbing. Don't people have any idea what working and living conditions were like before organized Labor? Yes, people went on strike and they risked their jobs, struggled to pay bills, risked being arrested or beaten, etc.
MichMan
(16,663 posts)Very few people are willing to risk their jobs and put their families into harm. Labor strikes were targeted at certain employers.
We'll just roll over then.
And you are from Michigan? My, how things have changed.
The jobs that most people have do not pay for rent, food and medicine. That is the reality for 80% of the people. Many posting here are from the upper 20%. Most people in the upper 20% won't risk their comfort and position, true.
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,393 posts)
lostnfound
(17,415 posts)I’d like to think a national strike would be helpful, but it instead deepen the divide and make it easy to vilify anyone who participates as traitors trying to hurt America.
I think there are far too many ill-informed people in the middle or center-right, and far too many deranged unstable people capable of carrying out paramilitary functions or stoichastic terror, to allow a general strike to be fruitful.
We need bomb-defusers more than anything, and a process for de-MAGA-fication of friends and family. I haven’t seen anything approaching what we need for that — no process that can be duplicated, no cult deprogramming methods, and no robust truthful media, either.
Cirsium
(3,389 posts)Shutting It All Down: The Power of General Strikes in U.S. History
General strikes are rare in American social movements, because they are difficult to coordinate. On the other hand, few actions offer a more direct challenge to those in power. What can today’s protesters learn from their activist ancestors to help participants draw strength? How have general strikes affected long-term labor and social movements?
The two major general strikes in American history are the Seattle General Strike of 1919 and the Oakland General Strike of 1946. In 1919, the workers of Seattle engaged in a three-day mass action calling all city workers onto the streets. This was the first citywide collective action in American history known as a general strike.
...
While Oakland remained a strong union city after this, the strikes of 1946 around the nation and especially the Oakland General Strike led to the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Taft-Hartley was an open attack on the labor movement, limiting labor’s ability to strike, banning sympathy strikes (which could make it legally difficult for today’s unions to support Occupy Oakland’s general strike), and allow individual states to pass so-called “right to work” laws, meaning that just because there is a union at your workplace doesn’t mean you have to join it.
Soon after, the McCarthy era began and radical unionism of any kind became suspicious, with the CIO kicking the communist organizers and entire communist-led unions out of the federation, turning its back on its radical history.
https://inthesetimes.com/article/shutting-it-all-down-the-power-of-general-strikes-in-u-s-history
Cirsium
(3,389 posts)In the United States a proposal for a general strike was first made at the 1835 convention of the National Trades Union. This was the first national labor federation in the U.S., founded in August 1834. Workers in Boston in 1835 had tried to organize a city-wide general strike for the 10 hour work day but were crushed. Workers in Philadelphia, inspired by the Boston struggle, took up the banner. Three hundred armed Irish longshoremen marched through the streets calling on workers to join them on strike. Leather workers, printers, carpenters, bricklayers, masons, city employees, bakers, clerks and painters joined in carrying their tools.
John Ferral, the leading Philadelphia trade unionist, described it: “The blood sucking aristocracy stood aghast; terror stricken they thought the day of retribution had come.” [Foner v.1, p. 117]. The Philadelphia city government met and ordered that city workers would now only work 10 hours, from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. with one hour for lunch and one hour for dinner. Three weeks after the longshoremen walked out the other employers gave in to the general strike. The 10 hour day was adopted throughout the city along with some wage increases. A wave of strikes then swept the country as workers heard of the Philadelphia victory. By the end of 1835 the standard working day for skilled workers was ten hours. Only in Boston, where the workers had first been defeated, were the hours not reduced. In 1840 President Martin Van Buren instituted the ten hour day for Federal employees.
https://fighting-words.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-General-Strike-David-Sole.pdf
The general strike in US history: What it is and why it’s still needed
Labor history 101. A general strike encompasses workers from a broad range of occupations and shuts down the delivery of all private and public goods and services in an area, such as a city or state. They usually occur at a time of heightened economic tension, when employers are demanding big concessions from labor, or even trying to destroy unions. Sometimes a defensive struggle of one union can spread as other unions — as well as non-union workers, students, and the broader community — join the fray to express solidarity and broaden the demands of the struggle to include their issues.
Many of these titanic battles have erupted on U.S. soil. The “Great Upheaval” of 1877 started as a railroad strike against wage cuts that spread from the east coast to the Midwest. Entire communities joined in, challenging the power of banks, manufacturing corporations, and even state and local governments. Federal troops pulled out of the South after Reconstruction quelled this uprising. But the nationwide wage-cutting craze was slowed considerably.
During the 1919 Seattle General Strike some 60,000 workers walked off the job in support of striking shipyard workers. Organized by the Central Labor Council, the strike brought city businesses to a standstill. For five days workers’ committees operated everything, from mass strike kitchens to essential services such as hospital deliveries. An historic lesson was taught — the working class can run society. And without the bosses!
In the depth of the Great Depression, in 1934, there were general strikes in San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Toledo. Industrial unionism was proving its mettle, and unions used audacious tactics, including sit-down strikes and roving pickets. When bosses compelled local governments to launch crackdowns or even summon the National Guard, many workers, both employed and unemployed, came to the defense of strikers. It was the ferocity and tenacity of those fighters that pressured Congress to pass the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, establishing the collective bargaining rights that so many are trying to preserve today.
https://socialism.com/fs-article/the-general-strike-in-us-history-what-it-is-and-why-its-still-needed/
Social Strikes in American History
What can we do if MAGA authoritarianism so undermines democratic governance that it cannot be successfully challenged by conventional means? In many other countries, tyrannies have been overthrown by nonviolent mass popular uprisings. This commentary scours US history for examples of “social strikes” – mass strikes, general strikes, and other large-scale nonviolent actions – that shed light on the possibilities and difficulties of using such forms of action to challenge Trump’s burgeoning autocracy.
Tyrannical regimes from Serbia to the Philippines to Brazil and many other places have been brought down by nonviolent revolts that made society ungovernable. More recent examples include the “popular impeachment” of the governor of Puerto Rico in 2019 after the leaking of scurrilous chat group discussions by top government leaders and the massive uprisings that removed the president of Korea as he instigated a coup last December.
Could such “social strikes” — large-scale nonviolent direct action variously called “general strikes,” “political strikes,” nonviolent uprisings, or “people power” — play a significant role in countering Trump’s developing autocracy?
From the outset of the Trump regime calls for mass disruptive action started coming from unlikely places, like Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, an organization normally associated with legal action through the courts. When Romero was asked in an interview what would happen if the Trump administration systematically defied court orders, he replied, “Then we’ve got to take to the streets in a different way. We’ve got to shut down this country.” Similarly, senior Democratic representative Jim McGovern said, “We can’t just sit back and let our democracy just fall apart. What we need to think about are things like maybe a national strike across this country.” Sara Nelson, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, said that American workers — no matter what they do or what sector they are in — now have very few options but to “join together to organize for a general strike.” (Nelson led the organizing for a national general strike that successfully deterred Trump’s attempt to shut down the government in his first term.) On the mass calls of anti-MAGA groups the question of general strikes and nonviolent popular uprisings is constantly raised.
https://www.labor4sustainability.org/strike/social-strikes-in-american-history/