General strikes can take a lot of hard work, organizing, and people on board to execute, all to inflict major economic pressure as a form of protest. But what if there's a way of getting similar results with far less effort and far fewer people?
We can, with what I like to call a “pressure point protest”. Essentially, this type of protest targets critical parts of the economy that many more businesses rely on. Tactics of targeting are:
Person Blockade:
Protesters congregate and block the areas where people, vehicles, and things can go in and out, allowing people to leave the place (we don't want to trap workers in their workplace after all).
Vehicle Blockade:
Protesters, if willing and able, park their vehicles in the entrances & exits to block shipments from coming in or out of the place. This way, should the protesters be arrested, there would still be delays in opening things up due to the vehicles being there. Chaotically aligning the vehicles when parking can make it even more difficult.
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But where are the blockades taking place?
Blockades & protesters should go to places like:
- Ports
- Freight train stations
- Freight airports
- Oil refineries
- Gas depots
- Coal powerplants
- Major manufacturers of common materials
- Defense industry plants.
Disclaimer, please:
- DO NOT TARGET MEDICAL FACILITIES.
- DO NOT TARGET NUCLEAR REACTORS.
- DO NOT TARGET MILITARY BASES.
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By stopping things like goods from ports from exiting the port, this can generate a lot of pressure. These places are essential to the profits of big businesses. If we target these places simultaneously, the big businesses who bribe the corrupt politicians will certainly feel the heat. What makes this potentially very effective is how cops aren't very good with spread-out protests. A large 100k protest in downtown is easy to control and oppress, but 20 5k protests spread out throughout the metro is much harder to address.
What more, it takes a lot fewer people to be effective! However, there are some aspects to help make these protests even more effective:
- Get the unions on your side.
If the place you are protesting is a unionized workplace, try your best to get the union to join in as a strike. For example, the longshoreman union is having some trouble with securing a union. While political strikes are mostly not protected by law, there's nothing stopping them from calling for an economic strike that just so happens to coincide with the protests.
- Be prepared with protection & defense.
Like with all protests, cops are known for being brutal and violent. Be prepared for tear gas (use the traffic cone & water technique, bring gas masks), sound cannons (ear protectors), and general violence (shields). Try to coordinate with groups willing to fight cops & liberate people from arrest to help defend the protests. If you live in an area that allows for open-carry protests, then do an open-carry protest. Cops are cowards against armed opponents, so protect protesters lives by packing heat (where legal).
If y'all have anything to add or critique, feel free to say so. To me, it seems like something like this is what's needed to get people in government to actually do something instead of lounging around while fascism threatens to take over.