this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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[–] jjpamsterdam@feddit.org 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The French would have general striked and yellow vested the country to a grinding halt by now. Folks in the United States either lack the courage or confidence or interests or all of the above combined.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I don't think a lot of people realize how big the US is. Organizing a group of a size enough to actually make a difference takes time.

[–] jjpamsterdam@feddit.org 3 points 1 week ago

I've spent a lot of time in the US for work about a decade ago, mostly in the midwest. I'm fully aware of the spread out nature of the country. Even "cities" often feel like a patchwork of suburbs outside of the urban core and population density is generally quite low. Nonetheless, things like strikes require people to actively not do anything, which should be possible. Even the yellow vest movement in France was most successful in the rural and suburban areas, more similar to the US in density. I believe it's more about a culture of compliance, complacency and fatalism.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yes, that's why revolutions have only been successful in much smaller countries like Russia and China.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 week ago

Russia actually isn't as spread out as the US in a way. You can literally ignore anything east of the urals, all the cities that matter are in the western part of the country.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 week ago

You misread my comment, or you're being disingenuous.