Transcript: Let's get one thing straight. We have had protests. We've had marches, hashtags. We've had viral moments, mass outrage. We've had global attention and we haven't extracted a single DIME from the ruling class. Not one dollar in redistributed wealth, OK?
Not one structural concession, not one forced policy shift that touches capital. Not one transfer of power. Not one material loss to the people who actually run this system.
What we've had is performance. We've had symbolism. We've had slogans. We've had catharsis. We've had feelings. We've had aesthetics We've had branded resistance We've had protest that's content and content doesn't threaten power.
Power only moves when it's forced to move. Power only changes when it loses money. Power only responds when its systems stop functioning.
Power only negotiates when extraction is interrupted. But what we have built - We've built stages. We've built festivals. We've built panels, speaker lists. We've built influencer pipelines, non-profit careers. We've built consultant ecosystems. We've built merch tables and donation funnels. We didn't build leverage.
And now look at what they did to the No Kings protest. They turned it into a festival.
Music stages, keynote speakers, professional panels, NGO branding, professional managerial class voices, non-profit executives, academic analyses, organisers with titles, grant fellowships and foundation funding.
It looks radical. It sounds radical. It feels radical, but it doesn't cost the ruling class a dime. That's a scam.
If your protest can be scheduled, branded,sponsored, securitised, livestreamed and managed, it's not a threat. If your resistance has keynote speakers, it's not resistance. If your movement has a VIP section, it's not a movement. If your struggle has a stage manager, it's already absorbed.
They didn't repress it. They didn't crush it. They didn't outlaw it. They absorbed it. They turned rage into ritual. They turned anger into art. They turned resistance into resumé lines. They turned struggle into social capital. They turned suffering into speaking engagements
In the professional managerial class, like always, are the middle layer. Not the ruling class, not the working class - the translator class, the managerial class, the credentialled class, OK? The non-profit class, the consultant class, the foundation funded class; the class that doesn't own shit but manages the narratives, OK? They manage the organisations, the funding, the language, the optics and the structure.
So now we have movements that feel radical but function safely inside the system. We have protests that express anger but protect capital. We have activism that produces awareness but not redistribution. We have resistance that creates visibility but not vulnerability for power.
We don't threaten supply chains. We don't disrupt logistics. We don't interrupt profit flows. We don't destabilise extraction. We don't touch assets. We don't touch property relations. We don't touch ownership structures. So nothing changes because nothing is forced to change.
And this is what all the people in the comment section hate for me to say: If the ruling class can ignore you, you're not a movement. If the ruling class can fund you, you're not a threat. If the ruling class can platform you, you're not dangerous. If the ruling class can absorb you, you're not disruptive. If the ruling class can wait you out, you've already lost.
No Kings means nothing if their wealth goes untouched. No Kings means nothing if their power is uninterrupted. No Kings means nothing if their system is still running perfectly.
Revolution is not a vibe. It is not a festival. It is not a stage. It's not a panel or a non-profit. It's not a brand. It's not a content strategy. It's leverage. It's disruption. It's extraction. It's pressure. It's cost. It's consequence. It's forced negotiation.
Until the ruling class is losing money, control, legitimacy and stability, everything else is performance and performance is safe.
So don't tell me about awareness. Don't tell me about representation. Don't tell me about vibes. Don't tell me about the conversation. Don't tell me about no goddamn symbolism. Show me loss. Show me concessions. Show me redistribution. Show me power transfer. Show me structural change. Show me material wins.
Because until then, we're not challenging the Kings, we're entertaining them.
I think s/he put that rather well...
Posted by Ian M on April 22, 2026, 11:19 pm, in reply to "On Revolution"
Shades of Malcolm X after the 1963 civil rights march on Washington:
' The Negroes were out there in the streets. They were talking about how they were going to march on Washington…. That they were going to march on Washington, march on the Senate, march on the White House, march on the Congress, and tie it up, bring it to a halt, not let the government proceed. They even said they were going out to the airport and lay down on the runway and not let any airplanes land. I’m telling you what they said. That was revolution. That was revolution. That was the black revolution.
It was the grass roots out there in the street. It scared the white man to death, scared the white power structure in Washington, D.C. to death; I was there. When they found out that this black steamroller was going to come down on the capital, they called in … these national Negro leaders that you respect and told them, “Call it off,” Kennedy said. “Look you all are letting this thing go too far.” And Old Tom said, “Boss, I can’t stop it because I didn’t start it.” I’m telling you what they said. They said, “I’m not even in it, much less at the head of it.” They said, “These Negroes are doing things on their own. They’re running ahead of us.” And that old shrewd fox, he said, “If you all aren’t in it, I’ll put you in it. I’ll put you at the head of it. I’ll endorse it. I’ll welcome it. I’ll help it. I’ll join it.”
This is what they did with the march on Washington. They joined it… became part of it, took it over. And as they took it over, it lost its militancy. It ceased to he angry, it ceased to be hot, it ceased to be uncompromising. Why, it even ceased to be a march. It became a picnic, a circus. Nothing but a circus, with clowns and all…
No, it was a sellout. It was a takeover. … They controlled it so tight, they told those Negroes what time to hit town, where to stop, what signs to carry, what song to sing, what speech they could make, and what speech they couldn’t make, and then told them to get out of town by sundown….' - quoted in Zinn's People's History of the US: https://libcom.org/a-peoples-history-of-the-united-states-howard-zinn/17-or-does-it-explode
I think we got Assange out of the jaws of the beast. Small victory, but worthwhile nonetheless.
Posted by Shyaku on April 25, 2026, 7:12 am, in reply to "On Revolution"
Lowkey said, down the board (paraphrasing): “Life may be short if you resist, but shorter if you don’t”. True for some, not for others.
Why do Palestinians throw stones at tanks? Life is short either way. But if I understand correctly, the answer is because it is a moral imperative. Maybe that is the way to look at it, instead of counting victories. What will be, will be. Islam has a clear view where fate emanates from. But maybe universally it is simply a moral imperative to resist as, and where you can. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the great sacrifice of the great, where you blow your wad in one go (like self-immolation) and are thereby never able to resist again. It could also be resistance in many small ways throughout a lifetime without sacrificing the moral imperative. We all have a contribution to make in our own way.
on April 22, 2026, 4:04 pm