A New Era of Resistance, and the History of Crowds and Power

Decentralized resistance as a new model, and how autocrats criminalize dissent and reward compliance

Welcome back to Lucid, and a big hello to all new subscribers. Our next Q&A will take place on Friday, June 20, 1-2pmET. Our guest will be Jonathan Metzl, the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry and director of the Department of Medicine, Health and Society at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Metzl is author of seven books, including Dying of Whitness. How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America's Heartland and What We've Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms.

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Avoidance of violence is key for effective mass protest. Violence divides us and alienates people who could be partners in our struggles for justice. No one should be throwing bricks or committing the other acts the sheriff mentions. Yet, for some in state security forces, his comments could be an invitation to “shoot first and ask questions later.”

On Good Submissive Crowds and Dangerous Dissenting Crowds

One of the most important Lucid essays appeared in April 2021, so most of you will not have seen it! It is about how autocrats see crowds and seek to silence and criminalize unruly groups of people while making “good crowds” into props.

Crowds and Power

I urge you to read it because it is so relevant to what is going on now. Here is an excerpt:

Crowds have a starring role in the propaganda generated over a century of authoritarian history. Throngs listening to the leader at a rally, performing gymnastics for him and party officials (a Communist specialty), or lining the streets to cheer his motorcade - these are all "good crowds." In authoritarian states and declining democracies, good crowds exist in relation to dangerous ones, like the hordes of foreigners reportedly breaching U.S. borders, or protesters said to be committing violent acts. Democratic erosion and the criminalization of dissent go hand in hand.

Reflections on Protest

In honor of today’s No Kings protests, I sent everyone a short video this morning with some tips on resistance drawn from the history of anti-authoritarian action. Lucid has always covered resistance to autocracies: my second post, in April 2021, looked at the protests during Donald Trump’s first administration in the context of resistance history:

In Resistance, Messages of Hope and Solidarity

When we protest peacefully together, as is happening in thousands of United States cities and towns today, we model courage on behalf of justice and solidarity with others, and we transform our individual outrage into a potent moral force. We say to the government: what you are doing is not acceptable, and this is not who we are as a nation. I make these points and more in this March 2025 essay:

Why We Resist

I also discuss effective resistance strategies drawn from history in this essay occasioned by Sen. Cory Booker’s marathon speech in April 2025. One that I mention in this essay and in the video: use all the tools and spaces you have, now, because you don’t know if they will be available in the future.

What Sen. Booker’s Speech Teaches Us About Effective Resistance Strategy

I close with thoughts drawn from my Q3 forecast for my premium-tier subscribers (if you want to receive these quarterly assessments, you can use the links in this post to upgrade).

I foresee a decentralized resistance developing over the next months. When we think of resistance against autocracy in other countries, often the model is of massive and mediagenic protests in the national capital, as happened in Poland, Georgia, Israel, Chile, and many other countries in recent years. Or our own Women’s March of 2017.

But in a large country such as the United States, protest could well be decentralized, as were the demonstrations of Black Lives Matter, which was the largest protest movement in American history. Here is a recent Atlantic article that considers this different model of resistance, and a key piece about the leaderless resistance model experimented with by Hong Kong youth in 2019.

The anti-Tesla protests hold interest in this regard because they brought three elements together in impactful fashion: spontaneous, decentralized grass-roots actions, economic boycotts, and a tarnishing of the Tesla brand —many came to feel embarrassed they owned cars they were once proud to drive. There is potential in the ability to use protest and messaging to prompt such changes in collective perceptions.

As more people see the costs of the Trump administration’s assault on American prosperity and well-being, they will begin to engage in acts of opposition, whether showing up for demonstrations, participating in economic boycotts, phone banking for Democratic candidates, or acting through faith, labor, or other civic institutions.

While things are difficult now, and will likely get worse in the short and medium term, I remain optimistic about the future. I believe in my maxim more than ever:

Never Underestimate the American People.

Protesters in Washington, DC, Feb. 17, 2025. The Trump effigy’s crown says, “I am the King of the World.” Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP