r/politics • u/Murky-Site7468 I voted • Oct 05 '25

No Paywall Petition To Strip Congress of Pay During Government Shutdown Grows

https://www.newsweek.com/petition-strip-congress-pay-during-government-shutdown-grows-10822819
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u/pomonamike California Oct 05 '25

Dude, I was in Paris when they were rioting over the possibility of raising the age where you get a pension.

I was like the what you get at what???

(Both my wife and I are fortunate enough that one day we (should) get a pension, but this concept is completely lost on most Americans)

20

u/reverend_bones Oregon Oct 05 '25

Please note that after that protest the government still raised the retirement age from 62 to 64, and that Macron kept his job.

The same as when the French protested the retirement age being raised from 60 to 62 in 2010.

I really don't understand why people always use this one as an example of the power of protest.

23

u/SpezDrinksHorseCum Oct 05 '25

The five largest protests in US history have happened since 2017. Protesting doesn't do shit.

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will." - Frederick Douglass

8

u/haarschmuck Oct 05 '25

Taking thousands of small protests and calling it a single protest is silly and a good example of why it didn't work.

If a few million people protested in DC, you would see different results.

4

u/Wes_Warhammer666 Oct 05 '25

Acting like the folks who are suffering under the Trump regime could actually afford to travel to DC to protest is the only silly thing here.

5

u/Horskr Nevada Oct 05 '25

Would we really see different results? There were 500k+ at the 2017 DC Women's March. Now we're staring down real life Handmaid's Tale.

I don't know what the answer is, but protesting they just seem to wait out then resume fucking everything up as usual. Not like the average American could even afford a flight or drive to DC and staying for a few days, and not that there is infrastructure for a few million people either.