Why are there no protests of Republican shutdown?

[saidsimplesimon]

Following my daily reading routine, I read the article below. I will spend the day trying to create an interest in organizing a protest in DC, in front of the White House.

Do government workers fear retaliation? Are they prohibited from attending or organizing protests?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/the-shutdown-shows-the-weakness-of-the-resistance/ar-BBSw6BH

The New York Times

The Shutdown Shows the Weakness of the Resistance

By DAVID LEONHARDT 8 hrs ago

The grass-roots progressive movement known as the resistance has had a very good two years. It beat back attempts to take health insurance away from millions of Americans, and it helped defeat a Republican House majority that was enabling President Trump. Neither of those outcomes looked likely when he took office.

But the government shutdown has shown the limits of this new progressive movement. The resistance has had virtually no effect on the politics of the shutdown — and a stronger movement could have a big effect.

When I’ve spoken to people from other countries over the past couple of weeks, they have been shocked that Americans have not begun protesting the shutdown in large numbers. About 800,000 federal workers have now gone almost a month without getting paid. Some are struggling to pay their rent or buy medications. Some have gone to pawn shops to get cash. Major functions of government — airline security, food safety, mortgage processing, farm assistance and so on — have been impaired.

If this were happening in Europe, as Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago told me, people would be pouring into the streets. And yet in the United States, there has been nothing but a few small, scattered rallies.

Instead of lining up to protest, hundreds of federal workers in Washington lined up last week to eat at makeshift soup kitchens. The photos of them doing so were a study in powerlessness.

[HipChick]

1. Been asking the same question myself...

[TCJ70]

2. Maybe because people can't afford to protest...

...for fear of losing their homes, livelihoods, not being able to feed their families, healthcare. I understand that things are shutdown right now so there’s no work to go to, but that doesn’t mean those other concerns aren’t there.

The author brings up Europe, they have a more fully formed safety net for people which makes it easier to protest. They also don’t engage in these types of shutdowns from what I understand.

[saidsimplesimon]

3. Why would the fear

increase if they made some effort to appeal to the public? I don't understand your logic.

The French do "shutdown" the government with massive protests when necessary.

[TCJ70]

4. It's not that protesting would cause the fear...

...it’s that those concerns are there by nature of the shutdown. When Americans, on average, only have a few hundred dollars in savings it makes sustained protests extremely difficult which is enhanced by the size of the country and expense of traveling to the protest.

There are reports of workers calling in sick to work to go work other jobs so they can continue to exist. If that’s the reality, what resources do these people have to engage in protests?

US style shutdowns are definitely unique to us:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/22/why-other-countries-dont-have-government-shutdowns-2/

[saidsimplesimon]

5. Local travel costs little

I am speaking of Federal workers located in the DC area. If they are not working, time is all they need. As for funds, built the protest and the funds will follow from the grassroots or individuals able to self fund. imo

[eShirl]

6. freezing weather doesn't help

[Mr. Quackers]

7. Close to 50 years of right wing reactionary messaging

has had as one of its principal objects, the erosion and disconnection of community bonds. What they used to call "The Commons." We mistrust each other when we need to stick together.

The distraction level of constant television brainwashing and device addiction has done much to remove us from ourselves, each other, nature, and time.

[2naSalit]

9. THIS

And it has a tendency to foment group think in negative ways too.

[EffieBlack]

8. Maybe because they're desperately trying to hold their lives together

Perhaps instead of trying to get federal workers who are already making a huge sacrifice for the cause to go out and protest - on top of everything else they've got going on in their lives - you can organize a protest of private sector employees to demonstrate your support for their government employee brothers and sisters and to show the White House and GOP that Americans are all in this together.

[saidsimplesimon]

10. Will do

Thank you EB, we "are all in this together".