A c/p from another comment of mine The media use their influence to wedge any popular movement away from the general public that won't play within the permitted two party system. Doesn't matter if it';s left or right flavored. Let me give you an example from 2011-3 OWS which questioned income inequality challenging the core of the economic system. Part of the OWS strategy included many of the points raised in your opening discussion, large movement, leaderless, without fixed goals, confronting an extremely hostile NYPD and city govt. They asked for permission to install porta potties at Zucotti, and the city said fuck off. Then the press follows the protesters around with their cameras and calls them "animals" for doing their dooty in the streets. Same with the takeover at Maheur BLM buildings in support of Clive Bundy. They asked for supplies and the press goes crazy with the idea to send them lube and then mocks the well lubricated occupiers until Finnicum is killed. Now, what to do about it is another thing. First, you have to get control of your media, so parler, gab, etc. In OWS days, the script kiddies at Anonymous were helpful in publicizing issues as they came up. Now it's harder because in order to build a large coalition to actually fix the roots of the problem, it's going to take all of us together, and not just the skin heads and Nunes on parler. Boycotts are not really effective any more. For example, how do you target Soros or Koch when they don't actually produce any labeled product? Why move? There are coalition members in the People's Republic of Santa Monica too. Find them and talk to them. Find common ground. I like the misnamed Patriot Act that all the pols keep reauthorizing that we can all hate on. But you can think of others. Put down the obviously divisive issues that they use to drive us apart. I'll trade you gun control for abortion restrictions, okay? Violence is a tough issue. The neo libs have spent large trying to make any violence, even property damage illegitimate tactics for social change. There is a writer who is a whole lot smarter than I who believes that non-violence supports the state. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-how-nonviolence-protects-the-state When I have been at protests, I have seen how a diversity of tactics (some militant types) protect the main group of protesters by drawing the attention of the po away from the moms with their kids. Thanks for your service. An example that Mr. Gelderloos uses is to think back to the origins of this country and the property damage done to a whole bunch of innocent tea in the Boston harbor. So I won't tsk-tsk when you break some windows, just don't endanger the peaceful types by hiding among them, and take your lumps for the team gracefully that you can expect will come from the police state. Finally, this is a movement, not a moment; a marathon, not a sprint. I know we are all used to a news feed that changes every 2 hours, but we can't lose focus on our to do.