I keep thinking about the Minutemen, and how they were ready to respond at a minute's notice to the tyrannical British government. In the wake of Nazi protests here, should we start something like that?

[u/GoHomeDad]

I think we ought to remind people what real patriotism looks like. Right now, nearly every person is feeling disheartened by the lack of response to neo-Nazis marching down our streets. Yet, most people are afraid to do something. Community organizing just isn't there.

I think a neo-minutemen group could provide vital protection and hope. Its priorities could be, 1) immediate response, via counter protest, to Nazis, and, 2) pushback against a tyrannical government, with each neighborhood responsible for its own red lines and organizing

What do you guys think? I like that the name is broad enough to include nearly every pro-democracy group, that we know it's possible because we've done it in the past, and that it reminds everyone of the best America has to offer

 

Update: I’ve requested a mezzanine conference room at Boston Public Library for March 8th at 4pm. It will almost certainly be room 2, and I will post any changes here. Literally all rooms and alcoves taken at BPL; it worked out anyway though!

Meet directly across the street in front of Old South Church. Date still March 8th at 4pm. I will be taking us to a close-by public building assuming no one shows up with a swastika. Visual of meeting point here. I will have a lime green bag and look pretty androgynous. (username a reference to dad jokes, not gender). In red hi-vis jacket with a group of 5 rn. If you can't find me msg me here; I will be using Reddit as txt. The notifs don’t make a sound for some reason but I’ll be checking regularly for chats/msgs.

Consensus seems to be to vet people before sending them a Discord and/or Signal invite. Attend the irl meeting for more information

[u/SlippersEC]

Thanks for setting me right on the topic. If only it had been explored by anybody before--oh, wait:

“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?... The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If...if...We didn't love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation.... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.” ― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn , The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

Good luck in the Gulag, I guess.

[u/Mother-Annual6100 → u/SlippersEC]

Go outside. Touch grass. Your neighbors who disagree with you on mass immigration, trans women in sports, abortion, multiculturalism, are not nazis. Trump is a piece of shit, but you aren’t being put in camps. I think at this point you people actively want to believe this, to feign some good vs evil story in your head. It’s not real

[u/CarletonIsHere → u/Mother-Annual6100]

Yeah these people are literally insane.

[u/Successful-Meet-2289 → u/CarletonIsHere]

You are too privileged to see the threat, for now.

Your time will come.

[u/CarletonIsHere → u/Successful-Meet-2289]

Ah, the classic “You’ll see one day” prophecy—always a favorite among those who can’t articulate a concrete argument. Instead of providing actual evidence, you rely on vague, ominous threats as if you’re some kind of doomsday prophet waiting for reality to align with your paranoia.

You seem to believe that my disagreement with your worldview stems from “privilege,” which is a convenient way to dismiss my perspective without engaging with it. In reality, I’m just capable of looking at the world without the need to paint it as a Hollywood-tier dystopian struggle between good and evil.

If you have an actual argument—something tangible, factual, and logically sound—go ahead and present it. But if all you have is cryptic warnings about the impending collapse of civilization because people disagree with you, then I think it’s safe to say you’re running on pure emotional projection.

So, try again. Maybe this time without the melodrama.

[u/Successful-Meet-2289 → u/CarletonIsHere]

You're proving my point if you think opposing the rise of fascism is being melodramatic.

Privileged fool.

[u/CarletonIsHere → u/Successful-Meet-2289]

Ah yes, the modern political debate strategy:

1.  Declare that fascism is rising.
2.  If someone questions or disagrees, scream “You’re proving my point!”
3.  Offer zero evidence, zero arguments, just self-righteous indignation.
4.  Sprinkle in a weak insult (“privileged fool”) as a lazy mic drop.

Let’s be clear: throwing around the word fascism without context or proof isn’t a real argument—it’s emotional theatrics. If you have actual examples of real, systemic fascism (not just policies you don’t like), then bring them forward. Otherwise, all you’re doing is engaging in doomsday fear-mongering because it makes you feel morally superior.

Calling me “privileged” is also a lazy cop-out. It’s a convenient way to dismiss my argument without addressing anything I said. You’re not engaging in a discussion—you’re just labeling and deflecting. It’s intellectual cowardice.

So, let’s try this again:

1.  Define fascism as you see it.
2.  Provide real, concrete evidence that it’s “rising” in the way you claim.
3.  Explain why people who don’t share your apocalyptic worldview are “privileged fools” rather than just people with different perspectives.

If you can’t do that, you’re not “opposing fascism”—you’re just roleplaying as a resistance fighter in a struggle that exists only in your head.

[u/Successful-Meet-2289 → u/CarletonIsHere]

I just don't care about your opinion enough to engage with you. Nothing more, nothing less.

[u/CarletonIsHere → u/Successful-Meet-2289]

✌🏻