Why aren't Americans taking to the streets about what's happening politically, like they do in

[Cousin Dupree]

other countries? Why are we so passive? This is meant as a serious question. And please no snark. I’m old and if I physically could, I would. I’m amazed at our capacity for swallowing BS.

[WeekiWater]

1. 4% unemployment with over seventy percent living paycheck to paycheck. NT

[bearsfootball516]

2. Hard to take to the streets when you have a job to work and bills to pay.

Not meant to be snarky, it's the truth. The vast majority of Americans can't just call up work and say "I'm not coming in today" and go to a protest. They either don't have the vacation time or they have so little that they can't afford to use it for non-medical emergencies.

[tazkcmo]

11. Bingo

No sick leave, vacation days or personal days like many of the European countries as well. Miss a days work and possibly be late with rent or car payment.

[CincyDem]

3. I think there are several reasons...not in order...

1) Freedom of speech in the US has been weaponized by the right wing as a propaganda tool for decades preparing for this moment.
2) For many, the only civics education they get is from this weaponized free speech - and they lack the reasoning skills to tell shit from shinola.
3) Having lived overseas, I believe many Americans, on both sides of the ideological spectrum, simply lack the interest in politics to pay attention to it.

On this last point - many have bought into the meme that "both sides are the same" so it's easier to just sit home and fret about who's going to lose on tonight's Mystery Singer. The fact that we're here - actively participating in a political discussion - makes us unrepresentative of the population at large.

I'm sure there are other reasons - but these are my top three.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. People have been "in the streets"

in cities and towns nationwide since the eve of the 2016 election.

This country is HUGE and you can't know who is where when if it is not reported on some "national news" feed.

[Eyeball_Kid]

7. IMO, electronic media frames demonstrations with people "in the streets" as

media events that distance the viewers from the suffering and stress that are the cause of political action. Demonstrations become media events, like Trump's Potemkin Rallies, and lose their power when portrayed by electronic media as a drama show. The "screen" insulates viewers from the real need for compassionate action.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Much of the "coverage" is happening on "social media"

via twitter and Periscope and whatnot.

The fact that the mid-term election happened the way it did was partly because of "people in the streets" and in the faces of their previously-elected representatives, and only a fraction of this is shown by the M$M because the M$M is vested in ratings and not so much on being the voice of "the people".

This is why I cringe at OPs like this that claim that people have given up because they aren't being "seen". Many of them in fact, are training about how to run for office and fundraising and gathering petitions to run for office for the first time in their municipalities, counties, or for statewide elections.

THIS is how you "take America back".

[Eyeball_Kid]

5. IMO, our entertainment/consumption culture is deeply passive.

Our frustrations are mollified by electronic media. We have a multi-billion dollar industry predicated on the notion that all news can be framed in an entertaining format that keeps viewers entranced enough to soak in commercial messaging. Other cultures pay less attention to TV, and are more active. US voters sit around the TV screen and eat snacks while very serious and existential issues never get adequately addressed. Trump's dangerous decisions put the US at risk of disintegrating, yet we get all of it packaged into programming that fits between commercial breaks. Real problems end up appearing as if we're watching reality TV scripted fiction, when the ecosystem is collapsing, climate change endangers global economic and political stability, and developed countries are sliding toward a new feudalism. I'm not implying that the electronic media responsible for removing real suffering from the economic, climactic, and political changes is right wing media alone. Although I watch a lot of MSNBC, they, too, are responsible for desensitizing the public's real responsibility to become more politically active and turn into true agents of change. MSNBC, as with other media outlets, are primarily profit-driven, and design their programming to keep and increase viewers. They will not promote the notion that viewers should take to the streets and wield political power with direct action because doing so would mean that people are away from their TV sets.

[The Genealogist]

6. A lot of people simply do not care

Unless they are demonstrably, directly affected by something, they can't be bothered.

[blueinredohio]

8. I agree they are not interested unless it affects them.

The majority of people don't give a shit about other people.

[cbdo2007]

10. Because our everyday lives are still pretty good and this border wall doesn't

impact most people directly.

That's how they keep us from "taking to the streets" is that *most* people in the US still live fairly privileged lives, even with little money.