We have no neighbors. Only an unruly 51st tundra state and a hoard of alien barbarians being held at bay by the Night’s Watch ICE

OH THANK GOD they finally stopped exploiting me. Let me just catch my breath here and oh GOD OH FU–

Total collapse might not be required for real, tangible change. Collective action is a unifying force, and it would remind everyone top to bottom that the house of cards is in fact collapsible and not an inevitable behemoth under its own inertia.

You could argue that even with reforms the underpinning economic system remains as problematic as ever. But building that collective support, reminding poor voters that they’re not temporarily embarrassed billionaires, adds more opposition to it than support.

After a long enough period of striking it begins to have repercussions beyond the individual budget.

If the flow of money slowed to a crawl for an extended period, companies don’t have the funds to pay workers. Enough job loss leads to further reduced spending, thus impacting stock value, thus impacting employment, etc…

A month would have a noticeable impact, but a full fiscal quarter would be the first cliff where the big corporations would really sweat. But generally I agree, an economic strike with an end date is like an overnight hunger strike

Guess who those thinly populated areas voted for…

Also, “just topple the state governments” as if most US states aren’t larger + more dispersed than many European countries. And state (and sometimes local) police have access to second hand military equipment.

Then even putting that aside, the US interstate system was quite literally designed to expedite military logistics. The Federal government could have tanks rolling down the streets of any major city in single-digit hours.

However, the size of the country is a double edged sword. Locking down areas outside of populated cities would take a lot of sustained resources. Combine that with the sheer volume of firearms in the hands of private citizens and you have a recipe for festering unrest. Actual violent resistance in the US would be a different beast from what you see in other countries.

Hey at least that means the nukes might not work?