Saving Democracy
Have you driven through Greenfield on a Saturday? Maybe you’ve seen me holding a “Save Democracy” sign. Each week, I stand with other concerned citizens. Their signs say “Rule of Law,” “Trump Epstein Coverup,” “Free Speech.” About a third of the passing cars honk, wave, or give a thumbs up. For the No Kings protest on Oct. 18, our numbers swelled to approximately 20. In a town of 1,716, we represented 1% of the population — and I’m from Lyndeborough.
We are encouraged by what’s known as the 3.5% rule. In 2013, Harvard researchers studying movements against autocratic governments found that when 3.5% of a population sustained nonviolent resistance, those movements succeeded every time in their dataset spanning 1900 to 2006. Nonviolent campaigns, they found, were twice as likely to succeed as violent ones.
The national No Kings demonstration on Oct. 18 drew seven million protesters — an extraordinary number, but still far short of the 12 million needed to succeed.
There were 37 No Kings rallies scheduled in New Hampshire that day. I could find no crowd size for most but Concord saw between 5,000 and 8,000 — roughly 14%, Keene reported 200 – 300 or 1%, Hancock 65, or 32%, and White River Junction /West Lebanon over 4,000 or 24%. If everyone who joined the Oct. 18 protest brought one new person to the next demonstration, we could reach 12 million. And then the job would be to sustain that level for as long as it took.
Let’s try.
This is our country, our democracy, our freedom — the foundation of our lives and livelihoods. What’s stopping us from showing up in massive numbers to defend it?
The only thing necessary for democracy’s downfall is for good people to do nothing.
Let’s do something.