So let's talk protests...
I'm fine with kids wanting to skip school to protest Trump. Doesn't bother me in the least, and it's sure better than skipping school to, say, make out with Teresa Jones from homeroom in her parents' basement. (Then again, is it?) I like the idea that these kids are being politically proactive. My own political awakening was the fall of my junior year in high school, though to be fair, we had a ticking clock working down to the January 1 beginning of the Gulf War to think about. Maybe to kids today, Trump's inauguration is the same kind of ticking clock.
That said, I also have problems with this form of protest though. Big ones.
1.) Half these kids are just skipping school to skip school, I guarantee it. I'm not *that* old. I'd say it's about the same as the electorate; 50% of Americans didn't vote, so I'd guess 50% of these high school kids don't care. They're just glad they have an excuse not to have to come up with an excuse as to why they don't have their math homework finished. Again, it's fine. Work the system. Get a day off. The kids actually cutting class bother me far less than the armchair liberals on Facebook going "Right on! So proud of these kids! This will show Trump!" Why? See point #2.
2.) What exactly are these kids showing Trump? "We refuse our education unless you step down. If you don't step down then we'll continue to, um, not educate ourselves, which will of course lead to us being uninformed and easily led by the next charismatic despot that comes along." I accept that may be a jaded and obtuse long view. Still, I'm not sure what these kids' endgame is. That's probably because there is no endgame here. Do they really think Trump is going to go, "Oh my God! These kids are skipping school! What have I done?! Bernie Sanders, please come take my place!" There's no endgame because there's no leadership and no organization... nothing but knee-jerk reaction. Which leads me to point #3.
3.) If this level of protest can be sustained, then I'm all for kids all over the country skipping school, practicing civil disobedience, etc. However, by the time January 20 rolls around, my feeling is that schools will have cracked down, and kids will be exhausted from dealing with shit from their parents, teachers, and communities. Not only is there no endgame, there's also no *long* game. If Trump (and/or Pence) is as bad as everybody thinks, then what people really need to do is prepare for a long fight. But movies and TV have us indoctrinated to believe that everything can be wrapped up neatly in 2 hours or 13 episodes. I guess The Walking Dead is the exception, but my point is that there needs to be a long term resistance strategy in which worst case scenarios are planned for. That way when the unexpected shit happens, there's a system in place to fight it. Yes, kids. You need a system to fight a system. Do not rebel. Subvert instead.
4.) And finally: I think it's all stupid. I think we need to roll with the punches and accept we have deeper problems than an idiot getting elected president. We need to understand why this happened, and figure out how grow past it. I understand that there are real racist idiots out there committing acts of violence because Trump got elected, but I think those people are few and far between. I think most people are exhausted wage slaves who just want to work 40 hours a week so they can come home and watch Blue Bloods on Friday. They want to like a Facebook post and share a fake article and feel like they're saving the world, so they feel justified in just taking a nap. Very few people are actually going to take civic action. And more than half of those doing it now will give up when it becomes, you know, work. The anger will subside. Trump will be shoehorned by a Congress and public who hates him, and we'll get the status quo for four more years until he's reelected.
