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Fiendish Thingy

(19,558 posts)
Sun Jun 15, 2025, 05:08 PM Sunday

Pod Save America: Do You Know The 3.5% Rule?

How nonviolent resistance succeeds in toppling autocracy when 3.5% or more of a nation’s population becomes engaged in the movement.

(Don’t let the length of the show dissuade you from listening, the guest does an excellent summary within the first 10 minutes)

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msongs

(71,467 posts)
1. 5 mil protestors divided by 350 mil people is only 1.4%, at that number not even close to 3.5%
Sun Jun 15, 2025, 06:26 PM
Sunday

10 mil protestors only gets u up to 2.8%

Fiendish Thingy

(19,558 posts)
4. Indeed. IMO, it would take a truly catastrophic government-initiated event to generate engagement at the 3.5% threshold
Sun Jun 15, 2025, 08:30 PM
Sunday

Something like the collapse of SS/Medicare, or the mass shooting of unarmed civilians by ICE or the military.

fierywoman

(8,358 posts)
2. But if you use the number 154,000,00 (amount who voted in the 2024 election) you get close
Sun Jun 15, 2025, 06:56 PM
Sunday

to the 3.5% -- there are also sources out there saying that when all is said and done ( & counted) that the number of protestors will be more than 5 million.

Fiendish Thingy

(19,558 posts)
5. The 3.5% rule applies to the entire population of the nation
Sun Jun 15, 2025, 08:33 PM
Sunday

Not just the voters.

History and the evidence show it must be 3.5% of the entire nation engaged in active resistance in order to topple and authoritarian regime.

msongs

(71,467 posts)
7. it's a ton of people and nervous repubs certainly paid attention... hard core magats probably not nt
Sun Jun 15, 2025, 09:58 PM
Sunday
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