Protest of Our Time: NO KINGS 2

© Occasionalities on Facebook

Last Saturday, millions upon millions of Americans rose up and marched in protest of the current political regime in power.  The occasion was the No Kings 2 protests.  If you thought the first No Kings protest (and its predecessor, Hands Off) was a big deal, this one blew them away.

The first protest that kicked this all off took place on April 5th, called Hands Off, mostly in opposition to Donald Trump and Elon Musk (with his DOGE initiative).  Setting the precedent, protests were held in all fifty American states.  Over 1,200 locations nationwide hosted approximately 3,000,000 protestors, with additional protests taking place abroad, in England, Portugal, Germany, France, and Canada.

© 2025, Hands Off

That day was so successful, but equally matched, or perhaps overshadowed, by the disdain for the regime, another protest was planned.  This time, it was called No Kings, in opposition to Trump's and the federal government's overreach in its powers, and its outreach would be even larger.

© 2025, No Kings

Where Hands Off locations totaled 1,200, No Kings locations totaled around 2,100.  The Hands Off attendance of 3,000,000 was blown away at No Kings with an incredible 5,000,000 people attending nationwide.  

The date of June 14th was picked to coincide with the dictator regime-style military parade in Washington, D.C., alleged to mark the Army's 250th anniversary, and Trump's birthday.  (Yes, he got his military parade on his birthday.)  The protests garnered the larger, and more serious, news coverage... at least on independent media.  Abroad, protests took place in several U.S. territories (e.g. Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands) and ten other countries.  In countries where there are constitutional monarchies in place, alternate titles of No Dictators or No Tyrants were used to avoid any possible confusion.  

I attended a local march -- I'm not too terribly far from Philadelphia, but I wanted to stay more local -- and the route was selected, in part, to go past Jersey Kebab, a Mediterranean cuisine restaurant.  Its significance stems from the owners, Celal and Emine Emanet, being detained by ICE back in February during a raid on their restaurant.  The outcry from the community was immediate and powerful.  The couple was released weeks later, although Celal still has an immigration case pending.  (In fact, Emine was outside her restaurant during the march saying, "Thank you!  Thank you!" as the crowd passed.)  

 
As expected, Trump got worse and Americans' anger with him increased even more.  The organizers of the first No Kings protest decided to up the ante.  This was not hard to do because the worse he gets, the angrier people get.  A second No Kings march was planned for last Saturday, October 18, 2025. 

© 2025, No Kings

To say that the numbers just keep getting bigger is an understatement.  No Kings 1 had 5,000,000 protestors across 2,100 locations.  No Kings 2 blew that out of the water with a whopping 7,000,000 protesting across 2,700 locations!  

AND the number of countries outside of America holding protests the same day totaled twenty.  Here's the list:

Portugal

Spain

Netherlands

Norway

Sweden

Belgium

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Italy

Ireland

United Kingdom

Canada

Mexico

Costa Rica

Japan

Iceland

South Korea (Yes, South Korea!)
Source: The 50501 Movement

Apparently, Donald Trump isn't popular around the world, either.

Members of the POT were calling this the "Hate America Rally", with some even saying among the numbers protesting would be Marxists, Socialists, and the "pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party".  That wasn't all they had to say. 

Many said there would be violence at the protests.  As it turns out, anywhere between twenty-two and thirty-six persons were arrested, depending on the source, and all of those arrested were supporters Trump and his regime.  Not a single No Kings 2 protestor -- out of 2,700 locations, in all fifty states, among 7,000,000 people -- was arrested.  Turns out, the POT was right about violence at the protests, but it came from their side.

Once again, I attended the same local march.  This time, the crowd looked physically larger.  Oh, it was!  The attendance there for the first No Kings march was 3,000.  Last Saturday, the attendance was an incredible 8,000 protestors! 

Proving himself once again to be the petty man-child that he is, the next day, Trump posted a disgusting AI-generated video with him flying a bomber -- his air mask was way too low on his face...I guess so more of it showed -- flying over protests and dropping feces on the crowd.  If you didn't know how he felt about those who oppose him, and I can't imagine how that would be the case, this video was a graphic representation of it.  Disgraceful!

Not to mention he had the removal of the entire East Wing of the White House started the next day as well.

At last Saturday's protests, there were a lot fantastic images of costumes, banners, signs, etc.  One of my favorite from all of them -- and that's a lot to choose from -- is the picture below.  It's an oversized rendering of the Constitution displayed at the Los Angeles No Kings 2 march.

Source: VPM News

Many protest songs were created before, and for, the No Kings marches.  One of the best examples that I saw on YouTube was from John D. Cundle [YouTube page].  He has dozens of great videos.  The one that struck me the hardest is the video below.  I'd recommend turning on the closed captions, as some of the lyrics are a little hard to hear, at least to me.  (The closed captions on this are excellent -- no misinterpreted words.)  

The organizers of the No Kings protests have already announced that there will be a third No Kings march.  (No date set yet.)  Clearly the No Kings movement is gaining momentum in this country (and around the world).  With numbers growing from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 to 7,000,000, it's easy to see the people are fed up and are rising up.  More and more people are waking up to what's happening in this country and they are not tolerating it.

You and your loved ones are worth it.  Your neighbors are worth it.  Your fellow citizens are worth it.  Your country is worth it.

OUR FOUNDERS DIDN'T STAND UP TO ONE KING

JUST SO WE COULD BOW DOWN TO ANOTHER!

Terry

Comparison of the Day: SOCIALISM VS. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM

Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential runs in 2016 and 2020 raised eyebrows for many reasons, mostly positive.  One of the reasons was Sanders being a self-described Democratic Socialist.  Many people thought of strict socialism; many thought the term was a bit of an oxymoron.

A similar confusion seems to have risen again with Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is also a self-described Democratic Socialist.  I thought a comparison between Socialism and Democratic Socialism could be helpful.

Before drawing that comparison, a historical comparison is necessary.  That comparison is between socialism and communism.  There has been a long-standing sense that the two are the same or very, very similar.  This perception, which has been around for generations, may be the basis for the misperception.  The comparison below is a basic one with very basic definitions of theoretical versions of both.. 

Communism                                                 Socialism
Seeks a classless, stateless society            Seeks a more equitable society
No private property or privately-owned        Private property and collective ownership
     resources                                                     of resources
Centralized, authoritarian government         Seeks to narrow the gap between classes 
Resources allocated by government            Resources allocated based on need
     determination                                       

While these are very basic definitions, it is also important to remember there have been very oppressive governments in place using these methods.

The other thing to remember is socialism has never been seen historically, or theoretically, as the goal.  Socialism is not the end game.  Communism has been seen as the end game within this sociopolitical paradigm.  Socialism has been seen as the means to a Communism end.

For those of you who may be thinking ahead after that last sentence (e.g. "Wait, if socialism means communism is coming, then any concerns about Mamdani or Sanders must be correct"), the pending comparison should put that concern at ease.

As socialism is the means to an end, often including revolution (which, historically, has included violence), Democratic Socialism is the end goal with democratic processes as both the means and the sustaining system.  Here are a few illustrations:

"Democratic Socialism = Communism" is not true.  Even though some ideas and concepts can be traced back further, democratic socialism arose in the nineteenth century as a oppositional response to the initial industrial capitalism movement.  A form of socialism that is democratic -- a "from the bottom up" modality -- is desired. 

"They want a government that controls everything" is not true.  Democratic socialism is opposed to any government with absolute control.  It seeks to have all social, political, and economic decisions be voted upon by everyone, with everyone having a say in what affects their lives.

"They only care about economic issues" is not true.  (You can refer to my explanation directly above on this one.)  Democratic socialist oppose all forms of oppression, domination, and inequality.  Issues such as racism, anti-LGBTQ+. patriarchy, fascism, and oligarchy are antithetical to, and incompatible with, democratic socialism.

"Democratic Socialists are really just 'Social Democrats' calling themselves by a different name" is not true.  Social Democrats have sought what's been called a "third way" of approaching politics, etc., while Democratic Socialists have seen the need to change current systematic structures via re-envisioning what those structures would/could/should look like.

"Democratic Socialists are actually just liberal Democrats" is not true.  It can be easy to accept this one as true, but Democratic Socialists see a distinction between liberalism and socialism, with liberalism as merely one element in the Democratic Party.  A third political party, one more socialism-based, is often sought.

I am not promoting anything here but education on this topic.  I completely get it when it comes to the idea that, if the word "socialism" is in your title, you're promoting something absolutely abhorrent.  The history of socialism, both linguistically and politically in the history of the world does give the idea of "democratic socialism" (e.g. any kind of socialism actually being democratic) an uphill battle in acceptance or even simple understanding.  I would suspect those who identify as "democratic socialist" also get it.  Just like the old idiom "Don't judge a book by its cover", the word "socialism" shouldn't necessarily be an automatic off-switch.

Food for thought.

Terry