by Marybeth O’Mara
April 9, 2025
What a week! There have been some ups (several million people participated in Hands Off rallies and protests) and some downs (insane tariffs have led to market volatility and the loss of trillions of dollars in US wealth.)
The protests were very well-attended and peaceful, showing us all that the country is getting increasingly riled up by the fast and furious pace of lawless and inhumane actions taken by this administration, in less than 11 weeks. The crowd I witnessed in Chicago (and I have heard similar reports from participants in other protests) was overwhelmingly white, and older than the average age of the population. This suggests to me a couple of things: that members of the groups most likely to be targeted by this administration are feeling understandably wary of putting themselves in the streets where they can be surveilled and harassed, and that the fury demonstrated by the white folks who participated cannot be good news for the administration.
Now, I recognize that I live in a large blue dot in what might be the most significant blue state right now (thanks, Gov. Pritzker), but the pictures I saw in other states with much less prominent blue factions (including the Villages in Florida, Salt Lake City, and Boise, ID) reveal a presumed loss of support among likely MAGA supporters. The horror of the actions already taken was reflected in a huge variety of clever and pointed posters displayed by marchers and rally-goers. I often note that liberals are so much funnier (even while lamenting) than MAGAts.
While I believe the scale and import of the protests (30,000 participants in Chicago, over 3,000,000 at 1400+ events nationwide) was underreported by the mainstream media, it does look like nearly 1% of the nation was out protesting on Saturday. There will be more. Harvard political scientist Erica Chenowith has studied popular uprisings of authoritarian and autocratic governments and she has observed that no government has been able to survive when more than 3.5% of the population mobilizes against it. This has led to the development of the “3.5% Rule,” which suggests that if we keep showing up and grow our protests, that there is a chance at removing the current regime. The BBC described this theory and its evidence in 2019.
The constant deluge of news reminds me of the John Mulaney bit from early in the 1st Trump administration, “There’s a Horse in the Hospital.” It is as true and as funny as when it first came out, what, 7 years ago?!
In terms of the tariffs that have caused such disarray, anger, and loss, I find Senator Chris Murphy’s explanation to be the one that makes the most sense to me. This is not economic policy, any more than threatening universities is education policy, or deporting legal immigrants without notice or due process is immigration policy. All of these (and many more actions) are examples of the authoritarian mob mentality that governs everything Trump does and everything he touches.
Meanwhile, I have become increasingly concerned about malevolent use of the data collected and maintained by the federal government and its capture by Musk and his DOGE boys. I am trying to be more mindful of the steps I take when I move through the world, both digitally and in 3-D. For last week’s protests, I disabled my phone’s facial recognition and location information, kept the phone on airplane mode (except when I needed to text someone), and carried a mask (which I did not feel the need to put on.) I did not go into the protest feeling like there would be any trouble–and there wasn’t–but I wanted to start to build new habits for when things might (and probably will) get ugly.
I have also begun to implement the advice offered by “Fast Company’s” Emily Guy Birkin on how to maintain your own data’s privacy. I have put a freeze on my credit info with all three credit reporting agencies, I have downloaded and printed my Social Security statements and cards, and I have removed financial apps, including my bank’s, from my phone. I have also added 2-factor authorization to many of my apps, and all of my financial log-ins.
Since I am traveling soon, I will take a closer look at Wired’s guide to keeping your digital data secure, especially upon entering the US from abroad. There have been several scary reports lately about airport and customs detentions of returning professors, authors, and students whose only “offense” was a social media post or publications criticizing actions taken by the Trump regime and/or DOGE. Lucky for me, I am too cheap to keep my data current while traveling!
Take this quiz to see how much of your personal information might be vulnerable. Then take the actions that make sense for you—clean up your passwords, disable some apps, go incognito when appropriate, enable 2-factor authentications, and more.
Stay safe, and have a good week!