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0:01:19 I’m Scott Galloway, and this is No Mercy, No Malice.
0:01:26 On Saturday, June 14th, President Trump threw himself a birthday party in the form of a military parade.
0:01:31 However, it was overshadowed by a movement with a more powerful message.
0:01:36 Pomp versus protest, as read by George Hahn.
0:01:54 June 14th was a day of stark contrasts and dueling narratives.
0:02:01 As President Trump staged a military parade and tanks squeaked down Constitution Avenue,
0:02:07 millions of Americans, from Bangor to Beverly Hills, marched in the streets to protest.
0:02:12 Trump celebrated the country’s military might and his 79th birthday,
0:02:16 vowing to crush foreign adversaries that threaten the U.S.
0:02:22 and use heavy force to stop any domestic protesters who stood in his way.
0:02:29 The peaceful resistance movement in 2,100 cities and towns across America had a simple message.
0:02:34 No thrones, no crowns, no kings.
0:02:42 The clash between hardware and software made strikingly clear that putting tanks and troops on your own roads
0:02:44 isn’t a sign of strength, but weakness.
0:02:49 There are three firewalls between a democracy and autocracy.
0:02:53 The courts, the media, and the citizenry.
0:02:59 The GOP represents the 1% at the cost of the 99%.
0:03:03 The Democrats are more interested in grasping for social virtue
0:03:07 than improving the material and emotional well-being of Americans.
0:03:10 When your representatives won’t represent,
0:03:13 you become your own delegation.
0:03:23 Attendance at Trump’s parade to commemorate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary
0:03:29 appeared to fall far short of the White House’s estimate of 250,000 people.
0:03:35 Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s yawn, captured on camera, said it all.
0:03:41 The celebration, brought to you by sponsors such as Coinbase and Palantir, was a sad spectacle.
0:03:46 The event had the cool factor of your drunk uncle showing off his karate moves at Thanksgiving.
0:03:54 I wonder if what ultimately limits the damage of this clearance-wrack autocrat isn’t the courts or the 10-year bond,
0:03:57 but just how lame he is.
0:04:02 The No Kings campaign was a dramatically different story.
0:04:10 A widely cited analysis from data journalist G. Elliot Morris estimates that 4 million to 6 million people
0:04:12 participated in the protests.
0:04:18 That represents 1.2% to 1.8% of the U.S. population
0:04:23 and makes it one of the largest single-day protests in American history,
0:04:26 probably even bigger than the 2017 Women’s March,
0:04:30 when more than 4 million people showed up at demonstrations around the country.
0:04:34 Supported by a long list of organizations,
0:04:38 from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Service Employees International Union,
0:04:43 the rallies were deftly timed to divert the spotlight from 47’s show.
0:04:48 TV networks had no choice but to cut to the protesters chanting,
0:04:51 dancing, and marching shoulder to shoulder.
0:04:53 America got a split screen.
0:04:58 Bottle service at Applebee’s versus Bagatelle in Saint-Tropez.
0:05:02 The No Kings turnout was significant,
0:05:05 even if it didn’t reach a critical threshold.
0:05:10 When at least 3.5% of a country’s population
0:05:14 actively engages in a peaceful protest movement,
0:05:17 it has always resulted in political change,
0:05:19 according to Erika Chenoweth,
0:05:22 a political scientist and professor at Harvard.
0:05:29 Chenoweth analyzed 323 nonviolent and violent mobilizations
0:05:32 between 1900 and 2006,
0:05:34 highlighting a range of campaigns,
0:05:36 including the People Power Movement
0:05:40 against the Ferdinand Marcos regime in the Philippines in 1986,
0:05:43 the Rose Revolution in 2003,
0:05:46 in which the people of Georgia ousted
0:05:47 Edouard Shevardnadze,
0:05:50 and an uprising in Sudan in 2019
0:05:53 that forced its president of 30 years,
0:05:55 Omar al-Bashir,
0:05:56 to step down.
0:06:00 She also concluded that nonviolent campaigns
0:06:03 are twice as likely to achieve their goals
0:06:05 as violent movements.
0:06:09 Every senior in every high school in every country
0:06:13 should be forced to read the previous sentence 100 times.
0:06:19 In an interview on Pod Save America earlier this week,
0:06:21 Chenoweth said protest campaigns
0:06:24 that fulfill their objectives and ignite change
0:06:26 have similar characteristics.
0:06:28 They are united,
0:06:29 inclusive,
0:06:32 highly organized,
0:06:33 and disciplined.
0:06:35 They stick to their strategy
0:06:37 without getting baited into defending
0:06:39 and debating their tactics.
0:06:42 These campaigns of nonviolent resistance,
0:06:43 she said,
0:06:45 can take several different forms,
0:06:46 including boycotts.
0:06:49 The backlash against Tesla and Elon Musk
0:06:50 is a case in point.
0:06:53 Since the Tesla takedown began,
0:06:56 organizers have encouraged consumers
0:06:58 to boycott Tesla by selling their cars
0:07:00 as well as their stock,
0:07:03 while protesters have staged demonstrations
0:07:04 at factories and showrooms
0:07:07 to condemn Musk and his political activities,
0:07:10 contributing to a plunge in Tesla’s sales
0:07:11 in key markets.
0:07:14 Protesters seem to agree
0:07:16 that Musk’s politics are bad for America.
0:07:20 We need to continue to make them bad for his business.
0:07:26 The 3.5% estimate isn’t a magic number.
0:07:28 Campaigns will lose steam quickly
0:07:30 if they attempt to hit the target
0:07:31 without a clear strategy
0:07:32 to sustain their momentum.
0:07:34 Resistance movements
0:07:36 must go beyond street demonstrations,
0:07:38 which are often difficult to coordinate
0:07:39 and risky,
0:07:42 and shift to the business and economic realm.
0:07:45 Chenoweth pointed to boycotts
0:07:46 in apartheid-era South Africa,
0:07:48 which created an economic crisis
0:07:50 that contributed to the end of segregation
0:07:52 in the early 1990s.
0:07:54 She said,
0:07:54 quote,
0:07:56 The most important thing
0:07:57 that nonviolent movements
0:07:58 are able to do
0:08:01 is build enough political power
0:08:02 and influence
0:08:03 and sometimes economic,
0:08:04 social,
0:08:05 and cultural power
0:08:06 and influence
0:08:08 that they begin to elicit
0:08:09 defections from opponents’
0:08:11 pillars of support.
0:08:12 Unquote.
0:08:16 When it comes to taking on the administration,
0:08:18 protesters could use some help
0:08:19 from business leaders,
0:08:22 many of whom have remained quiet
0:08:23 for fear of retaliation.
0:08:25 The protest movement
0:08:26 will need to persuade companies
0:08:28 that Trump’s actions,
0:08:30 including his tariff policies,
0:08:32 are harming their businesses
0:08:33 and threatening the economy.
0:08:36 I believe this is one of the biggest opportunities
0:08:37 in the consumer market
0:08:38 in a decade.
0:08:41 The first business leaders
0:08:42 to join the cause
0:08:44 could reap significant
0:08:45 reputational
0:08:47 and commercial benefits.
0:08:52 The first stage-managed displays
0:08:54 of military prowess
0:08:56 date back to ancient times.
0:08:58 Mesopotamian emperors
0:08:59 decorated their palaces
0:09:00 with friezes
0:09:01 depicting their victories,
0:09:03 while portraits showed rulers
0:09:04 leading their troops
0:09:05 into battle
0:09:06 or crushing
0:09:07 their opponents’ skulls,
0:09:08 according to The Guardian.
0:09:10 Roman generals
0:09:12 also famously loved
0:09:13 military parades.
0:09:14 In recent decades,
0:09:16 Cuba’s Fidel Castro
0:09:17 held parades
0:09:17 to commemorate
0:09:19 the revolution he led
0:09:19 in 1959,
0:09:21 and North Korea’s
0:09:22 Kim Jong-un,
0:09:23 who bonded with Trump
0:09:24 in 2018,
0:09:27 used a 2023 military parade
0:09:28 featuring weapons
0:09:29 and goose-stepping soldiers
0:09:30 to flaunt parts
0:09:31 of his country’s
0:09:32 nuclear arsenal
0:09:34 and introduce his daughter
0:09:35 and potential successor.
0:09:38 Earlier this year,
0:09:39 China’s Xi Jinping
0:09:40 joined Vladimir Putin
0:09:41 in Red Square
0:09:42 for Russia’s annual
0:09:44 Victory Day Parade.
0:09:47 Beijing’s one-party government
0:09:49 holds its National Day Parade
0:09:50 every 10 years,
0:09:52 showcasing trucks
0:09:53 carrying nuclear missiles
0:09:54 and other weaponry.
0:09:57 It’s not just authoritarian states
0:09:59 that throw themselves parades.
0:10:00 Just last Saturday,
0:10:01 in Britain,
0:10:02 King Charles III
0:10:04 and members of the royal family
0:10:06 appeared at Trooping the Color,
0:10:07 an annual parade
0:10:08 and troop inspection
0:10:09 to mark the monarch’s
0:10:10 official birthday.
0:10:13 The chihuahua barking
0:10:15 at its own reflection
0:10:16 may provide a torrent
0:10:18 of fodder for comedians,
0:10:19 but it shouldn’t be dismissed
0:10:20 as a joke.
0:10:22 It’s another sign
0:10:23 of a country
0:10:24 descending into kleptocracy
0:10:26 and fascism.
0:10:28 The military parade
0:10:30 the first of its kind
0:10:30 since U.S. troops
0:10:32 returned from the Gulf War
0:10:33 in 1991
0:10:35 capped an unsettling week
0:10:37 in which Trump
0:10:38 deployed the marines
0:10:40 not to a foreign country
0:10:41 but to the streets
0:10:42 of Los Angeles
0:10:44 to quell protests.
0:10:46 God, what bullshit.
0:10:48 The autocrat’s playbook
0:10:49 is to manifest
0:10:50 an enemy within.
0:10:51 Immigrants,
0:10:52 the media,
0:10:53 and academics.
0:10:56 Before invading Poland
0:10:56 in 1939,
0:10:58 Hitler invaded
0:10:58 the freedoms
0:11:00 of his own citizens.
0:11:02 Democracy is under siege
0:11:03 and at risk
0:11:04 of unraveling
0:11:05 as the U.S.
0:11:06 slides toward
0:11:08 competitive authoritarianism,
0:11:10 a system in which
0:11:11 elections remain important
0:11:13 but the incumbents
0:11:14 manipulate the rules,
0:11:15 abuse their power,
0:11:17 and tilt the playing field
0:11:19 against their rivals.
0:11:24 Despite the toxic uncertainty
0:11:24 in the economy,
0:11:27 threats to American values
0:11:28 and rule of law,
0:11:29 cruel and weird
0:11:30 immigration policies,
0:11:32 tax cuts for the rich,
0:11:34 and unprecedented grift,
0:11:36 you might still believe
0:11:37 American democracy
0:11:38 is inevitable.
0:11:41 Don’t bank on it.
0:11:43 Scholars have worried
0:11:45 about a global rise
0:11:47 in democratic backsliding
0:11:48 as leaders
0:11:50 with autocratic tendencies
0:11:51 curtail freedoms
0:11:53 and consolidate power.
0:11:56 One study found
0:11:56 that more than
0:11:57 two-thirds
0:11:59 of the 96 countries
0:12:00 which experienced
0:12:02 those backsliding episodes
0:12:03 between 1900
0:12:04 and 2019
0:12:07 completely broke down
0:12:08 into authoritarian rule.
0:12:11 There are signs
0:12:11 of hope.
0:12:14 Research also shows
0:12:15 that over the past
0:12:16 three decades,
0:12:18 about 70%
0:12:19 of the countries
0:12:19 that descended
0:12:21 into autocracy
0:12:22 managed to mount
0:12:24 a democratic turnaround.
0:12:26 In many cases,
0:12:27 those fights
0:12:29 to reverse the damage
0:12:30 led to restored
0:12:31 or even stronger
0:12:32 levels of democracy.
0:12:34 I’m aligned
0:12:35 with historian
0:12:36 Timothy Snyder
0:12:38 who told me
0:12:38 last month
0:12:39 on the Prof G-Pod
0:12:41 that he’s optimistic
0:12:42 about the American
0:12:43 protest movement.
0:12:45 The No Kings rallies
0:12:46 bode well
0:12:48 for the next stages
0:12:49 of the resistance.
0:12:50 Dictators
0:12:52 and aspiring autocrats
0:12:53 who roll out tanks
0:12:54 on their own streets
0:12:55 may be dangerous,
0:12:57 but history shows
0:12:59 they’re no match
0:13:00 for a united,
0:13:01 organized,
0:13:02 and creative
0:13:04 opposition campaign.
0:13:06 Trump spent
0:13:07 his birthday
0:13:08 trying to cosplay
0:13:09 as a strong man
0:13:11 while millions
0:13:12 of Americans
0:13:12 demonstrated
0:13:14 what actual strength
0:13:15 looks like.
0:13:17 This was
0:13:18 the desperate performance
0:13:19 of a man
0:13:20 who confuses
0:13:21 attention
0:13:22 with respect.
0:13:24 The marches
0:13:25 proved
0:13:26 Trump may be able
0:13:27 to rent tanks,
0:13:29 but he can’t
0:13:30 buy legitimacy.
0:13:31 In some,
0:13:34 America showed up.
0:13:39 Life is so rich.