Is there anything authentic left about the so-called “resistance” to Donald Trump? If there ever was, it’s hard to find it now beneath the mountain of astroturf that’s propped up a cottage industry of professional troublemakers. Once upon a time, Americans took to the streets with a fire in their bellies, believing in a cause, ready to peacefully protest in the name of a just cause. Now, that moral clarity has given way to a gig economy for the politically disaffected, a comfortable hustle for left-wing basement dwellers, all well-compensated for the role of the “outraged” citizen activist.
It’s not speculation. Demand for paid protesters skyrocketed after Trump took office, a 400% bump if you’re keeping count. And where there’s a market, you better believe someone’s supplying it. And one of the key organizations behind this is Crowds on Demand, the premier rent-a-mob outfit for the 21st century, happy to take your call, whether you’re organizing a flash mob for a corporate rollout or a shrieking horde for a protest outside the White House, waiting to hear about what horrible thing Trump has done. The company’s CEO, Adam Swart, went on Fox & Friends with Lawrence Jones and happily described the business model that churns out mercenaries for the mob.
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That means a marketplace for mass outrage, complete with price points. Want to hit the streets? They’ll pay you “from the low one hundreds into a few hundred” dollars, depending on where you are, how long you’re out in the elements, and if you’re willing to brave bad weather or sunrise roll-calls.
Talk about bringing the “pro” to protest. What’s next, unionization? Will these sign-waving contractors start demanding dental and vision for all that time spent shouting at federal buildings?
Swart would have you believe that there’s nothing to see here: "Peaceful and law-abiding,” he says. That's reassuring if you’re the kind of person who trusts an entrepreneur whose business model is mass demonstration on demand. He’ll tell you, straight-faced, that the company’s approach is nonpartisan, handling clients on both sides of the aisle.
Sure. And even if it were, it still rubs me the wrong way. Protesting used to mean something. It meant that you were taking time out of your day to support a cause. I’ve participated in a few protests myself over the years and never got paid a dime for it. That's because I sincerely supported the cause.
Hilariously, Swart doesn’t see a difference. According to him, these folks getting a paycheck to protest “genuinely share these beliefs.” He even trotted out a hypothetical to show that Fox viewers and Black Lives Matter supporters alike can both be true believers, at least, so long as the money’s good and the gig fits. Don’t look too closely at those conveniently timed surges in “grassroots” participation, though. Don’t ask if your average protester gathering in the D.C. humidity is motivated by conviction or compensation.
It’s depressing how firms have cheapened, commercialized, and corporatized the noble tradition of protest, once a sacred tool of the people for demanding justice or voicing dissent. Now, it’s less about a nation’s conscience and more about padded wallets and well-crafted PR stunts. The grassroots have been paved over, replaced by lucrative contracts and empty gestures. Genuineness is hard to find when there’s a dollar figure attached to outrage.
