On TikTok and 'Critical Mass'

I don’t share the tweeter’s reason why TikTok is under threat, but his other three statements are true. Especially the last: “Gen Z is fierce and unstoppable.” I don’t think they’re going to down nice.

By Thomas Neuburger

I want to start writing some pieces around repair, focused on fixing what’s clearly breaking up. I’ll do this in chunks, however. Starting here.

The Virtues of Critical Mass

First, a taste of what’s needed. Among the necessities is critical mass, a Sixties-style revolt against “things as they are” that is large enough to be self-generating.

Think of a gas-fired motor. Before automatic starters we installed in cars, the motors used to have to be cranked by hand until they “caught,” until that point where rotation itself powered each subsequent turn. After that, they run on their own. Before that, they died, needing the next hand-crank to keep them going.

Some lawn mower motors are like that as well, or used to be. Same with public revolt expressed in demonstrations.

Between 400,000 and 500,000 protesters gathered to oppose the invasion of Iraq in New York City on Feb. 15, 2003. (Mario Tama via Getty Images)

Millions of people turned out in 650 cities to protest the Iraq War on February 15, 2003. It did no good. Not enough people, not enough disruption, no persistence. Not enough critical mass.

Compare that to the list of protests against the Vietnam War. Those disappeared in 1973, by which time Nixon was on the ropes, not for the War, but for crimes against other elites (like the Watergate break-in), but they did their job before, including driving Johnson to retire.

The other side of “critical mass” is disruption. Witness the “surrender monkeys” of Bush-era fame:

Demonstrators holding flares invading the Euronext Paris building in protest to the pension reforms at La Defense business district in Paris, Thursday, April 20, 2023. Union activists stage scattered actions to press France's government to scrap the new law raising the retirement age. Photo / AP

This is how people who really don’t want to be messed with show their displeasure. Keep that disruption persistent, and that scale, and the government will cave. If they don’t, they won’t be the government, or it won’t be a republic.

So ingredient number one for successful revolt — critical mass.

Critical Mass Today

Where will critical mass come from today? A lot of places, but social media is one. Enter TikTok, to a great many people’s surprise. Consider first the video below. If you have time, listen all the way through.

This, by the way, is not a political channel. She “toks” (is that what they do over there?) about her personal life, like discovering that for her, “bi” could really mean “gay.” It’s a fun channel, a real Gen Z mashup. But note that most of the political “toks” — I’m just making words up here — get 10 times the viewage.

Here are a few more, courtesy of this Twitter thread. This video has three million views:

So does this one:

And his is a political feed. Nuff said?

Critical mass is just one of the pieces needed to spark the Next American Revolt. It's not here yet, but it’s coming.

Acting French

The people with nothing to gain from solving our problems, and everything to lose — the octo and nonagenareans in charge of it all (you know who I mean) — have yet to face the full anger of those with everything to lose if the don't fight back hard.

The ground’s being laid. If I were an octo in charge, I’d be concerned. What if they start to act French, these Gen Z types, while you’re still on the earth?