Trump's war on Iran is the most unpopular war in US history at its launch -- with only 38% support. Yet nearly no one is protesting it. Eric Blanc presents seven hypotheses for this strange paradox, and they challenge the conventional wisdom about what's keeping Americans out of the streets.
The war against Iran began with a shocking lack of public support. Pollster G. Elliot Morris documented something remarkable: this US war started with the lowest approval rating ever recorded. Support for bombing Iran is even lower than retrospective support for the Iraq War was in 2014. Yet massive protests have failed to materialize. Blanc offers seven explanations rather than definitive answers, aiming to spark discussion that might help build an actual movement.
Americans Feel Powerless
The Vietnam era saw young people flood into activism partly because the civil rights movement had just proven mass action could work. The Students for a Democratic Society -- SDS -- released its founding manifesto in 1962, describing how "the Southern struggle against racial bigotry... compelled most of us from silence to activism." That generation saw examples of success that made them feel they could make a difference.
The obstacle today is the opposite: a pervasive sense that individual actions don't matter. SDS leader Bernardine Dohrn has noted the critical difference between that era and now: many Americans believe what they do won't make a difference. The challenge is finding winnable campaigns -- like resistance to ICE in Minnesota or pushing schools to break from immigration enforcement -- that prove collective power exists.
People Are Hoping the War Ends Quickly
Like many, Blanc wakes each morning hoping Trump will call a quick victory, as he did with Venezuela. At least that would stop further atrocities against civilians. The administration has shown little interest in manufacturing public consent for this war, and the political risks of rising gas prices make a long armed intervention seem unlikely.
But the war continues to deepen. Trump's speed and dismissal of public opinion left many Americans in shock. Unlike George W. Bush, who spent a year building support for Iraq -- creating space where mass protests could intervene -- Trump's approach created almost no space for Americans to shake off bystander mode. This helps explain why an exceptionally unpopular war has produced exceptionally little collective action.
Trump Is Doing So Many Horrible Things
In contrast to Bush's singular focus on imperialism, Trump's across-the-board attacks overwhelm those trying to organize resistance. Blanc has spent roughly ten volunteer hours daily supporting the Schools Drop ICE campaign, leaving no capacity for anti-war organizing.
The upcoming No Kings protests on March 28 and May Day provide opportunities to combine all these struggles. Opposition to war could become a major focus of these actions.
Mobilizing Is Not Organizing
Even massive protests against US military activities don't rebuild a powerful movement. Ordinary people need to organize between demonstrations -- actively working to win others over to the cause.
Today's digital technologies make it easier to get supporters into the streets without building organizational infrastructure or person-to-person relationships. Social media facilitates mobilizing. But big protests don't demonstrate as much power as they used to, and their preparation doesn't build the on-the-ground relationships that movements depend on. SDS leader Mark Rudd has observed that young people lack instruction on how to do the hard work of person-to-person organizing.
Angela Davis pointed out that demonstrations are supposed to demonstrate potential power -- but these days we mistake the visibility for the substance itself. After protests end, millions go home without feeling responsible to build further support.
The answer is to look at March 28 and May Day not as one-off events, but as mechanisms to recruit and train people into ongoing campaigns.
The Draft Is Gone
The end of conscription in 1973 certainly contributes to less anti-war activity. With fewer Americans directly in harm's way and increasing reliance on long-distance aerial bombardment, war costs are less immediately felt by US citizens. But this factor is limited. America experienced significant anti-war movements after the draft ended -- including resistance to US intervention in Central America during the 1980s and opposition to Bush's Iraq War in the early 2000s.
The shift toward capital-intensive air wars makes it even more important to organize around military spending, which runs over $1 trillion yearly.
Sectarianism Has Marginalized Anti-War Activity
Too much recent anti-war activity has leaned into alienating rhetoric while tying widely supported demands to unhelpful romanticization of anti-imperialist forces. Opposing imperialism does not require justifying Hamas's killing of civilians or the Islamic Republic's repression of pro-democracy activists.
An excessive amount of activist energy has gone toward calling out elected officials like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, even though she has never voted for US military aid to Israel and has vociferously opposed the Iran war. The impact of righteous encampments in solidarity with Palestine was undercut by provocative rhetoric that opponents could easily misrepresent.
Intense repression against these relatively isolated efforts chilled campus organizing. Students are often vanguards of anti-war and anti-authoritarian organizing, so reviving a culture of mass politics on colleges remains essential.
What Can Be Done
Each person and organization can commit to attending the March 28 No Kings demonstrations -- but also reaching out to neighbors, co-workers, fellow students, and congregation members to join. Ask them what they feel about the Iran war or ICE; note how insane it is that the US spends nearly a trillion yearly on war while everyday people struggle at home; then ask them to join the rally.
Most Americans strongly oppose this war but don't know what to do about it. It's time to reach beyond existing echo chambers and make movements real -- setting into motion mass non-violent disruption that Trump and the war machine cannot ignore.
Another concrete step is supporting the QuitGPT campaign. After the Pentagon refused Anthropic's contract stipulations against mass surveillance or autonomous military attacks, OpenAI immediately signed a contract with the Pentagon that was rushed without proper guardrails. Just as Tesla Takedown succeeded in forcing Elon Musk out of the White House, QuitGPT can punish companies enabling a US military machine massacring civilians in Iran.
Unlike many online boycotts, this is an organized effort with measurable impact. Over 4 million people have already taken part.
Critics might note that focusing on corporate boycotts risks prioritizing corporate accountability over the deeper political structures that enable endless war. The strategic question remains whether economic pressure translates into lasting political change.
Trump wants us to believe we're powerless to stop him. But this is a widely unpopular regime waging one of the most unpopular wars in US history.
Bottom Line
Blanc's strongest insight: the war on Iran isn't just unpopular -- it's historically unprecedented in its lack of public support at launch, yet protest remains absent. His vulnerability lies in proposing solutions that may not address the deeper problem: a political system structured around permanent warfare that boycotts alone cannot dismantle. Watch for whether movements can move beyond tactical actions toward genuine political power.