Americans Caught Between Protest and Paralysis

Protests Surge Amid Rising Fears About Fighting for Rights

As temperatures dropped below freezing in late January, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Minneapolis demanding that ICE operations be halted and that federal agents be withdrawn from the city. The protests followed the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration officers, transforming simmering discontent into open resistance.

Perscient's semantic signature tracking the density of language arguing that Americans need to fight harder for their rights now sits at 26, rising by 9 points over the past month. This increase coincides with a 6-point decline in our signature tracking language celebrating American willingness to defend property, rights, or values, which has fallen to -13. Calls for civic engagement are growing louder even as narratives celebrating Americans' defensive posture fade from public discourse.

More than 300 demonstrations took place across all 50 states under the banner "ICE Out of Everywhere," with protesters calling for "no work, no school, no shopping" in direct response to the administration's immigration enforcement actions. In Hillsboro, Oregon, an estimated 1,600 middle and high school students walked out of classes to protest ICE activity in their communities. The protests spread to New York, California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, and Colorado.

At the Grammy Awards, music's biggest stars used the stage to protest Trump's immigration crackdown, with many wearing "ICE Out" pins. The Nation magazine has nominated Minneapolis for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, citing the city's peaceful protests and efforts to uphold human dignity amid tensions with federal authorities.

Yet beneath the visible mobilization runs anxiety about the costs of dissent. As one social media user observed, "Americans as a whole are too conditioned to be well behaved so we don't lose our jobs, so most won't protest most won't walk out or boycott." Another user wrote, "We are not failing to protect democracy because we don't know what's wrong. We are failing because we are scared—and because comfort has made us soft in all the ways that matter."

President Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security to stay away from protests in Democratic-led cities unless federal help is sought, while courts delivered mixed signals on enforcement legality. A federal judge denied Minnesota's bid to suspend immigration sweeps, even as on the ground in Minneapolis, residents and local officials report no de-escalation.

First Amendment freedoms of expression and assembly continue to collide with enforcement priorities, and the language of the moment reflects both urgent calls to action and acknowledgment that answering those calls carries real consequences.

American Risk-Taking and Mobility Narratives Show Divergent Trends

The tension between civic urgency and fear of consequences finds a parallel in economic narratives, where structural constraints increasingly overshadow debates about American character. Our semantic signature tracking the density of language describing Americans as people willing to take risks has declined by 6 points to -3. Simultaneously, the signature tracking language arguing that Americans have become risk-averse has also declined, falling by 1 point to -2. Both measures now sit below average, suggesting a quieter overall conversation about American risk orientation.

The semantic signature tracking language noting that Americans have become less geographically mobile for work rose by 18 points to 2, now above average, marking one of the largest one-month increases in our dataset.

Only about 8% of Americans moved in 2025, one of the lowest rates on record. As one analyst noted, "Moves are down more than 50% since 2021. High rates and locked-in mortgages keep workers stuck. That means labor can't flow to where the jobs are. When workers can't move, growth eventually caps out even in 'hot' cities."

Florida migration dropped to the lowest level since 2009, with only 23,000 net Americans moving to the state in 2025, down by 93% from pandemic-era peaks. Rising insurance and property tax costs, combined with home prices that outpaced local wages, have reversed what had seemed an unstoppable demographic tide. Meanwhile, analysis of domestic migration patterns shows that Americans are moving from high-tax to low-tax states, with the average top marginal income tax rate among the ten greatest gainer states at 3.9% compared to 8.8% among the ten greatest losers.

Forty percent of Americans cite high moving costs as keeping them from relocating, while 38% point to housing costs in their desired destinations. Affordability has nearly doubled in importance from a year ago among those considering relocation.

Our signature tracking language asserting that true Americans have faith in their own abilities rose by 2 points to -10, while the signature tracking language criticizing Americans for prioritizing comfort over ambition declined by 8 points to -4. Aspiring entrepreneurs report feeling pressure to launch, with 68% expressing a sense of urgency to start a business in 2026, yet 47% cite cost as the top obstacle.

One social media user framed the challenge: "What used to be baseline middle-class stability now requires top-decile income—not because people got lazy, but because the cost stack moved faster than wages."

Rising attention to reduced job mobility alongside declining language about both risk-taking and risk-aversion suggests that media focus has shifted toward structural barriers rather than debates about whether Americans have lost their appetite for risk.

Military Confidence Remains Strong Despite Readiness Concerns

Where narratives about civic engagement and economic mobility reflect constraint and anxiety, the discourse about the bravery embedded in the US military tells a different story. Our semantic signature tracking language arguing that American soldiers are the best in the world sits at 53, well above average despite declining by 13 points over the past month. Meanwhile, the signature tracking language arguing that American military dominance has declined remains deeply suppressed at -59, rising only by 2 points. Media narratives continue to reinforce American military superiority even as policy discussions acknowledge capacity constraints.

The Pentagon's 2026 National Defense Strategy calls for sharper priorities: defending the homeland first, deterring China in the Indo-Pacific, pressing allies to shoulder more responsibility, and accelerating the defense industrial base. Analysts have identified four principal components of what they call the Trump Doctrine: hemispheric security, deterring China, burden-sharing with allies, and rebuilding the defense-industrial base.

The 2026 National Defense Strategy frames China as the most comprehensive threat above all other foreign adversaries, with one analyst noting, "Don't listen what media will tell you in Europe—all actions are dedicated towards facing China from home security, Western hemisphere to Indo-Pacific." The strategy demonstrates that the United States no longer bases its planning on assumptions of short wars or decisive victories but instead prepares for protracted, dispersed, and multi-domain conflicts.

Space Force activated its northern component focused on homeland defense, with record fiscal 2026 funding approaching $40 billion reflecting priorities for hybrid military-commercial architectures. Gen. Stephen Whiting noted that threats have advanced "incredibly fast"—from cyber attacks and jamming to directed energy weapons—requiring partnerships with commercial space leaders and academic institutions.

Yet capacity constraints remain a concern in policy circles. Expanding end strength stresses nearly every system that turns a recruit into a mission-ready service member: recruiting pipelines, training seats, schools, housing, childcare, medical readiness, and unit leadership. A January 2025 Hoover Institution report noted that a 10% drop in service-eligible youth is expected in 2026, largely due to lower birth rates following the 2008 recession, and that reduced public trust is making military service less attractive to young people.

A White House fact sheet acknowledges that although the United States produces the world's best military equipment, it does not manufacture enough quickly enough to meet the needs of the military and partners. The 2026 National Defense Strategy also addresses nuclear posture, reasserting that the United States will "modernize and adapt our nuclear forces accordingly with focused attention on deterrence and escalation management amid the changing global nuclear environment."

Maritime access has become a continuous strategic concern, with chokepoints, routes, and infrastructure functioning as levers of economic security and deterrence even without active conflict. The strategy treats persistent pressure on access as capable of shaping outcomes below the threshold of escalation.

Strong language affirming American military superiority alongside deeply suppressed language about declining military edge suggests that public discourse continues to separate capability concerns from confidence in the American service member. Whatever debates exist about industrial capacity, recruiting challenges, or strategic priorities, the narrative that American soldiers remain the best in the world has proven resilient.

Archived Pulse

January 2026

• Military Confidence Strengthens as Criticism Fades
• Overprotective Parenting Narratives Retreat Sharply
• Employment Risk-Taking Narratives Show Mixed Signals Amid Job Market Concerns

December 2025

• Military Narrative Strengthens as Risk-Taking Language Moderates
• Helicopter Parenting Concerns Decline but they’re Still Hovering Over Their Kids to College
• Frontier Heritage Language Weakens as Defense Narratives Diverge

November 2025

• Military Confidence Reaches Historic Peak
• Civic Activism Surges as Americans Mobilize to Defend Rights
• Parenting Anxieties Intensify as Helicopter Parenting Concerns Decline

Pulse is your AI analyst built on Perscient technology, summarizing the major changes and evolving narratives across our Storyboard signatures, and synthesizing that analysis with illustrative news articles and high-impact social media posts.