The Black Pill Society Is Coming for Your Comments Section
How to spot the trolls, the bots, and the doom-spiraling nihilists sent to sabotage our Resistance
There’s a dark fog moving in, and it’s not just fascism in jackboots this time. It’s softer, slipperier. It speaks our language, wears our hashtags, and pretends to want what we want. But its real goal? To undermine, disorient, and disband.
Welcome to the rise of The Black Pill Society—a flood of bots, bad actors, and black-pilled doomsayers who are about to turn your comment sections into battlefields.
As Trump’s regime sharpens its claws and loses popular support, his inner circle will do what all faltering authoritarians do: weaponize narrative. That means not just attacking legacy media, but infiltrating alternative platforms like this one. Substack, until now a relative safe haven for dissidents and truth-tellers, will not be immune.
So here’s your crash course in psychological operations, troll detection, and narrative defense—PR-style.
Not all posts and comments need be Pollyanna-ish. Thoughtful, nuanced takes on what’s happening today are critical. Not everyone agrees—and that’s a good thing. It means we’re building our tent bigger and stronger. But watch for those whose conclusion is clear: “nothing will change, nothing can get better. Time to give up the fight.” Those are the black pill society.
What’s a Black Pill? And Who’s Swallowing It?
The term black pill originated in incel forums and refers to a belief that everything is hopeless, rigged, and unfixable. No heroes. No solutions. No point. When it spreads to political discourse, it metastasizes into nihilism disguised as insight.
Black pills will say:
“You really think a protest will change anything?”
“Voting is a waste of time.”
“All politicians are the same.”
“Nothing matters. It’s already over.”
This isn’t skepticism—it’s surrender, wrapped in sarcasm. And it helps the regime more than any MAGA hat ever could.
The Disinformation Hit Squad: Know the Players
This kind of despair doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s seeded, fed, and amplified—by a whole cast of characters working to demoralize and destabilize. Some are paid to do it. Some are bots built to do it. Some just think they're being clever. Some are the creators themselves, writing what sound like thoughtful, well-reasoned pieces. But all of them serve the same purpose: to keep you on the sidelines.
Here’s who’s coming for your sanity and your movement—and how to spot them before they flood your feed. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, you’ve got a role to play in defending your headspace—and your favorite creative spaces.
1. The Bot Brigade
Behavior: Generic usernames, no profile pic, recent account creation. Repeats talking points across multiple posts.
Tell: You’ll see the same exact comment posted word-for-word on several Substacks.
Goal: To amplify doubt and suppress enthusiasm. Think “Protest is pointless” repeated 1,000 times.
Action: Don’t engage. Report. Block. Move on.
2. The Paid Troll
Behavior: Has a convincing name and profile. Engages with real followers. Always finds a way to inject doubt or division.
Tell: Plays “reasonable devil’s advocate” just long enough to get people fighting in your comments.
Goal: To fracture solidarity. If people are arguing with each other, they’re not organizing.
Action: Reply once (if at all) to correct the record—then move on. Don’t give them the fight they’re fishing for.
3. The Black-Pilled Pessimist
Behavior: Sounds like a Resistance member, but everything they post ends in despair.
Tell: Comments always start strong: “I used to believe in this, but…” and end with hopelessness.
Goal: To demoralize. To exhaust. To make you doubt your power.
Action: Inject facts. Share wins. Be the antidote. And then don’t linger. These folks are infectious.
4. The Fake Liberal
Behavior: Identifies as “left,” but spends 90% of their time bashing the left.
Tell: Defends fascists under the guise of “free speech” or attacks activists as “just as bad.”
Goal: To blur moral clarity. To create false equivalence.
Action: Expose the pattern. Ask them what they do support. If they can’t answer without spiraling into whataboutism, you’ve got your answer.
5. The Misguided Anarchist
Behavior: Opposes all forms of governance, but seems oddly fixated on tearing down resistance orgs, not the regime.
Tell: Refuses all strategic compromise. Anyone who participates in voting, unions, or civil action is a “statist sheep.”
Goal: Chaos. Not liberation.
Action: Don’t waste time converting them. Keep your eye on liberation, not perfection.
What This Means for Substack (and You)
Substack’s openness is both a strength and a vulnerability. You may have noticed an uptick in strange comments, aggressive DMs, or low-grade despair bombs dropped in your threads. That’s not random—it’s part of the battlefield now.
You’re not imagining it.
You’re not “too sensitive.”
And you’re not alone.
The PR Playbook for the Rest of 2025
This isn’t just about “ignoring the haters.” This is narrative warfare, and here’s your toolkit:
1. Control the Frame
Don’t let bad actors set the tone. If a comment feels like bait, don’t take it. Redirect the conversation.
“That sounds like a black pill talking. Around here, we still believe in fighting back.”
2. Defend the Wins
When they say nothing ever changes, remind them:
Protest stopped the Muslim Ban—on Day One.1
Gen Z turned out in droves in 2022 and 2023, flipping school boards and beating book bans.2
Kansas, Ohio, and Michigan protected abortion rights at the ballot box—even with GOP legislatures stacked against them.3
Workers are organizing at places no one thought possible—Amazon, Trader Joe’s, the freaking New York Times.4
The Stop Cop City movement delayed a $90M police facility and built a national spotlight out of a local fight.5
Indigenous water protectors stalled billion-dollar pipelines with nothing but bodies and willpower.6
Over 5 million people showed up on June 14 for the No Kings protest and ruined Trump’s parade.7
The American Revolution drove out the last king trying to oppress our nation. FFS
3. Creators — Curate Your Community!
Your comment section is your living room, not a public plaza. You set the tone. You get to decide who comes in, who stays, and who gets shown the door.
Block freely. You don’t owe the Black Pill Society your platform, your patience, or your peace of mind. If someone is consistently hijacking the conversation with despair, bad faith, or hostility—show them out.
Moderate generously. Not everything has to be a debate stage. Protect your space like you would a dinner party: keep the energy constructive, welcoming, and focused on shared purpose. This isn’t censorship—it’s civic hygiene.
Uplift real voices. Thoughtful commenters are gold. Like them. Respond to them. Restack them. Signal-boost the people who ask good questions, add nuance, or bring hope. That’s how we build strong, resilient communities—one generous comment at a time.
Share this post or create your own guide. Let people know what’s happening and how to protect their attention and morale.
5. Don’t Go Silent
And this is the moment they want you to burn out. To log off. To convince yourself it’s all pointless so they can fill the silence with propaganda, despair, and defeatism.
Don’t give them the satisfaction.
Take breaks—yes. Take care of your body, your brain, your bandwidth. But don’t disappear. Don’t go dark. We need your voice in the mix, even if it’s just a whisper. Even if it’s once a week. Even if it’s just a restack and a comment.
Because every time you show up, you remind someone else that they’re not alone. That someone is still paying attention. That this movement—our resistance—isn’t fading. It’s growing.
History isn’t shaped by the loudest voices. It’s shaped by the ones who don’t stop speaking.
Final Word: Hope Is Not Naive—It’s Strategy
The black pill isn’t just toxic—it’s tactical. It’s designed to take you out of the fight without ever raising a weapon.
So don’t swallow it.
We don’t need everyone to believe. We just need enough people to refuse to give up.
I’ll be here. So will many of us.
Keep the light on.
Fascism thrives in silence. We don’t do silence.
—Lady Libertie
Join the Resistance. Share this Post. Prepare Now.
This post is part of the Resistance Playbook Series, built to arm ordinary people with the tools, truth, and tactics to outlast authoritarianism.
Share it. Print it. Organize with it.
Thousands of protesters mobilized at airports beginning January 28, 2017—just one day after Trump signed the Muslim Ban—prompting rapid legal challenges and a nationwide injunction within a week. Shear, M. D., & Sanger, D. E. (2017, January 28). Trump Bars Refugees and Citizens of 7 Muslim Countries. The New York Times.
Griffin, A. (2022, November 9). How Gen Z held off the red wave in the 2022 midterms. Time.
Voters in Kansas (August 2, 2022), Michigan (November 8, 2022), and Ohio (November 7, 2023) approved measures to enshrine or protect abortion rights in their state constitutions, despite Republican-controlled legislatures opposing them. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2024, November 5). Abortion-Related State Constitutional Amendment Measures Results. KFF.
Teamsters-led Amazon strikes and bargaining wins affecting thousands in 2024–25; N.E.P.I. on union drives at Starbucks, Amazon & Trader Joe’s; New York Times Tech Guild certified in 2021 with major walkouts.
The Stop Cop City movement is a grassroots campaign opposing a $90 million police training facility in Atlanta’s Weelaunee Forest, ancestral Muscogee land. Protesters occupied the forest for over a year, delaying construction and building national attention after the police killing of activist Tortuguita. Despite official efforts to block a citywide referendum backed by 100,000+ signatures, the project remains under legal challenge as of mid-2025. The movement has become a symbol of intersectional resistance to state violence, environmental destruction, and authoritarian overreach. Laughland, O. (2023, October 30). Inside Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ protests: How a police training center sparked a movement. The Guardian.
Demarest, E. (2023, February 28). Indigenous-led resistance to pipelines continues to grow despite setbacks. High Country News.
Organizers estimated approximately 5 million people participated in nationwide “No Kings” protests on June 14, 2025—making it one of the largest coordinated demonstrations of the Trump era. Morales, C. (2025, June 15). Millions join ‘No Kings’ protest across U.S. on Trump’s birthday. NPR.
It’s easy to get swept up in their spiral of disillusionment. But think twice before you join the chorus of ‘It’ll never work!’ or ‘We’re all doomed!’—that cynicism spreads faster than truth, and it serves the wrong side.
Thank you for your wise words and encouragement! Several of my family members voted for the regime which makes it difficult to even talk about the real issues. Yesterday, my sister made a comment about immigrants that surprised me so I won't be sharing more with her. I have noticed that the division keeps getting wider and nastier. I appreciate your wisdom and information. I will NEVER give up or NEVER BE SILENCED! Hopefully, with thoughtful people like you, I will learn more everyday to be able to RESIST.