Annoy Your Fascist Government in Just 5 Minutes per Day
Fermi Problems and The Simple Mathematics of People Power
In this moment when democracy feels more fragile than ever in the United States, we often hear well-intentioned voices assuring us that we still hold power. But it’s natural to wonder: How much power do we really have? While these reassurances might sound hollow, I want to show you why they’re more than just words — they’re arithmetic.
The Power of Rough Estimates
Enter the Fermi problem, a mathematical tool named after physicist Enrico Fermi. Famous for his ability to make remarkably accurate estimates with minimal data, Fermi pioneered an approach to problem-solving that focuses on rough calculations using simplified numbers. Instead of getting lost in precise details, Fermi problems help us understand the scale of things.
You might have encountered a classic Fermi problem before: “How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?” The solution involves making educated guesses about the number of pianos, how often they need tuning, how many tunings one person can do per day, and so on. While the final answer won’t be exact, it gets us surprisingly close to reality.
A Democratic Fermi Problem
So, let’s apply this approach to democracy and civil resistance. Suppose that parts of the government are working against democratic interests. How much effort would it take for citizens to create meaningful friction in the system?
Let’s start with some rough numbers:
- There are approximately 3 million federal employees in the U.S.
- Assume each employee works about 8 hours per day
- Assume each employee works 5 days per week
- Assume there are 50 work weeks per year
One of the beauties of Fermi problems is that you don’t have to insist that these numbers are precisely correct. Remember, we are going for a rough estimate.
Let’s multiply the above numbers together; we get about 6 billion hours of federal employee work annually. That might sound like an insurmountable number. But here’s where things get interesting.
There are roughly 300 million adults in the United States (I’m intentionally rounding up for simplicity). If these adults collectively decided to match all those working hours — to create an equivalent amount of friction in the system — how much effort would each person need to contribute?
Dividing 6 billion hours by 300 million people gives us 20 hours per person per year. Let’s break that down further:
- 20 hours per year
- Spread over 50 weeks = 24 minutes per week
- Divided by 5 workdays = roughly 5 minutes per day
Those small moments of resistance — whether making your voice heard at a public office, flooding phone lines with legitimate concerns, or creating legal administrative friction — aren’t just symbolic gestures.
Scaling and Focusing Our Impact
Let’s explore how this math works with more realistic scenarios. Not everyone will participate in civil resistance, and not everyone can commit 5 minutes every day. So let’s adjust our calculations:
If 50% of adults (150 million people) participated for 5 minutes per day:
- This would match 3 billion hours of federal work annually.
- Equal to disrupting 50% of total federal work hours.
- Still an enormous impact from just 5 minutes per person.
What if those 150 million people could only spare 2 minutes per day?
- This would generate 1.2 billion hours annually.
- Equal to matching 20% of federal work hours.
- That’s one-fifth of all federal work time — from just 2 minutes per person.
The real power comes from strategic focus. Instead of spreading this friction across all government functions, concerned citizens could concentrate their efforts on specific departments or programs that are actively undermining democratic principles. This focused approach means that even smaller time commitments from fewer people could have outsized effects where they matter most.
Remember: we don’t want to impede vital government services that help people. The goal is to create focused friction where it counts, making it harder for anti-democratic forces to operate efficiently while allowing beneficial programs to continue serving the public.
The Power of Small Actions
When we hear about collective action, it often feels abstract — just another well-meaning platitude. But our Fermi problem transforms that abstraction into concrete mathematics: 5 minutes of your day, multiplied across millions, yields billions of hours of potential impact. Those small moments of resistance — whether making your voice heard at a public office, flooding phone lines with legitimate concerns, or creating legal administrative friction — aren’t just symbolic gestures. They’re part of a quantifiable force that can match or exceed the capacity of powerful institutions.
When we focus this collective power strategically, even smaller commitments from fewer people can create meaningful change where it matters most. The next time someone tells you that individual actions matter, remember: it’s not just a statement of hope — it’s arithmetic.
