[Peace-discuss] Rethinking Oct. 27

[Stuart Levy]

On Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 11:31:01PM -0500, Laurie at advancenet.net wrote:

 [...]
>   I think you are being overly optimistic.  Besides is the
> objective of the protests to get attention and noticed or to produce actual
> concrete changes in policies, actions, and events.

Yes, this is a good question.  I think protest is valuable for several
reasons beyond simply being noticed (which it does get to be),
or being enjoyable (which it often is).

   - It gives other people, who have feelings about an issue but
     don't find them reflected in (say) the mainstream media,
     the sense that *they're not alone*.  This is very important.

     We frequently get thanked, at protests, at the Farmer's Market
     and elsewhere, for speaking out.   We are *not* just part of the
     landscape, for many people who sympathize with our causes.

   - It legitimates the point of view.  It's harder to say,
     as establishment pundits often try to do,
     that "X is only the view of the extreme whatnots"
     if lots of ordinary people are out on the streets -- or,
     even better, composing well-written letters to the newspapers -- saying X.

   - Legitimating the point of view makes it easier for
     politicians to act, if they're inclined to.  They know they've
     got support.

     I still wish we'd done more to support him after Sen. Durbin,
     appalled at (I think) an FBI agent's account of Guantanamo treatment,
     compared it with actions of countries we revile.  He should not have
     had to back down from that statement.  If he'd felt more clearly
     that many constituents were behind him, maybe he would have stuck by it.
     
   - Protesting legitimates the whole notion of protest.  If almost no one
     stands up in public to say that Y is wrong, that opens the way for
     saying that any protest of Y, or of anything else, is immoral,
     unpatriotic, impairs our "efficiency" (love that
     expression in Mark Thompson's letter), etc.

   - It gives us as protestors a way to gauge the feelings of our
     fellow citizens.  I find watching the changes, from month to month,
     very valuable.

So protests are a lot more than friendly social occasions.

And of course they're not all we do.

   Stuart