Is protesting the answer?

I am curious how many of you consider yourselves protesters, or activists. I myself have not been to too many protests. I was at a few, including the demonstration against the Iraq war, an anti-Scientology protest, and a demonstration against funding the Afghanistan war and the funding for homelessness. I enjoyed each of them. They are fun to be at, lots of energy flying around and a tonne of positive vibes.I was thinking though, how effective are protests. In the 60s and 70s, were the protests the act that lead to changing the system, or were they simply a product of that change already in place? Are protests neccessary? Or do they get in the way of societies natural evolution.
or, who was more effective Malcolm X or Martin Luther King?

I would like to have an in-depth discussion about protests and protesting. I think we will see many mass demonstrations around the world in the near future, and i think its an important topic to discuss.

This clip got me thinking about it.Was anyone at Seattle?
http://www.alliancefilms.com/en/89/details/display/12051/


Let's go down to the protest
I dont even know yet what i want to protest
but i want to go down to the protest
and tell everybody how much i like to say NO!

 

I think protesting is a way to feel better about yourself, but in the end nothing really changes anyway.

 

King was light years more effective. His legacy still inspires today.

 

Very true.

Agreed!

Be the change you want to see in the world. Protesting gives energy where its still in opposition to what you do not want therefore feeding the fire.

 

The only protest I ever participated in was against Australia's participation in the Iraq War. Something extraordinary like 1,000,000 people marched that day in the entire country and our prime minister responded by saying "I won't be swayed by the mob.". I have never bothered to protest anything since.

 

theres a forum with alot more of the ppl you want to talk about that, the boycott activist forums. check it out.

 

strong energy. wow. I can feel it just imagining it.

 

instead of protesting against something, ive found that alot of it is about signatures and who they go to. Ive collected signatures or had ppl write to important ppl about issues. ive never really felt that protesting would really change anything.

 

I do believe protest is the answer. But in huge quantity, and not passive like.. on the internet or whatever.. if people went down the street, started shouting a bit, maybe it would change some things.

In France people are constantly protesting.. and it scares the government. Which is good.

Power to the people!!!!

 

The protest in Selma Alabama made a difference but I cant say many since then have.

 

But french protests are crazy and frightening! In Australia we simply "walk down a street". In smaller cases we sit around, get high and play songs and then raise a ruckus when the cameras turn on. Useless, pathetic.

 

Well, yes, French protests are pretty violent. And I am not advocating that.. but.. I can't imagine a peaceful protest doing anything in France..

 

thanks ghost lyrics.
Penny, you are gorgeous.

 

Oh, I didn't expect that here haha thank you :blush5:

 

King Indeed. The man was amazing.

 

I went to the anti-war protest preceding The Iraq War here in New York City. We were over half-a-million, I believe.

As a teenager, I went to a few rallies connected with the fall of the dictatorship in Brazil, circa 1989 and the impeachment of President Collor in 1991.

One political rally in downtown Rio de Janeiro held something to the tune of 1 million demonstrants. It was exhilirating!

 

i went to one anti-war protest on campus when i was i college. i never really thought it would do anything; i was mostly just curious. as far as i know, stupid little college things like that are the closest we get to protests around here. unless you want to count the time the nazi party had a meeting in a park and all the ghetto people responded by burning down their own houses.

both the non-violent student protests and the uber-violent idiots were completely ineffective, and i'm sure always will be in those contexts.

 

protesting never really solved anything these days. good trade relations is key to stable economies and the way of life. unfortunately, there are some countries that are greedier than others and it's because they have a wrong ideas and methods. but that can't be helped.

if we lived in a utopia of hand holding and love, imagine how many jobs would be displaced?

war on drugs
terror
etc.

these will never go away, and it may sound dismal...but that's how life is.

nice review on the film here though.

 

is there an effective way to protest? im assuming non-violence is the answer. it worked for Gandhi. The zapatistas in Mexico were non-violent but still carried guns to signify that they were ready to fight if they had to.That's badass!
i see my life changing in my mind. i will soon live in socialist Bolivia. Anyone want to ride bikes down with me?

 

penny, where are you?
want to start a protest ?