Yes, protests can be inconvenient. Freedom is messy.
The people who view protesting as "anti-social" aren't ever going to join your cause. They don't care about freedom, they care about safety and security.
MerryJaneDoe
joined 1 day ago
Speaking of horses, did you know that house flies and horse flies can look almost identical, but are different species?
The possum is not the same species as the opossum. A rabbit and a hare are different species. A buzzard and vulture are different species.
It's all about DNA. If two bugs (or any organism) can mate and produce viable, fertile offspring - that's a species. If they can't, then they are different species.
"Did you like that video I sent you?"
"Are you kidding me?! I LOVE that you sent me that video!"
I'd feel the same way. And yet...it's still effective.
"Why were you late?"
"Protesters."
"What were they protesting?"
And just like that, the conversation has started.
I think you don't even have to bump. Just turn on your hazard lights and start slowing down in the middle lane. In medium to heavy traffic, this should cause a standstill.
As long as APAIC is funneling money into US politicians, everything Israel does is tangential to US politics.
In the 2022 midterm elections, AIPAC spent roughly $27 million, a figure that more than tripled to over $100 million for the 2024 cycle.
The US provided about $4 billion in aid to Israel.
We are right now engaged in a war - sorry, armed conflict - with Israel leading the charge.
So, yeah, have fun in your echo chamber where US politics is entirely divorced from the rest of the world.
I think there's room for both.
Assembling even a dozen like-minded people for a coordinated protest is out of reach for most folks. What usually ends up happening is that a huge protest happens and everyone goes and then most of them are finished. They did their part.
The big protest ends up being a performative event, for both the protesters and the administration/police. The big protests usually happen on a weekend, so that everyone can attend. Usually in an urban area, where office and government buildings are closed on that day. So you end up with a downtown area packed with police and protesters and nobody else.
And even if you end up with a consistent, long-running, well attended protest, the chances are slim that it impacts anything. We did this for a year in Portland in 2020, and it made no difference. Maybe 25-50 people during the day would hold vigil over the park, watch other people's belongings and just be present. They'd chat with passers-by and make new signs, etc. But when evening came, things would ramp up as people got off their day jobs and came to join the crowd. The crowd would balloon to 5 or 10 thousand people sometimes, but even if it was only 500 or so people, they still had nightly clashes with police. At least two people died that summer.
It. Meant. Nothing. No meaningful change was affected. The police chief and the DA ended up resigning, and there were a few minor policy changes around how to better handle civil unrest.
I'm wondering, though, if we had been in a wealthy residential neighborhood, would things have been different? Probably. But could we get all those people to a suburb? Being in the city center provided all of the momentum. The foot traffic and downtown rush hour, drawing people's attention, that sort of thing. I don't know if that sort of excitement could be generated outside the city?
So..those a bunch of meandering thoughts, thanks for coming to my TED talk. :)