Following up on Reece's post, a good outlet for those let's-go-protest energies would be to put the drum down, keep your shirt on, and ask yourself: "Who is my neighborhood Democratic Party precinct official?" or perhaps "When is my Democratic Party Precinct meeting/convention?" If you don't know the answers, perhaps you should find someone who can give them to you.
Why?
Because organizing structures for concerned left of center individuals already exist. Those structures need dedicated persons actively working to advance a left of center agenda in a climate of conservative domination of the national agenda.
But, WMD, the Democratic Party is as beholden to corporate interests as the Republican Party!
That is only true in as much as hardworking, committed liberals refuse to participate within the party structure. By working within the Democratic Party, liberals and persons on the left can work to determine what kind of political interests the Democratic Party represents.
If one is so committed to political action that one is willing to be arrested, one could expend much less energy working within local political party structures, all the while breathing new life into the party and political viewpoint that has been kicked in the teeth in over the past 5 years.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Stop Protesting
Friends, lefties, countrymen, lend me your protests.
Thanks! Haha! They're mine now.
No, I won't give them back.
Why should I?
Yes, but you're harming America.
That's right folks, if you're a protester, you're hurting the cause. No person in a position of power will ever listen to you for the simple reason that they don't have to. A protest doesn't affect them.
Sure, you bring publicity to the issue, but despite what you believe, there is such a thing as bad publicity. Publicity is bad when the people that end up in front of the camera look like this or this for the simple reason that you are a freak.
The other thing you may not realize is that sometimes it would just be better if you would stay at home. I recently went to a speech by a right wing nut (David Horowitz) . I'd never heard of the guy before, but a friend asked me to come along. And like moths to a flame, protesters showed up.
The sad thing was that the protesters made up half the audience, and if they hadn't been there the guy would have been preaching to an almost empty room. His ideas aren't succeeding in the market place of ideas, but the protesters gave them more power by bringing that sweet, sweet publicity.
For a longer view of the utility of protests, check out Kevin Mattson's Goodbye to All That
Thanks! Haha! They're mine now.
No, I won't give them back.
Why should I?
Yes, but you're harming America.
That's right folks, if you're a protester, you're hurting the cause. No person in a position of power will ever listen to you for the simple reason that they don't have to. A protest doesn't affect them.
Sure, you bring publicity to the issue, but despite what you believe, there is such a thing as bad publicity. Publicity is bad when the people that end up in front of the camera look like this or this for the simple reason that you are a freak.
The other thing you may not realize is that sometimes it would just be better if you would stay at home. I recently went to a speech by a right wing nut (David Horowitz) . I'd never heard of the guy before, but a friend asked me to come along. And like moths to a flame, protesters showed up.
The sad thing was that the protesters made up half the audience, and if they hadn't been there the guy would have been preaching to an almost empty room. His ideas aren't succeeding in the market place of ideas, but the protesters gave them more power by bringing that sweet, sweet publicity.
For a longer view of the utility of protests, check out Kevin Mattson's Goodbye to All That
Welcome to News from the Flyovers
As two liberals from out-state Missouri, we see much of progressive politics dominated by people who are either incapable of connecting or unwilling to connect with the people in the vast interior of our great country.
We're going to try to do something about that. We're going bring you perspectives from the blue dots in the red states. We're going to provide commentary and ideas from the Midwest. Hopefully, we'll show you that it's worth coming down here rather than just looking down on us from your plane.
Welcome to News from the Flyovers.
We're going to try to do something about that. We're going bring you perspectives from the blue dots in the red states. We're going to provide commentary and ideas from the Midwest. Hopefully, we'll show you that it's worth coming down here rather than just looking down on us from your plane.
Welcome to News from the Flyovers.
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