Why protest?

Why protest? I have been challenged and criticized so many times because I want to join in peaceful protests. Why do some people see such protest as negative, ineffective or worthless?

Some thoughts:

• If protest is so ineffective, why are peaceful protesters always being massacred in repressive regimes, for instance Tienanmen Square in China (1989), or in East Timor? Why did the US government send military troops with machine guns to Kent State University in the 60s, resulting in several student protesters' deaths? If governments react so harshly to peaceful protests, it seems clear to me that protest must have major effects, otherwise those governments wouldn't care at all.

• There would be no democracy at all without protests. The system of democracy arose from protest movements, for instance in the French and American Revolutions (late 1700s), and modern-day protests in South Africa, the Philipines, Yugoslavia, and many others. And today indigenous peoples around the world are protesting the destruction of their culture and the genocide perpetuated against them.




• Protests help get voices heard. When a non-protester sees a huge protest on something he or she agrees with, they won't be as scared of voicing their own views since there are so many others who share it.

• Look at the huge protests in the Vietnam War era, which accomplished a lot, had a huge impact on public opinion, and so on. And, still, governments even in democratic countries cracked down on peaceful protests (for example, the US arrested 300,000 people at a single protest). Remember that US government even killed university students at Kent State University for protesting the war.

• Protest is one of many tactics which are needed to challenge existing power structures and bring about progressive change. When combined with media support, public opinion, civil disobedience (ie. Gandhi in India), democratic voting power, having candidates worth voting for, and influencing international organizations, protest plays a crucial role in change. Each of these tactics won't work on its own, but all support each other and are inter-related.

People, sadly, have become complacent and apathetic politically. Why? Because they think we've finally achieved democracy (through a history of protests) and can now relax and enjoy life.

Enjoy life! That's important. But our system of democracy must be maintained and improved, because it is certainly far from being totally democratic. Powerful forces work at pushing us back down from democracy, and at preventing us from even getting there at all - historically it was the aristocracy, earlier this century it was Fascism and Stalinism, and now it is Multinational Corporations (MNCs), who (by exercising perfectly rational actions in defence of their own self-interests - and we all do that) try to keep the power they already have. Problem is, this power seems to come at a cost to our world - whether by draining our resources, destroying the environment, keeping the poor moneyless, destroying native cultures, and so on.

• Protesting is not negative or pessimistic. It should not be about anger or hatred. Ignorance is not bliss. It brings a hollow happiness. It's important to see the beauty in everything, but not to the point where you accept everything as it is, just because your life is great and you own a lot of things.

Other people have fought and died to make this world a better place. We now have the opportunity to work towards that without dying, and I am trying to do that in my own way. People must accept and nurture that if humanity is to progress.