Protesting....What good does it do?

I've been trying to say for quite some time that peaceful protests are useless. They have never really propagated any real change unless they backed by violent uprisings. People often like to reference Ghandi and Martin Luther King as examples of peace bringing about change. However, at the same time that they were starving themselves (I never really understood how hunger strikes actually help...) and marching on Washington, violence was another factor in inciting change.

In India, there were a multitude of violent outbreaks that help incite Indian independence including the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar.

During the civil rights era, the Black Panthers were a group that incited violence as a way of change.

The Vietnam War did not end because of pressure from protests. It went on for at least 16 years despite protests for about 13 years. I really don't think that 13 years of protest really had that much effect on the decision to remain in Vietnam. The reason they evacuated was more likely because they had been there too long and oil prices were too high to continue to fight a lost cause.

And then I turn to the current example. Through 8 years people have been protesting against George Bush but what has come of that? He was re-elected (and I don't care whether you think its legit or not, he's been in power there is no reason to squabble over how he got there) despite protest and God forbid that people keep thinking that protests are going to work if McCain gets elected.

And let's not forget the greatest example of all! (TANGENT: And this is where a lot of people are hypocritical. It's hilarious to see a peaceful protester exalt the likes of Che Guevara, whose very core was inciting violence around Latin America and eventually the Congo.) Cuba! Where the whole idea of change was violence. You march into town, blow up a few buildings, kill the right men, and the world (or at least Cuba) is a better place for it. (Let's just be clear I don't want to quibble over whether Castro and Che actually helped Cuba, I have my opinion and nothing is really going to change that. This is a piece about violence and protests--argue about that.)

I just want to make it clear that I am not inciting anyone to violence. I just wanted to point out something that I've been thinking a lot about. The reason I believe people protest is similar to the reason people donate to charities: it makes them feel like they are actually doing something. I've said over and over again that boycotts don't work. They just end up hurting the workers. We get angry at corporations for belittling people but we belittle them even further by suggesting that we have the solution to their problems. On top of that, we do not know the history of what these people have been through; it is very presumptuous to assume that we know what is right for them when all we really know is a tiny snippet of what is going on in their whole life. The histories of Latin America, of Africa, are far more complex than any regular Joe Shmoe could understand. I've been studying Latin America for 4 years and I have only begun to scratch the surface of what is a really wide and deep problem that a few protests and boycotts only enable. I've heard it said that "Compassion is just a nicer way of looking down your nose" (lyrics found in OKGo's What to Do) and I believe that is totally true.

-girl behind the curtain

p.s. I'm bitter, no hiding it, but don't disclaim my opinions because of that.

I challenge all of you to give me one example whereby a peaceful protest (by itself) has helped stop something (child labour, work camps, slavery, sweat shops, wars, etc). I would really like to hear an example so that I won't be so very bitter about all of this.

More of Nothing

I've been trying my darnedest to write a really eloquent piece about how science fiction is all about what it means to be human. But I keep making references that I'm sure people won't get. I'm not trying to sound pretentious but how many of you have watched Stargate Atlantis and how many of you have read Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. My whole little piece would be bogged down with explaining episodes of SGA where wraiths challenge the meaning of being human. I think I'm coming to a slow conclusion that science fiction is a very elitist genre. If you haven't read it, watched it, or heard of it, then you don't belong in our little clique! Our brand of humour is only accessible to those who know the various references. Maybe that's why I like it. We all like belonging to an exclusive group, even if you deny it you are part of an exclusive group. There's no escaping it.

Anyways, I was just looking at my past postings and reading other people's blogs while loading Sanctuary episodes 2 & 3 as well as episodes of the Smoggies! What I'm trying to say is that I got bored and thought I'd write a little something here.

I'm under the belief that my computer is exhuming an addictive fume because I'm dreadfully bored of the internet and have a million other things to do but I can't seem to detach myself. I'm kind of torn as to whether the internet helps the world or if its just going to end up screwing us over. On the one hand we can get more access to news stories from around the world, which educates us as well as allows us to educate others, hopefully. But, and I don't mean to sound condescending (when really I do mean to be mean because apathy sucks), most people I know (looking at you facebook) don't use the Internet for anything but personal entertainment. Now, playing games, looking at hilarious pictures, and pirating are all great but there is a whole lot more out there.

The Internet has the capacity to erase apathy and ignorance and slowly we are losing it to the government who fears that we are going to learn about the world and get off our butts and do something about it. No one really cares about pirating (except those that pirate and the RIAA), they care about what access we can gain to knowledge. Yet, this wide access to knowledge, to ideas, to actual ways to change the world is not being used. Revolutions were fought before the Internet when the only way to spread news of injustices was by mouth and pamphlet if someone owned a printing press. Now people are too apathetic and lazy to even participate in a democratic way. It's very disappointing.

Wow, from science fiction to a rant on revolutions....

I was going to include a personal update but I very likely turned you all off. So return to your World of Warcraft, your "itunes", or go read a book!

xoxo
-girl behind the curtain


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