The Art of Protest

[Revy]

I thought this was interesting, it's from a blog I found:

This country has forgotten how to protest. We've forgotten why and what that means. We've forgotten how empowering it can be to be a part of the change.

Before 9/11 the anti-globalization movement was rocking the world. Seattle was turned on her head during WTO, and numbers were growing. For a short time, it seemed things were changing.

But then the twin towers collapsed.

People shut up, terrorism was everywhere. The government tapped our phones, told us war was the best answer, gave us "threat levels" and launched the green scare arrests. We entered into a dark age and it would be years before grumblings against Bush grew. Eventually US citizens stood up and said they wanted out of the war, the economy was collapsing. Something had to change, but instead of pushing our own needs, we pushed for another leader. Obama rose as the chosen one, as the great fix-it man. But it won't work this time, no one will ever fully represent you. Voting for one man won't fix the economy, it won't bring peace to the Middle East, it won't stop police brutality, it won't resolve the prison industry (at the beginning of last year 1 out of 100 Americans were in jail), it won't bring back jobs, it won't bring back teachers.

Only you can represent you.

Riots, protests, marches and rallys are growing throughout the world. (http://a6.video2.blip.tv/0590000965736/571mul470r-GooseLiverRevolution920.mp4)
Late last year, Greek cops shot and killed (http://www.anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5794) a young teen. Riots (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8189330668532773904&ei=IHrVSdGOOYKSqQLv-LjIBg&hl=en) have rocked the country with constant showdowns between the cops and the populace.
This week marked the beginning of the G-20 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20_industrial_nations) meetings in London, where TENS OF (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29916843/) THOUSANDS (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/5088747/G20-protests-Thousands-flood-into-City-of-London.html) of Europeans (http://uk.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=UKTRE52R0TP20090329&channelName=burningIssues#a=1) are taking back the streets. On Thursday (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7975597.stm) a group of this number broke into (http://www.anarchistnews.org/?q=node/7053) the Royal Bank of Scotland.
In Canada, protests have been breaking out against both the increased police brutality (http://www.cmaq.net/node/32307) and the upcoming 2010 Olympics (http://www.no2010.com/).

Still don't think any of this does any good? Check out whats happening in Iceland. (http://www.gnn.tv/blogs/30983/The_First_to_Fall_Protesters_Topple_Icelandic_Gove rnment). capitalism can fall.

What about us? What about the United States?
Our protests are limited to peace marches that include mostly the aged 50+ crowd. Where are the young people? Where are actions? I'm tired of seeing the best of our age wasting at home smoking weed and watching american idol reruns.

I'm tired of people complaining, but never acting.

If you want something different than the way things are, then lets rise up. Lets take a stand. Lets shout that we aren't for this, that we want something better, something different. Obama won't save you. Your government won't help you, its one dollar one vote. How much do you have?

[ZeroNowhere]

Before 9/11 the anti-globalization movement was rocking the world. Seattle was turned on her head during WTO, and numbers were growing. For a short time, it seemed things were changing
I pretty much gave up hope on this here.


Still don't think any of this does any good? Check out whats happening in Iceland.. capitalism can fall.
I have no idea what the fuck that's supposed to mean.

Anyways, it sounds more like 'radical' reformism, and doesn't really contain any good element that hasn't been said already (and better). But yeah, anyways.

[AvanteRedGarde]

This is kinda dumb and ultra hypy. It's typical fake "anarchist," volunteerist claptrap.

It's so archetypal also. First is the is the declaration that capitalism is falling. Second comes the narration of hyped up global upheaval (Iceland is no longer capitalist? The government has fallen? Someone should probably notify the world's capitalist institutions). Then comes the whining about how America is so passive. And finally there is the call out for people to engage in some form of action, often vaguely worded. Often such pieces end by again saying that a a new world is possible (if we only act to make it possible. That however is one inconspicuous though amazingly important "if") or how a new world is imminent.

It's all so wore out and lame, completely divorced from a materialist analysis and serves mainly to temporarily convince those whom already subscribe to such an ideology that it is indeed valid.

I'm really surprised that someone who calls themselves a Marxist is posting this. (Psych! Not really.)

[Mowgli]

Nice post Stancel. No matter how "lame" it sounds to some people, for others it may sound new and refreshing.

Drop the cynisism and get fucking active, even if it sounds "lame". What else do you suggest?

[Revy]

Nice post Stancel. No matter how "lame" it sounds to some people, for others it may sound new and refreshing.

Drop the cynisism and get fucking active, even if it sounds "lame". What else do you suggest?

well, the main thing I had a problem with was the title. Calling protest an art seemed bullshit to me. but I thought it had good points. Maybe I should have posted a topic about the effect that 9/11 had on the left in America. We all know it drastically shifted the country right and increased support for war.

We are in the post-9/11 era. And in 2008, the socialist parties had the worst combined percentage of votes since 1888. Yeah, you read that right. The votes for the socialist parties had never been that low since 120 years earlier.

Of course, my own party's campaign was not perfect nor particularly effective, and our candidate was a mistake (if we knew how he would have behaved, I doubt he would have been nominated).

We could blame the media, of course, but there's a lack of left alternatives to it. There needs to be more propagation of our ideas long before there can be an outpouring of revolution. And not in the RCP "here's our newspaper, have you heard about our glorious leader?" way. We need to utilize the Internet also. A lot of the people that run the Socialist Party USA are old though (no offense meant), just look at our website design...

The US Army actually issued some kind of report where they warned about the potential of socialists (and many activist groups) using Twitter.