I'm going protesting

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Poll: Are protests effective?
A little bit
88%
 88%  [15]
Not even at all
0%
 0%  [0]
Not unless someone lights themselves on fire
11%
 11%  [2]
Total Votes : 17

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SquishypuffDave



Gender: Male
Age: 33
Australia

  • #1
  • Posted: 07/19/2013 13:47
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Australia's newly appointed prime minister has decided he doesn't like human rights anymore and is banning all non-visa-holding asylum seekers from entering the country. Since this is the worst thing ever, I'm going into the city tomorrow to protest.

Have any of you guys gone to protests before? What did you protest and why? What do you think is the most effective form of protest, if any?
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meccalecca
Voice of Reason


Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment
United States

  • #2
  • Posted: 07/19/2013 13:57
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Ahh. This whole world is totally crumbling. That's a pretty serious decision. I have a friend over there, and I'm not sure he has a visa.

I've always been on the fence about the effectiveness of protesting in the present day, but I do think it's at least effective in terms of raising awareness of the issue.

I went to a few of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City when I had a chance. There was a strong feeling of unity for something worthwhile, but at the same time I felt like we were fighting a lost cause. But I'm pessimist.

I think it's definitely important to stay non-violent no matter how the authorities respond, because that will definitely effect media portrayal. The violence and sex crimes occurring at Occupy Wall Street definitely damaged the cause at times, even if the authorities were acting far worse.
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Kiki





  • #3
  • Posted: 07/19/2013 14:05
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Sometimes it is best to wonder if you are on one side of two on an issue. There is likely much than what the figureheads on either side are telling you and there may be points on boths sides you agree with.

I think it is best to wonder where one stands.
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SquishypuffDave



Gender: Male
Age: 33
Australia

  • #4
  • Posted: 07/19/2013 14:17
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an_outlaw wrote:
Sometimes it is best to wonder if you are on one side of two on an issue. There is likely much than what the figureheads on either side are telling you and there may be points on boths sides you agree with.

I think it is best to wonder where one stands.


Fence sitting for its own sake? Not sure I can endorse that. Sometimes one side is in the right and the other is in the wrong. I strongly believe that this is one of those times, rather than a false binary being presented.
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Kiki





  • #5
  • Posted: 07/19/2013 14:30
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SquishypuffDave wrote:
Fence sitting for its own sake? Not sure I can endorse that. Sometimes one side is in the right and the other is in the wrong. I strongly believe that this is one of those times, rather than a false binary being presented.


Well there is some fire in you, I'll give you that! Laughing If you believe you're completely right on this then there is nothing I can say to change it. Hope it goes well for you. Razz
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meccalecca
Voice of Reason


Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment
United States

  • #6
  • Posted: 07/19/2013 14:31
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SquishypuffDave wrote:
Fence sitting for its own sake? Not sure I can endorse that. Sometimes one side is in the right and the other is in the wrong. I strongly believe that this is one of those times, rather than a false binary being presented.


Agreed, especially since the sides are unbalanced. It's not always about changing things entirely but creating a balance and raising awareness.
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junodog4
Future Grumpy Old Man


Gender: Male
Location: Calgary
Canada

  • #7
  • Posted: 07/19/2013 15:35
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meccalecca wrote:
I think it's definitely important to stay non-violent no matter how the authorities respond, because that will definitely effect media portrayal. The violence and sex crimes occurring at Occupy Wall Street definitely damaged the cause at times, even if the authorities were acting far worse.


Absolutely...

Back in my days of college radio, I went to report on the protests of the World Petroleum Conference in Calgary. It was held about 6 weeks after the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. Leading up to it all the local media (grossly right-wing, mind you) could report on was how dangerous these protests would be. It was a question of how much violence, not if there would be violence. You'd think a zombie apocalypse was coming. I partially blame the violence at the WTO conference, and I partially blame Calgary's awful newspapers for creating this tone of fear. Anyway, there was an obscene police presence - they almost outnumbered the protestors. However, the police were really laid back about things, and the protest organizers emphasized the need for no violence. When some dumbassess tried to get out of line, the protestors contained them before the police did. It was a week of peaceful protest. End result - 3 arrests, and no violence of any significance. Even so, it took awhile for the media to report on the message (environmental, economic, social consequences of the oil industry) rather than the potential for violence. I still remember after the first day of peaceful protest, the Calgary Sun's headline was "No violence - YET".

Some people will always perceive protestors as idealists or punks. Violence only serves to cloud the real message. Protestors can't give media and the public an excuse to ignore the message by becoming violent.
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Kiki





  • #8
  • Posted: 07/22/2013 19:49
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So what happen?
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Jackwc
Queen Of The Forums



Location: Aaaanywhere Sex: Incredible
Canada

  • #9
  • Posted: 07/22/2013 23:44
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I spent some time at Occupy Bay Street. I really didn't care about the cause and I don't think anyone else there did either because all we did was jam and drop mushrooms. From what I read on protest signs, the people there were there for everything from establishing a Marxist government to putting an end to GMO crops. I think I read one sign that had something to do with abortion.

At the G20 conference one of my best buddies got arrested for torching a cop car (he's still on parole), two of my cousins got the shit beaten out of them by police (though not after one of them punched the lights out of an officer for grabbing his sister), and I think I know about 15 or so people who probably spent the night in jail. Granted, that ended up being more of a riot than anything else. There was huge property damage and lots of people were arrested and injured - but since then the city has more or less refrained from making this sort of reckless spending.

The general moral of these stories is that protests don't work, for two reasons:
1. The people are often there for themselves, not for the cause, and will try to crudely staple their cause onto the back of the banner as soon as they get a chance. The vast majority of protests I see suffer from a complete lack of organization or a shared goal, and this cripples them tremendously.

2. Getting a bunch of angry people together in a crowded, claustrophobic environment with no REAL defined goal or organization is a surefire way to start a riot, so always be prepared for the possibility of violence. Often there are people there whose sole purpose is to wait for the violence to break out because they want to hurt someone or break something for fun. However, these sorts of protests can often work to the desired effect. Men like Martin Luther King will always be the ones to get the glory, but the contributions of violent radicals like Huey P. Newton will always be just as, if not more, important.
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SquishypuffDave



Gender: Male
Age: 33
Australia

  • #10
  • Posted: 07/23/2013 07:23
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Well this protest had the benefit of quite a clear goal: defense of the right to seek asylum, which the legislation violates. The speakers were very articulate and it was all peaceful and stuff. As for how effective it was, I don't know. There was a lot of wisdom shared and information passed around, so for those that were interested in what we were doing, I'm sure it made some sort of impact on them personally. There was some news coverage too, which is a plus.

Australia's current political discourse between our two major parties so far has been about how best to keep out "boat people", rather than even questioning the ethics of that goal itelf, so there is clearly a lot of work that needs to be done. I'm not particularly optimistic about the situation, but I honestly feel that if people were educated about the subject, there wouldn't even be a debate.

I was considering some sort of the stunt that would get media coverage, like drowning myself in a glass tank on Flinder's Street with article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights tattooed on my chest, but I didn't have much time to prepare.
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