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The point of protesting is to spur the government to action and/or to draw attention to an issue when other options are exhausted. The inconvenience of protest

The point of protesting is to spur the government to action and/or to draw attention to an issue when other options are exhausted. The inconvenience of protests is a feature not a bug. They're supposed to inconvenience you. It's called civil disobedience.

tastysandwich 3y ago
And what of the ordinary folk whose lives you're seriously disrupting? The parolee for whom being late means going back to prison? The single mum who isn't a knowledge worker, and who Walmart will fire for being late? The people on their way to hospital? Beware seeing yourself as so intellectually and morally superior that other people can be used as tools for your own ends. That does not end well for anyone.
- jamil7 3y ago
  What about them, indeed. What about the parolee's ability to protest unfair treatment or prison conditions? Or the single mum who isn't able to protest her unfair dismiss at the risk of a 50,000 dollar fine?
  - tastysandwich 3y ago
    I think people are interpreting my comment as being against protests. Of course protests are an important part of a healthy democracy. Rather I'm pointing that out in the age of social media, a lot of these disruptive climate protests are narcissistic attention grabs. There's a desperate need for validation from peers and a sense that one is the "main character" so to speak. That's an issue, and it's a new issue. It didn't exist until social media came along, not to the extent it does now. I'm more than happy for people to protest. But if I'm stuck on a bridge while some 22 year-old rich kid who lives in his parents' Sunshine Coast mansion blocks the road, I should be allowed to counter-protest by throwing him in the river and continuing on my day.
  - lelanthran 3y ago
    > What about the parolee's ability to protest unfair treatment or prison conditions? Or the single mum who isn't able to protest her unfair dismiss at the risk of a 50,000 dollar fine? Who said that they can't protest? They can protest too, they just can't stop other people going to hospital or work.
Nursie 3y ago
> They're supposed to inconvenience you. It's called civil disobedience. Civil disobedience generally involves breaking laws, it's part of the package right? You, hopefully en-masse but it can be an individual, break the laws you want to see changed and you hope that society sees this and a movement ignites to get things fixed. As such, it is already illegal and that's more or less the point. I don't agree with piling on more prohibitions, but the worrying parts of the new laws in various places are not the ones that might have consequences for people taking direct action like blocking roads, but the ones which target protestors who are using speech and not taking those actions. For instance the anti-monarchy protestors who were due to attend the king's coronation with a sign and maybe a megaphone a few weeks back.
surgical_fire 3y ago
I remember one day, back in my home country. Some teachers gathered in front of the local government building demanding better salaries and working conditions, and caused inconvenience by stopping traffic on the streets in front of the government building. I was stuck inside a fucking tunnel for three hours thanks to them. I was actually sympathetic to their demands. But on that day I just really wanted the police to go there and disband their protest with use of violence. It didn't spur me into civil disobedience. It spurred me to desire a more authoritarian state. I just wanted the freedom of not being stuck inside a tunnel for 3 hours on a particularly hot summer day.

tastysandwich 3y ago

And what of the ordinary folk whose lives you're seriously disrupting? The parolee for whom being late means going back to prison? The single mum who isn't a knowledge worker, and who Walmart will fire for being late? The people on their way to hospital? Beware seeing yourself as so intellectually and morally superior that other people can be used as tools for your own ends. That does not end well for anyone.

jamil7 3y ago
What about them, indeed. What about the parolee's ability to protest unfair treatment or prison conditions? Or the single mum who isn't able to protest her unfair dismiss at the risk of a 50,000 dollar fine?
- tastysandwich 3y ago
  I think people are interpreting my comment as being against protests. Of course protests are an important part of a healthy democracy. Rather I'm pointing that out in the age of social media, a lot of these disruptive climate protests are narcissistic attention grabs. There's a desperate need for validation from peers and a sense that one is the "main character" so to speak. That's an issue, and it's a new issue. It didn't exist until social media came along, not to the extent it does now. I'm more than happy for people to protest. But if I'm stuck on a bridge while some 22 year-old rich kid who lives in his parents' Sunshine Coast mansion blocks the road, I should be allowed to counter-protest by throwing him in the river and continuing on my day.
- lelanthran 3y ago
  > What about the parolee's ability to protest unfair treatment or prison conditions? Or the single mum who isn't able to protest her unfair dismiss at the risk of a 50,000 dollar fine? Who said that they can't protest? They can protest too, they just can't stop other people going to hospital or work.

Nursie 3y ago

> They're supposed to inconvenience you. It's called civil disobedience. Civil disobedience generally involves breaking laws, it's part of the package right? You, hopefully en-masse but it can be an individual, break the laws you want to see changed and you hope that society sees this and a movement ignites to get things fixed. As such, it is already illegal and that's more or less the point. I don't agree with piling on more prohibitions, but the worrying parts of the new laws in various places are not the ones that might have consequences for people taking direct action like blocking roads, but the ones which target protestors who are using speech and not taking those actions. For instance the anti-monarchy protestors who were due to attend the king's coronation with a sign and maybe a megaphone a few weeks back.

surgical_fire 3y ago

I remember one day, back in my home country. Some teachers gathered in front of the local government building demanding better salaries and working conditions, and caused inconvenience by stopping traffic on the streets in front of the government building. I was stuck inside a fucking tunnel for three hours thanks to them. I was actually sympathetic to their demands. But on that day I just really wanted the police to go there and disband their protest with use of violence. It didn't spur me into civil disobedience. It spurred me to desire a more authoritarian state. I just wanted the freedom of not being stuck inside a tunnel for 3 hours on a particularly hot summer day.