For over a hundred years peaceful protests have made change. Significant and historic change. From Ghandi and Martin Luther King to anti-Vietnam war protests, from the women’s movement to BLM, from Silent Spring and Greenpeace to anti-corporate corruption. Protests worked, albeit slowly, painfully and incrementally. Violent protests never really worked as well and they have worked less and less as the police state, Homeland Security, digital monitoring and social media have grown. But they, too, made a splash. Basically, protests worked. Peaceful protest worked best.
But recent studies have indicated that protests are becoming less and less effective. As government becomes more autocratic and oppressive, as the media becomes more and more corporate and as the police state becomes more militant and with cameras everywhere, the protests are getting more and more like flash mobs. They hit and they run. They are leaderless much of the time. Most of the time. Protests are becoming guerilla-ized, localized and often ignored by the media and the government. The peeps revolting are getting more and more like the Guy Fawkes masked Anonymous…..ineffective and forgettable.
Sadly, they are also getting kinda boring……evolutionary change is, perhaps, too slow for our times.
So…what does that all tell you….? Peaceful and violent protests are becoming more ineffectual and leaderless, anonymous and less focused. The media doesn’t ‘cover’ them properly (and perhaps because of that boredom) so they go underground and rely on social media to spread their message (along with the trolls, oppressors and wingnuts). And they are all largely ignored. Protests are declining in impact. Especially when time is a major factor (i.e.Climate Change).
So, then what? Waddya gonna do when they neutralize the only weapon you have for self (and planet) defense? Especially since many of those in protest are also suffering from lack of confidence in our supposedly well-intentioned institutions.
Well, you could do what the cowards, the old and the weak do – run for the OTG hills! (hmmm…..I just might know such a guy….)
You could also run for office but let’s be frank: our politics have been corrupted and the non corporate-sponsored don’t have a chance to even contend. You have to first sell out to get the ‘party backing’ which kind of defeats the point. The system is designed to compromise and homogenize, to cover and squelch, to make your voice – even in parliament – unheard. Why would anyone run for office just to be ignored? Salary and the pension, maybe? That’s a condemning observation….eh? And, if the salary and pension is not a factor, then why NOT speak up? But they do not. Your MP and MLA don’t make any noise. Those folks may have started out with good intentions but they were quickly and effectively corralled, comforted, compromised and ignored.
If you are not gonna run for office, run for the hills or run around in a dark hoodie painting graffiti, whatcha gonna do?
What will change action look like in the future? Revolution or Evolution?
Well, somethings are showing up already…much like the dead canaries in the coal-mine. We have more and more random stabbings to add to the ever-present mass shootings. We have cult figures conning millions of the weak and inept (who probably just want a mother/parent/leader, poor babies). We have a growing number of the mental and the addicted homeless. And the fallibility of our institutions is becoming and more more revealed. But those observations are not so much astute or constructive things to say, ya know?
Constructive? We may or may not have a heroic sub-culture in the tech industry trying to make things better…hard to tell yet. E-cars, the internet, satellites, batteries (that one’s for me)….that kind of make-a-buck revolutionary who gets rich doing good work (has there ever been such a person?).
We need a real leader. On a global level. But do we have a real, uniting, charismatic visionary? Do we have a natural Messiah-type? One that preaches goodness and doesn’t lie, I mean. Wasn’t Anonymous gonna do that kinda good? What happened to those Guy Fawkes guys? For that matter, what happened to GreenPeace? Do we have a ‘movement’ that everyone wants to support that is led by intelligent, well-respected, unselfish people who have not tried to have sex with a reporter or choir boy or some other naturally-born-to-sue quasi-victim? (Greta Thunberg is the only one I can think of).
The answer, I am afraid, is: NOT YET. NO ONE HAS STEPPED UP. NO GROUP. NO MOVEMENT. NO HEROES. Where is the Second Coming when we need one?
By the way….people have stepped up. No question. Probably thousands have risked their lives, their careers, their futures all in an attempt to right a wrong. I know that. I applaud them. I admire them. I even support them sometimes. But I always end up grieving for them. They are persecuted and killed, they are dissed and ruined, they are ignored and shunned. There are a lot of dead heroes in Mexico, Russia, China, Myanmar, North Korea and Iran just to name a few random places.
It seems the successful hero business is owned lock, stock and barrel by Marvel Comics now (a subsidiary of Disney).
BTW: “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is NOT the same as “Wherefor art thou?” (the latter from Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliette). The first asks: Where are you? The second asks “What/who are you?” Methinks the distinction is becoming moot. We need a hero whatever is her or his makeup and we need him or her NOW.
Will change come by evolution? Maybe. Or will a revolution happen? History indicates revolution will not happen until the peeps are hungry. They will be persecuted, oppressed and controlled into oblivion but they will obey until they die. And they went out on a full stomach. And that may be our future.
History suggests that only the hungry revolt.
Our Off the Grid Home 
I suspect that there will be an extra few hungry folks about SOON.
Hang in there JD!
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Yep. I doubt the homeless are getting fat. But, really? A global leader out of a cheap tent on a city boulevard? I do not think so. Maybe. We’ll see. Glad to be watching from a distance.
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This weekend there was a protest in Brussels against climate change. 25.000 demonstartors. Media coverage = None. I used to protest in my school years (against nuclear arms,…). Every major protest rallye got huge media coverage. So evolution or “normal” protest seems not to be interesting any more in (social) media. newspapers however are full of no-news about random small things like a spectacular car accident somewhere in malaysia
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It costs money for the media to send a reporter to the event, return to the station, edit and prepare it.
Much easier for the “News” to cut a “Cat in tree” story from the news feed and post it.
No staff involved.
Our media deserve their positions at the bottom of the bird cage.
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People need a “hero” or a ‘leader”.
Sadly the Trumps and Putins’ of the world are more than happy to fill that position.
People don’t need heros and leaders.
They just need to start acting responsible for the greater good.
I was at a bottle exchange yesterday to return recyclables
It was busy.
I went in and sorted all my stuff and then waited patiently in line to cash out.
Some young guy just walked in and butted in front of everyone with his unsorted crap.
No one said a word.
He then started to unsort his crap AT THE COUNTER.
I waited until he was done and when he turn I stopped him and said. “There was a lineup here and you jumped it.”
“Oh sorry, I didnt see it”
“You didnt see it? The line was pretty obvious to everyone else.”
He laughed.” Well you should have said something”
My reply ,”I just did.”
He laughed again.
I leaned in very close and said. ” Whats so funny? Wait for me outside. I want to see what you think is so funny…”
Eyes popped. Scurried out and took off.
The cashier was smiling.
I have seen mobs of people here in Vancouver fighting over free road salt like a pack of animals. Free road salt.
One can only imagine the “brotherly love” and “co operation” in this greedy, me first, me-too society if there is a major earthquake, China moves on Taiwan, or Putin starts lobbing Nukes.
Greedy selfish voters vote for the pigs that will promise to give them everything.
And they are the majority.
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I don’t see a new leader figure yet, only crazy people like Putin, trump and Xi
So little hope from salvation from that side
But times are indeed crazy
Nobody dares to speak up anymore, maybe because there are a lot of crazy people out there who would attack you for just looking at them
See the amount of violence on the streets when people are driving their car, they would just run you out of the road
But then egoism will get us nowhere when things get worse (like China invading Taiwan)
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I agree with all your statements. Did you see David Susuki’s interview last night. Ended with his statement “our economic system is heading us to the ditch”. I personally think our society has let us down, not sure of the answer to this but glade I am near the end, unfortunately my grandkids are just starting out and we have left a mess.
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I agree, for us it is not easy, but for our children and grandchildren it will be even worse!
The last generation that had a relative “good” time must have been your generation then I guess. In Belgium and Europe, the social security is on the verge of collapse. So I have paid taxes and social security my whole professional career, and by the time I retire, there will be no money left to pay my pension. The whole system was and is based on solidarity (the younger and working class paying for the retired people), but our governments have already spent all that money, so nothing left for us
So getting out might not be a bad idea as JD keeps repeating!
At least then I can be more selfsufficient
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My generation has had it best. Never lacked for a job. I never was concerned about money always had enough for a beer and rent. Eventually got caught up in society i.e. bought a car (first loan), bought a house (first mortgage) all societal trap’s. Fortunately, like David I found a wonderful partner who saw through all the bull I was spuing at the time. Now we worry for our kids (adults) and our grandchildren. Gee getting old is not for the faint of heart.
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Right! I think the first half of one’s seventies is where the foundations get rocked. I’ve aged more in the last three years than in the previous ten. Still, I am walking and standing and enjoying everything around me, especially my wife. That’s a huge gift. Kinda like the dogs, too.
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Most people do NOT realize that money is NOT wealth. TIME is wealth. There is no point in being rich but sick or soon-dying. There is only a point to living, laughing, loving and learning. For that, you need to have some time in your life account and just a little in your bank account. Put more succinctly: by the time you are close to retirement, your only currency is time.
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I agree, I still have a few yeas to go before retirement, but still, I already feel that the real wealth is time (of which I definitely don’t have enough at this moment in my life).
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What’s the expression “money can’t buy you happiness”? Although I would like a go at it with money. Our currency today is not just time but more importantly health. I once told Judy I could live under an overpass if I was healthy. She said don’t count on me being there.
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While the rest of the world cringes and ring their collective hands, I had a rather good day(I have decided to have multiple small good days as looking for a bulk winner is getting rather far fetched), bought fuel off the barge on Wed, received and paid the bill today. Midgrade marked gas was down to $2.16 a liter delivered much better than 2.42 last time. Propane was up again but only needed 168 liters(in 4 months). So its a good day, plus it rained between sunny breaks so my water tank is starting to refill!!
Maybe not on topic but I’ll take it.
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happiness can be found in small things!
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