What’s with the lack of protets?
I don’t really understand. I guess people are not angry enough? What has to happen to make people get motivated and get out there on the streets? I would have thought that after Trump pulled us out of the Paris Climate Accord there would have been calls from enviromentalists and concerned citizens to do another big march on DC to show how much we care about global warming and climate change. Instead… crickets. Or when they were a single vote away from taking away millions of peoples health care so they could cut taxes for the rich. Or when we found out that Trump Jr. had a meeting with the Russians with every intention of colluding…
It’s hard to understand. I know that protests don’t necessarily change much (to say the least), still I feel that’s one of the tools we have the ability to use as civilians living in the United States. We must use this tool and try to convey our levels of discontent with the current administration.
I’m ready, I’m just waiting for the rally call.
Is anyone else puzzled with the lack of protests?
Stunned
A valid question, and one that seems, by the looks of it, hard to understand. If people(we the people) value democracy as we claim to, one would think there are plenty of incentives to mobilize. Sustainability, sanity, sovereignty, you’d think that’d be a no brainer line not to cross.
My take on this is that collectively we are like a bird that flies full speed into a window. The presumption was a known flight path would unfold, but we hit an invisible wall. Many saw the barrier, even shouted about it, but it was too late, or to no avail. So we found ourselves conked out, maybe even dead by the looks of it. But there’s still a pulse, a beating heart, shallow breathing, conserving energy, tapping survivalist reserves for a next move.
There’s the suspension of time that comes with shock. Some parts of the body are waiting for signals it’s OK to move again. Great hopes are being pinned on special counsel, and embedded political DNA. That is the formal immune system response, a last hope of reestablishing equilibrium. If that bulwark fails, we’ll either see the actions you reference, or an autocratic state unlike anything that has ever taken hold on this soil.
“Just waiting for the rally call”
Activism today has a complex relationship to social ideas and change. In a sense, there are just too many reasons to protest. Moreover, it’s not easy to organize, get permits, advertise and pay for massive rally’s much more than once a year. Local rally’s do better and can be repeated more often because they are scaled down and more manageable.
It seemed that every week now there’s some call to protest, yet, it’s ironic when you say “I’m ready, I’m just waiting for the rally call.” In the past six months alone the number of protests called to rally would have given anyone a plethora of rally calls to choose from. You’ve had a lot of opportunities to come when called. I suspect there’ll be other protests to keep a beehive of activists happy.
Nevertheless, unsolvable social polarities and people with pet causes create problems of linking a holistic stance of mass activism. And, countries that have massive geographical boundaries like the US has logistical problems, as well. It’s more likely you’ll see pockets of protest (locally) rather than large scale demonstrations.
I hope you continue to stand “ready for the rally call” and perhaps instigate (or co-instigate) rally calls of your own.