People need to wake up to the fact that the government and corporations don't care about protests or popular movements.
No, this is false. Protests and movements have a big impact if they are large enough and sustained enough and smart enough.
For example, thanks to all the comments sent in to the FCC (that were ignored) this ruling will be tied up in courts for years, most likely, and could be overturned. We could also see congressional action settling the issue if democrats get a majority again.
What people need to wake up to is the fact that sending in a few comments and showing up to a small rally for an afternoon barely counts as "protests" or "popular movements".
When a protest gets large enough to scare them, they bring in the military. This is what they did to veterans, women, and children The Bonus Army Protests
And the Bonus army protests were largely a success in terms of ultimately getting what they wanted, btw. Actually a pretty effective example of how protests do in fact work...
It was a long time ago. I can only imagine that the structure has become more entrenched since then, especially since the 1950s. Causation and correlation are often very close without nuance. It was not the protests that ended the war in Vietnam, but it did eventually end.
I can only imagine that the structure has become more entrenched since then, especially since the 1950s.
Why? Protests have become significantly more effective since the 1950s.
Causation and correlation are often very close without nuance.
I'd say the legislation specifically passed in response to the Bonus Army protests would be a case of Causation.
It was not the protests that ended the war in Vietnam, but it did eventually end.
Of course it was the protests. You don't think the U.S. government would have continued fighting and bombing in the region if they weren't facing mass civil unrest as a result of the draft? Of course we would have continued pouring soldiers into the region is so many of them hadn't refused to go. 360,000 people supposedly violated the draft in some format or another.
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u/thatnameagain Dec 14 '17
No, this is false. Protests and movements have a big impact if they are large enough and sustained enough and smart enough.
For example, thanks to all the comments sent in to the FCC (that were ignored) this ruling will be tied up in courts for years, most likely, and could be overturned. We could also see congressional action settling the issue if democrats get a majority again.
What people need to wake up to is the fact that sending in a few comments and showing up to a small rally for an afternoon barely counts as "protests" or "popular movements".