> From: Thomas Seay <entheogens at yahoo.com>
> Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 11:59:22 -0800 (PST)
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: David Corn: troubling origins of the anti-war movement
>
> --- Liza Featherstone <lfeather32 at erols.com> wrote:
>> Unscientific????? What Chuck writes here is common
>> sense, based on
>> experience as an activist and as a person. I happen
>> not to agree with him
>> about the futility of mass protests, but very much
>> agree the local protests
>> are much better way to reach some publics
>
> Liza, I apologize if you have stated this already in
> one of your previous posts, but what impact do you
> think mass protests have? .And when I say "mass
> protests" I am referring to the peaceful marches, like
> the ones in Washington and San Francisco recently.
>
> -Thomas
No, I really haven't -- mostly because I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said by Nathan, Doug, Yoshie, and others. But since you asked... I think these large peaceful protests alarm the powerful, especially when they start occurring all the time, are very large, and attended by a wide range of publics. They embolden foreign governments who disagree with U.S. policy (here I mean Mexico or France, not Saddam). They embolden liberals and moderates w/in the government who disagree with the Bush administration, by showing that the public is willing to do more than just express muddled ambivalence in polls. They attract people who would be afraid to get arrested or would find illegal protest too confrontational. They enable activists from around the country to network with each other. They show individual dissenters that they are not alone, and often encourage them to continue organizing and protesting locally. They mobilize people who are not usually activists, by showing them that there is a movement to tap into and convincing them of the urgency of dissent. Lots of local groups begin because people needed to organize busses to go to DC, or returned from DC wanting to do something. They start conversations and arguments about the war among members of the public. Doug made reference to this already, and I'm sure some will call this unscientific and anecdotal, but this weekend was my sister's wedding, and at least three of the guests, not normally activists, have been organizing rallies against the war in their hometowns and churches, and literally spending time every single DAY writing to their elected officials -- all 3 were galvanized by the national protests. Finally, large rallies also get a lot of people in one place who can organize civil disobedience, picket Dick Cheney's house and generally do stuff that goes beyond the "boring picnic in the park without food" model.
Liza