>Demos are in any case primarily a way to count noses (whether the count
>be small or large is irrelevant).
I think Doug, Liza, and Christian complained about this in their article about activistism. And, while I sympathize, it's absolutely important to folks involved in these movements to get together in symbolic actions. In my research on people involved in movements, the language they used panned out into three categories. The referred to these kinds of actions as "talking back". They knew no one was listening but themselves, but they felt it was important, as long as that wasn't all there was, because it helped them see that they weren't alone, that there were others out there. etc. It also helped them articulate themselves better, what their demands were. One interesting thing was that they saw the message as something you carry _into_ a demo, but as something that evolved out of it, for them as individuals, and for them as members of the protest group. They saw their message, their demands, sharpen and clarify as it emerged from the protest.
kelley