Aren't periodic manifestations of sheer numbers essential in any political effort?
Day to day, local coordination efforts and door to door outreach are also essential. Both these levels are essential and must function in some sort of harmony. Without the local work done, the periodic demos can not empower a movement that ceases to exist the second everyone goes home until the next demo, but local efforts are enhanced by the impression large demos have on people that there is a movement behind that guy who just knocked on your door to tell you about why you need to stand against the Bush admin and call for the troops to come home. Don't underestimate the fact that people, even if they agree with you, will not make a move unless they perceive that they are not alone, or a minority. Pack animal mentality permeates all levels of human existence...we are social animals.
I always find it embarrassing on some level to go to a demonstration and yell simplistic slogans and carry signs. But that is the structure of a demonstration, one couldn't exactly carry a sign that went into all the nuances of a political stand, the font size would be so small you would need to be standing no more than one foot from the sign to get its message. So, we are stuck with simplistic slogans, group chanting and repetitive political speeches. And it is silly and embarrasing on some level...and as shown in the email below, expensive...but it is also highly essential to the movement.
We shouldn't forget that.
Bryan
Nathan Newman wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
>
> Jordan Hayes wrote:
>>> Train (when it's running): $80
>>> Plane: $120.
>> A 50% premium, but still pretty decent. Note that Acela is $126.
>
> Which also highlights how costly these marches are in both money and time.
> Assuming Yoshie's bus estimate of $60 roundtrip is more the average, a
> 200,000 DC person march cost $60 per person and probably 10 hours of time
> per person, or at least $12 million and two million hours of volunteer time.
>
> Imagine if that money and time had instead been devoted to staffing a
> national antiwar organization to coordinate all that volunteer time in
> communities across the country, organizing church and community meetings to
> discuss why the war needed to end, doing door-to-door outreach or whatever.
>
> No question in my mind that such use of funds and volunteer time would be
> infinitely more effective in both reaching the uncommited and pressuring the
> political class than a one-day story in the newspaper.
>
> --- Nathan
>
-- Bryan Atinsky Editor, News from Within e-mail: bryan at alt-info.org Tel: (972)2-624-1159 P.O. Box 31417, Jerusalem 91313 http://www.newsfromwithin.org http://www.alternativenews.org