[lbo-talk] Kos on Marches

[Charles Brown]

Nathan:
clip-
Part of my comments on Farrakahn and the Millions More March was to note an
alternative approach to marches that could make them more effective and
useful-- but that got reduced to people saying I liked Farrakahn's politics
more than ANSWERs.  Which wasn't the point-- I like his mobilization
strategy more.  

^^^^
CB: Isn't Kos down on all mass marches as obsolete, mean nothing ? Isn't
Millions More March a mass march and obsolete and meaningless ? MMM sounds
like a bunch of people  marching in the street with no media impact.

So,when you look for a better strategy in the MMM for mass marches, do you
disagree with Kos that mass marches are obsolete and meaningless today ?

Kos:The lack of focus is maddening, obviously. But my biggest problem with
anti-war protests is that they're obsolete. What do they accomplish?
Historians still argue about the role Vietnam-era protests had on ending the
war (shortened it versus prolonged it). But today, they mean nothing. 

We are a media-saturated world, bombarded on all angles by information. A
bunch of people marching in the street no longer have any serious emotional
effect on media consumers. One picture on a front page and CNN of
flag-drapped coffins would likely have a greater effect on war opinions than
1,000 marches like the one we had last weekend.