Stupid Demonstrations
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Submitted by DCblogger on Fri, 08/31/2012 - 1:06pm
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Occupy DC took over the intersection of 14th and U Streets NW. They were demonstrating against Romney.
To what purpose?
How does blocking traffic and annoying motorists bring a better world? Because we have the power to do this? We have the power to be annoying? We have the power to throw a tantrum? Which is what blocking traffic amounts to.
Do have any idea how little courage it takes to be anti-Romney in Washington DC? In 2008 John McCain got 6.53% of the vote. In DC the Republican party is considered lunatic fringe. They can't carry a precinct.
So what was the point of this demonstration?
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Oh.
We have the power to be annoying? We have the power to throw a tantrum?
I'm sorry the First Amendment is so annoying to you.
No change ever happened without rocking the boat and startling people out of their daily routine.
We need more people blocking traffic in support of causes they passionately support, not less. Unfortunately since popular dissent has been ruthlessly crushed in this country (we wouldn't want to disturb the status quo!) it is more and more likely we will see these efforts coming from the right wing rather than the left.
Block all the traffic you want...
Be sure to take a survey to see how many people you've endeared to your cause and how many people you've aligned staunchly against it with your actions, assuming they were indifferent beforehand. If you're annoying people and they associate your group's actions with something negative - and by extension cast those negative emotions on your cause, you'll end up losing potential supporters and ultimately you'll have aided those you were hoping to undermine.
that is not even remotely true...
...I mean, can you even provide anything that isn't some random bourgeois assertion/one person unscientific poll that a temporary disruption of traffic at a nonmajor intersection in a town infamous for protests is 'detracting' from one's cause in a substantial extent. Or you could see the link I provided before (starting on page 222) about how its not.
it is not the job of the general public to understand your demo
it is the demonstrator's job to communicate to the general public in such a way that generates support for their cause.
Direct action is supposed to disrupt. That is the point.
I don't remember this consternation over "stupid demonstrations" when OWS had their Brooklyn Bridge action, or the West Coast ports shut down.
14th & U isn't exactly a major intersection in DC anyway. Frankly, people would be more pissed if they blocked the metro entrance.
If you'd done even a cursory....
Google Search about the protest like: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Occupy+DC+take+the+...
You'd know the protest wasn't against Romney, per se, but Romney's economics which are, by and large, the same economics of Obama. It's protesting the $7.25 an hour economy, and it focused on Romney this week because it was the Convention. The protest happened for 30mins (!) with no confrontation with police at an intersection infamous for its connection to 2008 when a party erupted there celebrating the defeat of John McCain.
These aren't exactly hard things to find out
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fe3_13464...
but then again, I guess it's more important to use your platform to lambaste people doing direct action (which is supposed to be disruptive) off your very unscientific poll of one that the protests were ineffectual and annoying and done just because.
And my dismissive nature just matches the tone of the OP.
And BTW
the point of blocking streets for a period of time in Direct Action is called the Excitement Effect: rather than repel people, the sounds, extra attention and people gathered tends to draw people in (opponents, bystanders, allies and more)--it's the notion that the unordinary can be 'seductive'. You can read about it here in regards to the WTO protests:
http://depts.washington.edu/wtohist/docu...
But then again, it 'annoyed' DCBlogger so I guess its stupid and done 'just because'.
Ya know...
... I never thought I'd hear somebody demand a study to prove that people didn't enjoy being stuck in traffic.
I know I'm just one data point
but.....
It's getting so whenever I hear the phrase "Direct Action", it triggers an uncontrollable reflex action where my eyes roll in my head.
Yes, more traffic jams, more giant puppets, more Guy Fawkes masks. That's what we need. What will fix things.
I feel similarly
I'm sick of being told - from all sides - that my miserable life is being made more miserable because that's going to make things better.
People are just trying to get through life at this point. You want to block traffic and make me late for my minimum wage job where I don't get paid for missed hours because you've got something to say? Well, thanks a lot - your "direct action" certainly improved my life. The long-term matters not if one can't get through the short-term.
Yes...
... I agree.
* * *
And it's also very manipulative behavior. We have quite enough of people making it worse for others right now. We don't need more of it...
Point of view
I've never been in a demonstration that a significant number of people didn't find stupid and annoying.
Direct Action against Romney?
Stupidest idea I've ever heard of. Jeebus, up near Adams Morgan? What's the intent here, other than self-indulgence?
"Direct action" is a tactic. It's not necessarily good in itself.
East and south of Adams Morgan
What I would call the Cardozo area of DC. Or possibly Howard U. Actually, the beginning of the 1968 riot corridor, but that is ancient history now. Really demonstrating against Romney there is a big bucket of nothing. The reason the police did not come down on them like a ton of bricks is that this is Wash DC, not Oakland. The police in DC believe that discretion is the better part of valor. Their goal would be to clear the street in the least amount of time possible, so would always take a low key approach, including let the whole thing run out of steam and clear of its own accord. DC police are not pepper spray happy.