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Traffic Blockade Protests Were a Nuisance. Lawmakers Want to Make Them a Felony.
(www.motherjones.com)
this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024
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Freedom of speech is not freedom to harass others and interrupt traffic.
This is a good thing.
That's literally what it is but who would look to history when install they can rely on how they feel.
There is no effective protest without violence and property destruction, I invite you to find a single historical example otherwise.
montgomery bus boycott
Bad example. There was tons of violence related to this boycott. There is always violence in a U.S. protest because conservatives insist upon it.
From Wikipedia:
i thought you had meant violence from the protest itself not also the reaction to it
Doesn’t that speak volumes about us? We’ve become a “two wrongs” society. And I don’t think we’ll ever change, sadly.
Moderate, considerate and thought through opinions get massively down voted in this thread. Thinking problems through will always be a less popular than taking out the pitchforks and following the herd.
I'm as disappointed in humans as you are, but I did find a few more bright spots in this thread :)
About you.
That US soldier who self immolated a few weeks ago to protest the genocide in Gaza was pretty effective. Oh wait, no it's still happening. And I guess self harm is still violence. Either way I agree with you.
Found the fascist.
Without interruption what incentive does protest have to make change?
If you can’t get your message to others without being an asshole about it- you need to maybe remove yourself from any situation that involves others.
If you were around for the civil rights era, I know exactly what side of the sit-in movement you would be on.
Excuse me? Cops? Could you please stop killing people? Please? No? Okay then.
We’re talking about protesting messages, put the goalposts back please.
"black lives matter" is a message, wtf are you talking about then?
If your protest is blocking traffic, you’re an asshole. It’s not about WHAT you’re protesting. If cops are protesting and blocking traffic, they’re also assholes also.
shit take tbh
the only way to get shit done in this fucked up society is to cause disruptions. Otherwise, people will turn a blind eye
There isn't an effective form of protest that doesn't involve inconveniencing people.
Cops block traffic for illegitimate reasons all the fucking time
But what if your message is "can we all get along together please?" the other persons message is litteraly "you don't deserve a vote, you don't deserve equal rights, you don't even deserve to drink the same water as me, you are not even legally a person, this is the law, get out of my face nigge* before the lynch mob arrives, because I won't stop them"
How are you supposed to remove yourself from that situation when that situation is brought onto you, and there's no way to simply negotiate or compromise because the two "opinions" are diametrically opposed.
If someone's boot is on another person's throat, I honestly don't care if I sound like an asshole as I tell them to move their fucking boot. I'd rather be an asshole on the right side of history than a coward who was just following orders.
The problem is, you’re not being an asshole to the people that deserve you being an asshole to. You’re being an asshole to innocent people that have nothing to do with your issue.
Don’t block traffic because you’re pissed about social issues.
I do understand your point, but as a layperson there is no real way to single out your protest impact to only effect those directly responsible, especially when, in most cases, those directly responsible are removed from the community to a degree that there is little you could do to impact them without also impacting their innocent underpaid intern who's just trying to do their job.
Yes, protesting impacts a bunch of people that can't individually do anything and are therefore being inconvenienced (mildly or substantially, depending on the individual) for something they have no control over that is someone else's fault.
But I think part of the reason you see it this way is due to a general a lack of solidarity. If I'm inconvenienced because my bus is stuck behind a protest, that sucks, but I'm not going to blame the protesters (unless I genuinely disagree with their requests/what they're protesting) I'm going to blame the very same people the protesters are trying to reach, because they are the reason that petitions, inquires, public outcry and lobbying hasn't worked and now we're at a stage of protest.
It might push a few of us to get off the bus and join the protest because what else can we do. It might prompt someone to write into their local representatives to push them to hurry up and sign negotiations so the protest can end because they're sick of the slow bus.
There's no such thing as someone that has "nothing to do with the issue" when the issue impacts us as a society. If you feel like a social issue has nothing to do with you, but the protests around it are impacting you, you have to ask yourself what you're gaining from the current system, and what stands to be gained from the changes demanded by the protesters. If you genuinely think you have nothing to do with it, you might be a true hermit.