what is the most effective form of protest?

[wli]

Basically, if people are going to make a change and make a difference, how is it most effectively accomplished?

Some of the newer right-wing tactics have definitely changed the landscape with respect to political action. For instance, media blackouts, stormtroopers smashing peaceful demonstrations, and "spin" to misrepresent the messages of those engaged in mass demonstrations have called into question (at least in my mind) the effectiveness of some of the traditional methods used for such purposes.

So what I hope to discover here is how perceptions have changed (if at all) in the wake of the development of these right-wing countermeasures against more traditional forms of protest and political action.

[KittyWampus]

1. Strike, although unionizing and labor organization would be included.

imho

this is my favorite serious poll ever... hope it gets lotsa responses. :)

[wli]

4. perhaps I should have highlighted what I thought of the distinction

What I had in mind with "going on strike" was less organized strikes than those typically engaged in by unions. For instance, "general strikes" or strikes organized by non-union organizations.

Within the "unionization and collective bargaining" I had in mind the formal presence of unions regardless of whether going on strike was used as a tactic for collective bargaining by the union.

[justinsb]

5. I agree, but beyond labor

I've said that what the world really needs is a kind of 'Human Union' that goes beyond specific industries or countries. A union that could - for example - protest a pending war with an international work stoppage and retail boycott. No more production, no more manufacturing, no more retail sales etc until the hostile parties back down. It would be a beautiful thing.

[donco6]

2. PERSISTENT protest.

Any of the above are great, but they're worthless if not persistent.

[mike_c]

3. strikes, hands down....

A general strike with broad support would bring down the WH, the Congress, and their lapdog media in short order.

[LincolnMcGrath]

6. Well said!

Hell, if truckers parked their rigs for 4-5 days they would DOUBLE their Salary and Bennies! (see France for how truckers can fight for fair share of the pie)

[mike_c]

16. LM-- I've followed your posts on DU for some time now...

...and I'd like to salute your persistent support for organized workers. I'm formerly a member of Communications Workers of America (CWA), and currently belong to the California Faculty Association (CFA). I've been proud to be a union man whenever possible, and I'll likely spend the rest of my working life-- or at least until I retire and go to work in a convenience store-- with the CFA. I make a decent salary because my union bargains for me. Here's to organized labor! :toast:

[LincolnMcGrath]

24. Right back at ya Brother!

Union Soldiers carry the REST of the working folks on their backs for little recognition other than constant union bashing from those who enjoy the benefits WE have fought and died for.

:toast: Unions: It's about your family knuckleheads!! :toast:

[lvx35]

7. art and media.

I'm probably going to be the only one who votes for this, but I stand by it. My belief is that the problem here is communication. Anything we can do that actually shows the republicans our angle will help our cause more effectivly than anything else...I think almost everything else is a zero sum game.

[wli]

8. absolutely, please avoid "groupthink" at all costs on this one

I really want accurate results.

[KittyWampus]

10. Good Point, Art/Music Speaks In Symbols & Is Effective In Its Indirectness

In leaving room for personal interpretation, art allows us to draw our own conclusions and even change our perspective (from time to time).

[lvx35]

18. really, really well said.

That's SO true. I realized that right after the huge furor that was created by the Dixie Chick's saying that they were against Bush. As I recall they retracted the statement, then went on to release what I thought was a BLATANTLY anti-war song "Travelin Soldier"...Yet to my vast suprise, the song was a HUGE hit with all country folk, democrats and republicans! Here are the lyrics:
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/resources_files/DixieChicks_Travelin_Soldier.htm

The last verse:

One Friday night at a football game
The Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang
A man said folks would you bow your heads
For the list of local Vietnam dead
Cryin' all alone under the stands
Was the piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read and no one really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair

[kevsand]

27. And then there's other times when it's so direct

that it just punches you right in the gut. I can't even think about this song without tearing up:

PENNY EVANS
(Steve Goodman)
tune of Flying Cloud

Oh my name is Penny Evans and my age is 21
A young widow in the war that's being fought in Viet Nam
And I have two infant daughters and I do the best I can
Now they say the war is over, but I think it's just begun

I remember I was seventeen on the day I met young Bill
At his father's grand piano, we'd play good old "Heart and Soul"
Well, I only knew the left hand part and he the right so well
He's the only boy I ever slept with and the only one I will

It's first we had a baby girl and we had two good years
It was next the A1 notice came and we parted without tears
So it's nine months from our last good night our second babe appears
So it's ten months and a telegram confirming all our fears

And now every month I get a check from an Army bureaucrat
And it's every month I tear it up and mail the damn thing back
Do you think that makes it all right, do you think I'd fall for that
You can keep your bloody money, it won't bring my Billy back

I never cared for politics and speeches I don't understand
And likewise never took no charity from any living man
But tonight there's fifty thousand gone in that unhappy land
and fifty thousand "Heart and Soul's" being played with just one hand

Oh my name is Penny Evans and my age is 21
A young widow in the war that's being fought in Viet Nam
And I have two infant daughters and I thank God I have no sons
Now they say the war is over, but I think it's just begun

[VPStoltz]

30. I have to agree

Long after these fools have left this mortal coil, the great works of art will still be a profound statement on their folly. I teach music and I defy my students to name just one, just one politician. Most can't but they know who Beethoven is, Hendrix, Mozart, and Springstein.

[jobycom]

9. THE most effective protest is giving buttloads of money to politicians

After that, civil disobedience. Since we can't convince people that killing hundreds of thousands of people on a lie is wrong, making our anger visible and inconvenient is the best way to get them to want change.

[wli]

11. sorry, I thought of that but only had room for 10 options

I'll ask around to see if we can get more options in the future.

[jobycom]

20. Your choices are great, don't sweat it. Besides, some of your option

would be part of civil disobedience, like a general strike. Same principle.

[ultraist]

21. I agree, that's why the liberal blogs need a PAC

If all liberal blogs networked together and formed one PAC, we'd have a hell of a lot of money to bribe, er, give donations to our politicians while making requests.

[sintax]

12. your everyday life- the food you eat, the amount of energy you use

the 'stuff' you refuse to buy and buy into, the way you take your time, the talking every day to people about issues who otherwise aren't inclined to hear about 'Peak Oil' for example etc.

Seeing things and remaining quiet about them will change nothing, not even ourselves. But saying things - having the courage to testify to our own forbidden knowledge - could be the way the world changes.

[wli]

14. is this "buying blue" and the like?

I'd probably put this under the boycott/buycott category, then.

[sintax]

17. More like 'Buy Nothing'

Bake Bread
Take a Nap
Refuse to be called a consumer
Eat Garlic
Bicycle
Spend time with friends on the porch
Skip
DIY whenever possible
Get in the way of the Machine whenever possible
Don't use a cell phone

Appreciate a good pair of shoes

[etherealtruth]

13. I guess I'm the lone boycott vote, but ...

... if a boycott is well organized and has a significant number of people committed to boycott ... I think it is VERY effective. Unfortunately, I think RW groups have been infinitely more effective using this tactic than liberal/progressive groups (at least during the last few decades).

[wli]

15. maybe pumping buyblue.org et al would help that n/t

[zann725]

19. All of the above.

n/t

[unrepuke]

22. According to Ghandi? Or the Founding Fathers ?

[wli]

25. neither: according to DU'ers n/t

[DanCa]

23. Malcom said it best by any means necessary (nt)

[wli]

26. I need more responses for useful statistics; can I get some kicks? n/t

[VPStoltz]

28. Otherwise known as "civil disobedience."

[wli]

29. well, I need to break things down further than that

If more detail could be used that would be helpful. Thanks.

[skids]

31. With all due respect to Camp Casey...

...which I think has been extremely effective, the most functional estate is the judicial (even when considering the media as the "fourth estate") and it is in the judicial system that this country's last hopes of salvaging itself lies.

Striking will only result in the corporations abandoning the U.S. worker and moving abroad. That said, a very effective way to create change on a personal basis is to not sit on your ass when you have a job, unless your employer is a good one. Whether you like the job or not, if your employer is not someone you can hold in high regard, keep looking for a job with a better company, and quit when you get an offer.

Aside from that, prosecuting the bastards out of office is the way large scale change will come, if it does before it is too late.

[Is It Fascism Yet]

32. Other, I say its time to stop paying our taxes. Taxation without

representation is unconstitutional, and they didn't count my vote in the last election, howza bout yours? The Arizona Secretary of State even admits that she didn't count the mail votes, saying, "they wouldn't matter". I bet my taxes matter. The only way we could do this and stay out of jail is if we ALL did it, and ALL commenced the stoppage simultaneously. Anyone can fill out paperwork with their employer stating that they are "exempt" and stop their employer from withholding. Then you have to deal with the IRS later. But we will simply tell them, "I voted by mail, my vote wasn't counted, the constitution says you can tax me if you don't count my vote". You know these fascist pigs run on the money they can steal from the taxpayers, IE the 8 billion dollars that went missing from the funds allotted for Iraq, and all the billions they have stolen from Social Security, thereby causing the crisis they so badly wanted to fake. If we stopped their flow of money, they'd "melt" as fast as the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz!

[Richard Steele]

33. I voted for the MEDIA Broadcast option...

Because B*shCabalInc™ has certainly proven
that this nation's citizens are easily brainwashed,
and TV and radio are the preferred Svengali of the day.