I Wear Pants;995629 wrote:Indeed they were too busy getting mowed over by government vehicles. And burning down buildings.
Maybe we should start doing that.
My comment was tongue and cheeek.
Reguarding protesting. Grabbing some signs and yelling hey hey ho ho "xyz" has got to go on the street corner does nothing. A protest is a political act. It needs solid leadership, it should have a clear message, it must win popular support, and most importantly it must be able create a funtioning political body to actively change or replace the current government.
The OWS movement has fallen flat on its face. Any protest is going to attract malcontents but the lack of leadership and solid backing allowed the lowest of the low to be the face of the movement. Choosing "occupy" as a term to define the movement was idiotic. It has a negative connotation. It implies force and is the antithesis of liberty.
OWS blames the media. You overcome the media and appeal to the people. You mention the Middle East. They were competing against state run media and internet/cellphone blackouts. But in the end protesting and running amok in the streets did not cut it. It took more.
Tunisia - The protest movement gained enough popular and political support to get change in government
Libya - Popular support was split. They had oil and a legitimate political body took shape and they gained the support of NATO. Even so it still took a bloody civil war.
Egypt - Who knows? Replace a dictator with a military council? The protest movement in Egypt has yet create a powerful political body to bring about a real change in their government.
Bahrain - At this point. Fail
Syria - Quasi civil war. The protesters have only been able to get localized support and some army defections from those areas.