Ever Participate In A Protest, That Gained Anything ?

[SlowwHand]

I have.


When I was a sophomore, or a junior in high school, I can't remember as it's been a few, I went to hear William Kunsler speak at SMU (Southern Methodist University).
It was for either a Civics class, or maybe a Sociology class; again, time comes into bearing.

Anyway, following the lecture the students went to a protest over County Jail conditions.
Being a younger person than they, I was snatched up and taken with.
At the time, the county jail was located underground beneath the courthouse.

So we walked around out front, then through the doors, down the escalator, back up the escalator, and outside again.

Got televised and all, and was a pretty cool experience, being a high school student amongst college students.

Bottom-line, a new County Jail was eventually built.
Lew Sterrett, by name.





So leaving out the recently passed Iraq War protests, and Vietnam protests, both of which didn't accomplish much, and therefore don't really qualify for the answer to the question asked in the thread title; done anything?

[Sava]

I'm boycotting the Dixie Chicks.

[Spec]

Yea, I protested against a ticket a cop wanted to give me and I won!

I sure told him!




Spec.

[DinoDoc]

Re: Ever Participate In A Protest, That Gained Anything ?

Originally posted by SlowwHand
So leaving out the recently passed Iraq War protests, and Vietnam protests, both of which didn't accomplish much, and therefore don't really qualify for the answer to the question asked in the thread title; done anything?

I can understand the exclusion of the Iraq War protests but why Vietnam.

[Spiffor]

I haven't protested often, and these protests never changed the actual policy being done, since they were all protests against already decided policies.

Against France's nuclear tests : failed.
Against France's shameful anti-immigration laws : failed (and the ****ing socialists didn't cancel them when they came to power ! )
In favor of Immigrant's vote : failed
Against the Kosovo war : failed
Against the Iraqi war : failed

There are some protests that work, but they are generally backed by strong union action, like strikes. In France, there is no other way than strikes to effectively pressure the government (except bribery of course).

[SlowwHand]

The protests didn't any more end Vietnam than protests ended Iraq.

This isn't to debate that issue, so please don't.

[Sava]

Maybe if you keep telling yourself that Slowwhand, it might become true.

[SlowwHand]

Sava, maybe once you would honor a polite request.
Ever see that happening?

[SlowwHand]

Before anyone else tries war protests, speaking from a U.S. perspective, no protest in history has ended a war.

Not protests in the North during War Between The States.
Not in WW II.

Not ever.

Maybe one could cite Italians and Mussolini, but that wasn't really a protest, per se.

I'm talking about, I don't know, catching dolphins in tuna nets, or something more readily tangible.

[Clear Skies]

Yep. I was in a Jubilee 2000 demonstration in Brimingham and one in London that together succeeded in getting Gordon Brown to cancel £50bn worth of debt owed to Britain by the world's poorest countries.

[Ben Kenobi]

Prolife protests out at UBC.

A fair number of women afterwards commented that the display changed their minds on abortion.

[Agathon]

Protests for a nuclear free NZ (won).

[SlowwHand]

Cool. I was beginning to think there were just a lot of talkers here.

[Shi Huangdi]

When I war really young and really dumb, I went to animal rights protest then my aunt and uncle dragged me along to.

Later I attended a pro-life protest.

Neither protest seemed to accomplish much

[Asher]

Oh, definitely.

Back in high school the whole class was pissed off that the teacher tested us on something she said she wouldn't test. We all protested, saying it wasn't fair, and she didn't count the marks for those sections.