Originally posted by asmall89
How many of you were/are against the Bailouts? I know I certainly am. And all you want to do is just write your congressmen who (unless your very fortunate) will most likely ignore you. Yeah protests like this are dangerous and can have serious repercussions, but you know what it's a lot better than what Greece & Iceland have been through. These people aren't looting, or destroying any property, their just using airports as a tool to get attention. To make people aware of us against the bailouts. Yeah an airport probably isn't the best place to protest, but if it gets attention to the thousands of us who are against the bailouts, then it's worth it. We need to stop our government taking advantage of us and unfortunately writing your congressmen isn't working thus far, did Martin Luther King just sit down and watch his people be abused? Did our founding fathers just let Britain tax them into oblivion? No, they peacefully protested and that's what we need to do. Sitting on a runway may not be smart, but it is not at all violent.
A HUGE part of successful protesting is gaining public support.
By being a nuisance and disrupting the lives of others, there is not going to be any positive support.
Just look at the recent occupation of the runway in the UK. The majority of the public are behind those protesting, we support their argument that another runway is not a good idea right now, and that it is purely to increase the profits of a few corporations. But, that protest was negative, disruptive, it pissed off a lot of people and many refused to accept that it was justified.
Instead of gaining support or furthering their cause, they angered a lot of people by being irrational and irresponsible.
It went against them because it allowed the airlines and corporations to make a mountain out of a molehill and blame the protesters too. They had the perfect opportunity to cancel flights, delay people and then point the finger squarely at the protesters as the ones responsible.
This is what I mean by bad PR!
Protest, walk with banners, have speeches outside regional offices, gain public support by agreeing on what the goal is.
France protested. They didn't need to block runways, boycott businesses indiscriminately, or call for strikes across every sector. Yes they were on strike (they are French
(joke)) but this was specifically their industry. There were scuffles, as there will be in America.
But calling for illegal actions and actions that'll harm people, businesses and the country as a whole is highly irresponsible and completely irrational.
The federal government is the enemy in this instance, and change of actions/furthering awareness are the goals.
Only mass protests done legally and thoughtfully will succeed in bringing people out in support.
