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Naomi Wolf on why protests don't work in the U.S.

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posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 03:02 AM
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reply to post by warrenb
 

God bless, warrenb. Patriots are fearless because they are right. Stand against evil. Cast aside fear and embrace the love of your freedoms, given by God.




[edit on 1-9-2009 by romanmel]



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 03:39 AM
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reply to post by Iamonlyhuman
 

Star & Flag...great post and sooo true! I'm an old msn now, but have my memories of "laying it on the line" for my beliefs and going to jail twice. I don't like jail, but I never felt so good as when I was there, in jail, with the knowledge that I had done what was RIGHT & JUST.

During the Anti-Viet-Nam war protests, heads were bloodied, citizens were shot and killed by troops. But "business as usual" was disrupted. The evil Nixon/Agnew administration was brought to it's knees by it's own corruption. The goal must be to disrupt TPTB. Make life uncomfortable for evil BigGov. Forget applying for illegal permits to do what is already provided for in the constitution. DEMAND CHANGE! No turning back! If God be with us, who can be against us? Power to the people!!


[edit on 1-9-2009 by romanmel]



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 06:12 AM
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Originally posted by HunkaHunka
reply to post by Iamonlyhuman
 


Define "Work"...

Protests work very well in this country to allow people to blow off steam.

Just imagine what would happen if we didn't have the right to protest... I don't even want to think of what the pent up rage would lead to. I know some on this site would love to see it, but I for one would not.

I think Protests work very well... maybe not for the protesters though...


Protests are not only to blow off steam, it is for effecting real change in a system and a way to force redress from a government that refuses to make that change. The tea party protests, for example, in my opinion, did not bring about change or even get close to change (except of course stricter rules on when, where and how assemblies can occur). And what about the G20 protester arrangers accusation that they can't even get a permit to protest at the G20 in Pittsburgh in September? How is that a right to protest?



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 06:47 AM
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reply to post by mrpotatohead
 





I do think the next Tea Party marches will prove to the government that those marching are not a bunch of brown shirt Nazis, or hicks, or some other deragortory name.


Do not expect any change in MSM reporting that reflects that. TPTB wants to make sure the right wing is seen as a few crazy religious gun toting maniacs and the left wing as silently agreeing or protesting For Obama and all the Democratic plans. You will never see any truth that is not on TPTB agenda

The mass media is a Bankster/corporate whore and has been for a very long time.

In 1970 protesters were fired on at the Kent State riots. MSM and the history books now state the protest were about the Vietnam war WRONG. My boy friend, a Nam Viet, going to school at Kent State was at those riots. He told me the riots were because the town would not let older, adult students living year round in the town (him) register to vote. Just like the blacks in the south, students were disenfranchised.

Shortly after that the MSM reported on national new complete with film footage, riots at my school. Mom called me that evening worried I might be hurt. THERE WERE NO RIOTS I crossed the campus several times that day and never saw anything but a few students talking together or hurrying to class.

Student Riots over the war were frowned upon by adults. Protests by adults because they lost the vote and were shot at by the national guard would have gained outrage so the truth and American perceptions were manipulated


The news media prints the lies TPTB want them to print. When farmers were trying to get coverage about animal ID we found it was true all over the USA. In florida two reporters were fired, Derry Brownfield was tossed of the air for challenging Monsanto, a TV program having something to do with horses was warned to keep their mouths shut.

I have had several first hand interactions with the press ALL were reported in a way that furthered TPTB's agenda and distorted or lied about the truth. They even reported a friend who died in a scuba diving accident as run over by a Russian trawler to incite outrage against the Russians!



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 07:15 AM
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Originally posted by ReelView
The main reason for modern protests is to vent and "Feel" like you're in control and accomplishing something. Once the protesters are satisfied they tend to pat themselves on the back and go back to being impotent. Generally, a protest is an act of weakness. You're hopping to get someones attention, to get them to listen or magically care. As a result, protesters tend to be dependent on an audience to watch, listen, pay attention. If protesters want to be strong today, they should either go door to door handing out a leaflet or stand outside main traffic locations with a banner than shows a web site link with the details. Hopefully, the website link clues people into the issue. People are too mobile to reach with a protest. The main destinations for large groups tend to be on private property. One of the reasons for the death of the cities commercial business district. You can't really effect people with random slogans as they drive buy. Protesters can have some effect if they time their activity to major social events held in parks for example, but, protesters have bought into the idea that they have to be registered and approved by the "government". Better they apply themselves directly to establishing their own candidates. Make those candidates known through a web site and a public march before elections.


That may work on a local level but certainly not on a national level. The problem with establishing your own candidate on a national level is money. We all know that the more you have the more likely you are to win. Look at Ron Paul, for example. No money, no win.



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 07:17 AM
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Originally posted by GorehoundLarry
the upcoming G20 summit here in Pittsburgh is going to be intense. Apparently, some supporters of anarchist beliefs have been taken in due to their political ways...

I hope there is a revolution that day. We need to be active and show the world we mean business. We're not going to take anyone's crap anymore.

We're going to make history.


Just be prepared to also be making license plates.



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 07:28 AM
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Originally posted by romanmel
reply to post by Iamonlyhuman
 

Star & Flag...great post and sooo true! I'm an old msn now, but have my memories of "laying it on the line" for my beliefs and going to jail twice. I don't like jail, but I never felt so good as when I was there, in jail, with the knowledge that I had done what was RIGHT & JUST.

During the Anti-Viet-Nam war protests, heads were bloodied, citizens were shot and killed by troops. But "business as usual" was disrupted. The evil Nixon/Agnew administration was brought to it's knees by it's own corruption. The goal must be to disrupt TPTB. Make life uncomfortable for evil BigGov. Forget applying for illegal permits to do what is already provided for in the constitution. DEMAND CHANGE! No turning back! If God be with us, who can be against us? Power to the people!!


[edit on 1-9-2009 by romanmel]


I was a child in the 1960s. Correct me if I'm wrong but most of the protesters of that era were young people. Today, I think it would probably be the opposite. Not to say that young people wouldn't join in but I think that the majority of the younger people are not aware of how it's supposed to be. It was in the late 1960s early 1970s that the government started implementing a lot of the restrictions on protests that we have today. They can only suppress free speech (real protest) for so long... perhaps, people will be willing to break the protest rules, in a non-violent way, now. Maybe, maybe not, but if something doesn't change soon I think what JFK said will come true:

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolutions inevitable." John F. Kennedy



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 07:33 AM
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Originally posted by crimvelvet

The news media prints the lies TPTB want them to print. When farmers were trying to get coverage about animal ID we found it was true all over the USA. In florida two reporters were fired, Derry Brownfield was tossed of the air for challenging Monsanto, a TV program having something to do with horses was warned to keep their mouths shut.

I have had several first hand interactions with the press ALL were reported in a way that furthered TPTB's agenda and distorted or lied about the truth. They even reported a friend who died in a scuba diving accident as run over by a Russian trawler to incite outrage against the Russians!


I agree. Don't you think that now that we have the internet at least that we can get the word out a little better? I do think that it is this reason that TPTB keep trying to regulate the internet.



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 08:39 AM
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Originally posted by romanmel
reply to post by Iamonlyhuman
 

. The evil Nixon/Agnew administration was brought to it's knees by it's own corruption.



Not to disagree with you but I recently read a book by
Russ Baker called "family of secrets" that changed my mind
about Nixon in many ways. Like Carter, Nixon was an establishment
(east coast elite) outsider. From the facts Baker presents, it looks
like watergate was a setup by Poppy Bush and his CIA friends. Nixon
was clueless about it.

I'm not defending Nixon, he did plenty wrong (Invading Cambodia,
authorizing the FBI to spy on us, etc). The real dirty work of the gov't
has always been done by the alphabet soup agencies quite often
without executive approval or knowledge. I agree with Naomi wolf
on this one, F the permits, we need to cross the line again or nothing
will happen. Unfortunately crossing that line means violence which
as usual will be instigated by the police. So be it. We may need to
have our own version of Tianenmen square for the nation to wake
up and take action. Anything less will be business as usual.



[edit on 1-9-2009 by Asktheanimals]



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 01:54 PM
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AMericans could easily stop this if they, as jurors, would refuse to convict protesters of whatever they are charged with. Jury nullification is a wonderful thing but americans are too stupid to use it..



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 01:58 PM
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Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman

I agree. Don't you think that now that we have the internet at least that we can get the word out a little better? I do think that it is this reason that TPTB keep trying to regulate the internet.


The internet is great but the govt knows about it too and they use it to spread their lies. I've had posters tell me the reason WTC7 collapsed is because WTC1 toppled into it!!!



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 07:21 PM
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I think I'm in love.



posted on Sep, 1 2009 @ 08:57 PM
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reply to post by Iamonlyhuman
 


I've been saying this for quite a while too. No politician or leader will pay any attention to morons holding signs and yelling catch phrases in the street - and they are morons if they believe doing that will change anything.

And for those that will bring up Gandhi, if you know your history, you should note that Gandhi used "peaceful, non-violent DEFIANCE" to make his point heard. He called for national days of fasting where people don't work - that alone in one day threatened to cripple the British. Also, he went to the beach to make salt - at that time salt was only available through British controlled vendors (or it was heavily taxed by the British for some reason) and he said screw that, I'm making my own.

THAT'S Protesting.



posted on Sep, 2 2009 @ 01:26 AM
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So true...I have been thinking about this for awhile. To stage a protest like those that occured during the MLK era would bring a swift fist from the government nowadays.

Add a few morons into the mix and things REALLY start to get heated. I remember the WTO riots here in Seattle years ago, coming home from school for those 2-3 days and seeing nothing on TV but clouds upon clouds of tear gas. All because of a small group of people that wanted to rile up an othewise peaceful march and grew violent. Mob mentality is a nasty thing.

It's important to remember that smashing windows, lighting things on fire, etc. is not the only way to get people's attention...a succesful peaceful protest commands infinitely more respect than the alternative. Mass marches that halt traffic and businesses are more than enough to get the government types going. Unfortunately, protesting has for the most part been limited to a few people standing on street corners with signs as of late...realistically, this does nothing.

Deep down, I believe this has come down to an issue of trust. Almost nobody is willing to stage a truly illegal protest, what with the whole going to jail thing. Everybody chants, "Strength in numbers! We just need a lot of people to do this!" But participation is lackluster because everybody wants somebody else to set it up, and when it comes down to time to actually protest, it is hard for people to trust that enough will show up to make the protest successful and not end in the entire group getting arrested.

I'd like to say "Let's change that!" but in all honesty, I don't see it getting any better


Edit: Oh yeah, and I would totally hit that


[edit on 2-9-2009 by Cantthinkofaname]



posted on Sep, 2 2009 @ 03:06 PM
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reply to post by IDK88
 





Those revolutions weren't successful because laws within society supported them they were successful because the leaders were overtly corrupt...no questions about it.


Our leaders aren't so overt about their actions and much of their crimes are hidden but I think it's obvious to anyone with a working brain that most if not all of our leaders are as corrupt as they come. So why can't it work?

If people weren't so brainwashed and got up off their lazy butts and did some non-legal protests( as opposed to the legal Tea-Parties which, IMO, were mostly worthless), shut down some businesses for the day, make a friggin dent, then nothing will happen.

She's got it right, I think, about tearing down the houses, brick by brick, of the tax collectors BITD. Let's "protest" the Fed, brick by brick, and see what happens. Since the Fed is probably our most important problem, that is what we should be going after. Not some Tea-Party that no one really knows what it's about. Everyone has their own agenda and we need to come together and protest ONE thing, not a hundred. It makes the protest so diffuse that it means almost nothing if we protest everything under the sun.




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