Speaking of peaceful protests we have just had nearly 2 weeks of massive "peaceful" protests here in the USA by people protesting the proposed new immigration laws in the US Congress that would have instantly made felons out of over 10 million (based on current estimates) illegal US immigrants currently residing in the USA.
These PEACFUL protests have already had a huge impact on Congress. Some of the protesters were High School Student Valedictorians (they have the highest grades in their class) who are not yet here legally, but who are setting one hell of a good example for others. The US Senate shelved the proposed law for now, as a result of the public outcry and protests! They recognized the huge mistake they were about to make thanks to the protests. Peaceful protests do happen and they do succeed! Mike McGinness Keith Addison wrote: > >I have to agree that social change does not happen with peaceful protests. > > Social change does not ONLY happen with peaceful protest. And > peaceful protest does most certainly happen. > > >The people benefiting from the imbalance that causes peaceful > >protests won't let go so easily (especially when they pay someone to > >fight their battles). > > > >The fight ends up being between the only two forms of power that > >mean anything in our society - money and people. When individuals > >believe they should have more than most, they accumulate wealth and > >with it, power. Those who are effected by that power and are not > >wealthy, organize and gather consensus among their fellow citizens. > > > >(IMO) the violence starts when the two powers have had time (years) > >to build. Peaceful protests are a tell-tale, signaling the > >possibility of violence. > > They signal the failure of the system to deliver on its promises, so > alternative means must be found of bringing public opinion to bear on > public events, and peaceful protest is one of them. > > >The conflict won't end until antagonists (ruling class) have become > >exhausted from the fight and it's clear that there isn't much > >(money) left to gain by continuing. > > That's how it's been in the past, but despite all the apparently lost > battles what history shows nonetheless is a steady pushing forward of > the frontiers of human rights. That all the battles of the past have > been lost (they weren't) wouldn't necessarily mean that the next one > will be the same, especially not when there are some really new > factors in the mix, which there are. The whole long 10,000-year war > could be won or lost now, not just a battle. > > >The reason for such an imbalance can't be placed squarely on the > >shoulders of the narcissists who gather wealth for the purpose of > >projecting power. If citizens played a bigger role in the everyday > >business of government, the imbalance would be seen earlier and kept > >from becoming the threat that it is today. > > Why do they consent to leaving it all to the government and the > authorities in the first place? That's just what Edward Bernays said > he invented public relations to achieve after all. > > Best > > Keith > > >...my $.02 > > > >Mike > > > > > >Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > >Okay, let's take this in chunks. > > > >Not okay: > > > > >>Why not answer the rest of the question Gary? It went like this: > > > >snippetysnippetysnip... > > > >Snipping's supposed to remove previous irrelevant matter to save > >space. But you're a compulsive snipper, and not to save space. Then > >the "chunks" you're left with aren't quite the same thing, eh? You > >can just take a little nibble or two in order to spit it out again > >and leave all the rest snipped by the wayside. > > > >It just evades the issue, and among other things somehow leads you to > >conclude that you're knocking one of my heroes, for heavens sakes. Do > >you think King Asoka's my hero too? We're not talking about > >hero-worship. > > > >Why don't you try giving a proper response? I'm not going to stitch > >it all back again, do it yourself. > > > >Who said anything about saints? Only you. Who's trying to avoid > >politics other than you? And who are you trying to tell about media > >coverage? If you'd been paying a little more attention you might have > >learnt a little about just what media coverage means and doesn't mean > >and the role it plays and doesn't play in issues such as these. Not > >necessarily what you just naturally assume. > > > >You have to skip over (snip snip) large chunks (not just niblets) of > >recent and current history for your view of it to make any sense. > >It's just prejudice anyway (pre-judgment). Force reality into it if > >you wish, but you're not persuading anyone but yourself that it fits. > > > >Peaceful protest doesn't work, what a load of old bullshit, same with > >peace with justice doesn't exist. You're talking nonsense. > > > > >Gandhi I've only got a passing familiarity with, even though he > > >seems to be referred to as the father of non-violent protest. > > >Maybe he was perfect and maybe his followers were never incited to > > >riot or to violence. If so, then in this case I'm wrong. I hope > > >I'm wrong. I'd like to be wrong. I wish my cynical world view was > > >wrong and that if you really are pure of heart then the truth will > > >win out in the end and peace will fall on the land but I guess I > > >just haven't seen it in my life time. > > > >There's a difference between cynicism and that last little burst of > >sarcasm, and cynicism isn't usually so ill-informed either. Maybe you > >didn't see it because you didn't look or looked the other way? > > > >Go and study Gandhi then, you're not qualified to discuss this issue > >if you know nothing about Gandhi, let alone declaim on it. You share > >a country with a lot of Indians among others and you don't know from > >Gandhi? Or from the history of the last 40 years it seems, other than > >via a keyhole. If you found just one instance of riot or violence > >being associated with Gandhian protest you'd look no further, that'd > >be your proof, case rests. Poof, you snap your fingers, and the role > >of peaceful protest and passive resistance in creating change > >vanishes, and so today, at this of all crucial junctures in human > >affairs, you'd leave us with no other tools than a hammer to face a > >juggernaut. > > > >I think you don't really know anything about this. Probably that's > >what other people said about King at the time and you've thought so > >ever since. > > > >Also please don't just brush things aside. Eg: > > > > >>Peace with justice, D. Mindock > > > > > >Did that ever really exist? > > > >You were given some examples, snipping it isn't exactly an > >acceptable response. > > > >Keith Addison > >Journey to Forever > >KYOTO Pref., Japan > >http://journeytoforever.org/ > >Biofuel list owner > > > > > >[snip] > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
