Have you ever been in a protest?

[Kevin Roegele]

And if so,

a. What was it against?
b. Did you do it because you genuinely believed you could change something, or more to say, "This is not happening in my name?"

 

[Master Chief]

I protested against toothpaste that doesn't whiten teeth on top of a telephone pole. No one cared and I eventually got electrocuted. I did it because I wanted to camp out on top of a telephone pole for a reason.

 

[JLBats]

I was too young at the time to be a part of it, but I supported the protest of Mike Harris' changes to the school system in Ontario. A few people did it just because it involved a student walk out, and they got to go to the mall.

 

[Addendum]

No. I have a job

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

My Mom was high up in some Pro-Life organization in Utah and dragged me to 20 or 30 protests/demonstrations.

I also went to watch a White Power protest, but ended up swallowed up by a large group of hipster Jews who came to shout at them.

I was technically Pro-Life, but would not've attended had my Mom not forced me.
And with the other one, I only went to gawk at the racist freaks, but did not yell at them. The non-racist protesters were almost as scary and gross as the White Power dudes.

Protesting is futile.
Only a few years ago, history was made when the world's largest organized protest was held simultaneously all over the world with millions and millions of people, standing up to say "No War in Iraq".

They didn't care. They were already planning to invade Iraq years before Bush even stole office.

But hey, knock yourself out. Draw your cardboard signs and chant your slogans.

 

[KingOfDreams]

I've been to one protest. It was against the blatantly partisan redrawing of the Texas congressional districts. It was also in support of all the state senate Democrats, "Killer D's" who went to Oklahoma to prevent a quorum which would have approved the new map, since the majority of the Texas senate is Republican...but they still didn't have enough people there to take a vote. But the thing passed eventually because the D's had to come back. But Tom DeLay got what he deserved in the end so I'm happy about that at least. Oh, and I also helped organize and participated in a protest against the Texas bill that would officially and legally define marriage as a union between a man and a woman only. That was futile, unfortunately.

 

[JokerNick]

nope.. protesting is for Emos

 

[maxwell's demon]

yes, a few

When i was a kid i have a vague memory of protesting some KKK march in our small Connecticut town, but i think maybe i was jsut mad about it with my friends, not an organized thing.

in college- i protested the local town's blanket decision to take away our right, as residents (there nine months a year or more in some cases) to vote.
I made buttons flyers, and marched.*

After, i was in the NYC protest against the Iraq War, and i also took part in the march against the RNC in 2004.

I've also helped out in some minor ways with more local protests, against the building of a Newer poer plant and agaistn real estate moguls and their mogulish *****ebaggery.


And now i agree with Wilh, pretty much its useless. Esp, when you consideer the way the media can spin protesters to look liek "angry mobs". The real point is- protest if you want- but then you have to also DO something tangible. That's more what the deal was with the localized protests. you have to start small, but you don't have to stop hollering at the masses if you don't want.

*in this case we actually , together, did get back our right to vote. this was in 1996.

 

[Spider-Bite]

never have, but I always wanted to.

 

[FOG3]

Once a friend and I went to a cd store in Houston and across the street they were chanting about freeing Tibet. So because we had never done anything like that we went across and chanted for five minutes, then went back and bought cds. I think we made a difference.

 

[Tangled Web]

nope.. protesting is for Emos

That's what they want you to think.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

mogulish *****ebaggery.

sounds like a bad guy from the 50's, like someone the shadow would face.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

nope.. protesting is for Emos

you're 10 or something?

 

[Erundur]

I've protested a few times, once was in DC where there was protest against the Pakistani government to stop funding the Taliban with money, weapons, and military training and to give better treatment to women.

 

[JokerNick]

you're 10 or something?

10 and three quarters..... freaking poopy head....


FYI, it was a joke.... since everyone here says that *insert blank* is for emos....

actaully emos don't protest, they would blog about it

 

[JokerNick]

I've protested a few times, once was in DC where there was protest against the Pakistani government to stop funding the Taliban with money, weapons, and military training and to give better treatment to women.

yeah, that wasn't a waste of time

 

[Superbeasto]

Im participating in the marchs here in Mexico City against electoral fraud and the imposicion of a non legitimate president, that is right now august 2006

 

[kainedamo]

Protesting isn't pointless.

At the very least, protesting lets people know that there are people out there that don't agree with something, it lets the media know, it lets politicians know (even if they don't care), and it has ripple effects to move other people into protesting.

It can also bring a subject more to the forefront of public attention.

It's also a way of saying "not in my name".

Quite frankly, when people protested in the streets of London, and in other places, against the Iraq war... that's a big moment of pride for the large numbers of people involved. It may not have changed the decisions of politicians, but does that not make the politicians look even worse? The fact that they just ignore record amounts of people out in the streets?

People can also look back, in 10, 20, 50 years time and see that there was indeed a movement against/for something.

It IS important to protest.

The attitude that protesting doesn't help is another reason why America sucks and Britain (I don't consider myself British) rocks. The people of Britain get themselves off their asses in large numbers.

And the fact that such large numbers of people did do something shows that the British people aren't fooled by the media, and it effects the British mentality for years.

 

[MrScissorhands]

I've been in protests against missiles, racism, the war in Iraq, a new tax on student homes and one no one really had any idea what it was for, but it was the biggest protest Belgium had ever seen, called 'The White March'.

Twice it paid off : no new tax and a reform of the Belgian justice system.
I like to think it was my presence that made the difference.

 

[Carter]

I don't protest.
Something about making signs and walking around with smelly hippies that turns me off.

If I felt that strongly about something I'd write a letter or something.

 

[Superbeasto]

We were 2 millions the last time we walked throught Reforma (a very important Mexican avenue), So like Kainedamo says, its a big moment of pride, and to stand for what you think its right.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Im participating in the marchs here in Mexico City against electoral fraud and the imposicion of a non legitimate president, that is right now august 2006

riiiiiiiiight! yeah, Electoral Fraud.

 

[thedeadite]

when i was living in (metro)detroit, me and a few friends tried to make it to the WTO conferance in windsor, ontario (my birth town, and place i lived for the first 21 years of my life). We were denied entry into canada because border patrol didn't believe that i was just going over to visit family/friends.

participated in teh school walk out and protest at the board of education against mike harris' education reform...forget the year..

 

[Tangled Web]

I don't protest.
Something about making signs and walking around with smelly hippies that turns me off.

If I felt that strongly about something I'd write a letter or something.

I wrote a letter to FOX to bring Wonderfalls back. I didn't work.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

We were 2 millions the last time we walked throught Reforma (a very important Mexican avenue), So like Kainedamo says, its a big moment of pride, and to stand for what you think its right.

yeah, Marches are cool, explain to me the pride of blockading entire avenues for weeks so that people that actually have jobs and stuff to do are either late or just don't get there. damaging the economy of small and medium businesess? so forth and so on.
that seems like Blackmail to me, not protest. "give us what we want or we won't allow you to live in peace"

pride, with their little camps with people watching television and having little plays in the middle of the ****ing street in one of the biggest cities in Mexico?

more like shame.