To me the lesson of that was, if you want substantive change, aim at winning elections and at getting the legislation you want to see enacted. That takes strategy, focus, and persistent effort in the face of extreme tedium (because this sort of work can be utter drudgery) and sometimes also in the face of gut-wrenching short- and medium-term disappointment.
Protesting feels good, it discharges a lot of pent-up energy, and yes of course the big turn-out shows TPTB and fence-sitters that people care-- but what happens in Washington DC when the protestors go home?
Lots of things, maybe, but from what I've seen, that's when the lobbyists eat their lunch, and yours too.
Take vaxx passports. I say, they need to be made illegal. I suppose one could come up with some exotic scenarios wherein this could happen, but the most obvious one to me is that candidates who care about this have to be elected. Then, legislators who care about this issue have to propose that legislation (tricky, especially for junior members), and then shepherd it through the legislative process (super tricky, requiring many allies and loads of experience) without losing its essence (for sure, like velcro, and not to mix metaphors, said proposed legislation will attract multiple "pork barrels"), and then corral the votes (ye old political horse trading) needed to make it pass.
This is by no means impossible. But... it's way easier to just go march and yell and feel all outraged & energized and sing & clap!
Both are good, don't get me wrong.
But I would say to any US citizen who is considering taking the trouble to go to Washington: Do you happen to know the name and office address of your US representative, your two US Senators, and, by the way, your state representative and state senator? And your mayor? And your city council members? If you don't, look them up-- they're right there on their webpages. You might get quite a bit more mileage than you imagine by protesting to them, or thanking them for their service, directly. Let them know that you're going to Washington for this protest. Let them know what you think, and how you hope they will vote. Let them know that YOU SEE THEM, you are watching what they do, how they vote. And that you know when the next election is, and that you are not going away.
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branchandroot
Re: DC March
Date: 2022-01-19 04:36 pm (UTC)Protesting feels good, it discharges a lot of pent-up energy, and yes of course the big turn-out shows TPTB and fence-sitters that people care-- but what happens in Washington DC when the protestors go home?
Lots of things, maybe, but from what I've seen, that's when the lobbyists eat their lunch, and yours too.
Take vaxx passports. I say, they need to be made illegal. I suppose one could come up with some exotic scenarios wherein this could happen, but the most obvious one to me is that candidates who care about this have to be elected. Then, legislators who care about this issue have to propose that legislation (tricky, especially for junior members), and then shepherd it through the legislative process (super tricky, requiring many allies and loads of experience) without losing its essence (for sure, like velcro, and not to mix metaphors, said proposed legislation will attract multiple "pork barrels"), and then corral the votes (ye old political horse trading) needed to make it pass.
This is by no means impossible. But... it's way easier to just go march and yell and feel all outraged & energized and sing & clap!
Both are good, don't get me wrong.
But I would say to any US citizen who is considering taking the trouble to go to Washington: Do you happen to know the name and office address of your US representative, your two US Senators, and, by the way, your state representative and state senator? And your mayor? And your city council members? If you don't, look them up-- they're right there on their webpages. You might get quite a bit more mileage than you imagine by protesting to them, or thanking them for their service, directly. Let them know that you're going to Washington for this protest. Let them know what you think, and how you hope they will vote. Let them know that YOU SEE THEM, you are watching what they do, how they vote. And that you know when the next election is, and that you are not going away.
Taupe Cantankerous Hedgehog