aphoenix

I got some Facebook traction on this topic, and I'll address it here.

Michael said: "I think this post talks more about protesting effectively, more than criticizing the act of the protest." That's exactly what I was going for. I'm not saying that there's no place for protest, but thinking that any of the protests at the #G20 would be effective is naive. Direct protest to your MP or MPP is an effective thing to do, because MPs and MPPs have a vested interest in keeping the populace happy. This is the level at which protesters need to focus if they want to have an effect on politics.

Having worked in and around the University of Guelph for 10 years, I see a lot of what I would term "stupid" protests. People get together and make signs protesting for the rights of some people in a country on the other side of the world, and they take those signs up and parade around Branion Plaza. This is a misunderstanding of many things, not least of which is potential audience. While it is admirable to feel bad for those in these terrible situations around the world, it is stupid to protest against terrible things in this way because it displays a clear lack of understanding of your potential scope. Nothing good will come from a protest like this. Those who are perpetrating that which is being protested don't care that an affluent kid from Ontario thinks that they suck. Those who are the victims get no help from your protest. It's worse than just being ineffective though; it actually robs any of your good points of their legitimacy. The problems in Darfur are horrible but having a demonstration to protest them is not going to anyone involved a lick of good.

Things that are effective to protest happen on a local level. Protest the fact that there's going to be an extension to Walmart. Protest the fact that the buses don't run full schedules in the summer. Protest the increasing amount of destitution in downtown Guelph. Do it in the area that these things are happening in. Demonstrate. Be effective. These are all admirable things to organize and do.

The #G20 protests were nothing like this. I'm not saying that people didn't have the right to protest; I'm just saying that those who exercised their right on those days did not make an intelligent or effective choice in doing so. I fear that they misunderstand what protest is for, and how it can be effectively used as a political tool. They also don't understand that most people are either apathetic about their cause, or will look on extreme civil disobedience as a mark against them. If you get arrested, then in the estimation of most people you lose a significant portion of your credibility.

Leanne said that she had written several letters and not felt that her voice was being heard. I've written several letters to my MP (most recently regarding Bill C-32, to which I am opposed). Maybe I'm just lucky (I think we in Guelph have a great MP, Mr. Frank Valeriote) because each time I got a response that was at least ostensibly from Mr. Valeriote, which directly addressed the concerns that I had. While I don't necessarily agree with what he wants to do in all cases, I feel like he is effectively representing me and the constituency to the best of his abilities.

As for it taking money to get into politics - I have several friends who have done so, some to greater effect than others. None of them are well off; they were just willing to put in some time to ensure that their voice was heard. Getting into politics at any level will immediately get you more involved and will immediately grant you more clout in all issues political - you don't even have to be a politician! Start of as an aide to someone. Volunteer. Get involved.

I'm not saying that I am a paragon of political involvement. I write letters (yes, by hand letters). I've attended town meetings, but I've never risen my hand and taken part. I have not gotten truly involved in local politics. But if I felt as passionate about some issues as those who went to the #G20 protest purported to bed, then I would get more involved.

And I'll bet I wouldn't get arrested while doing so.

I fully believe that the G20 protests were a waste of everybody's time and money. The actions taken by police were unnecessary, but it is the acts of the protesters that I think were truly disgusting and stupid.

The problem is that there were many people who had legitimate things to protest at the G20 and now, because of their association with what has happened, they have had their points of view robbed of legitimacy. You were downtown to protest the fact that an elite cadre of capitalists is deciding the general fate of the world? You must be a nut, because you burned a cop car! You think sweatshops are bad? You are a felon; how reasonable can your point of view be?

What makes me really angry is that Canada is actually a pretty remarkable place to get your voice heard. There's access to many different media outlets - it isn't particularly hard to get your opinions onto local television, for instance. It's also pretty easy to get into political sessions in your town or city, and to stand up and be heard. For those who are more than just flash-in-the-pan, need to be heard, instant gratification seekers, it isn't even that hard to get into local politics and become one of the people directly responsible for making decisions. The problem is, it'll take you twenty or thirty years to get into a position where you would have any clout at a place like the G20.

I think this is the root of the problem. We have a group of people who have spent twenty, thirty, forty years in politics to get to the places that they are, so that they have the power to make the decisions that they do for the world. And you have a bunch of twenty year old berks who have a sense of entitlement and want the decision makers at the G20 to listen to them rightnow rightnow rightnow because my ideas are soooo good ill save the world just listenman listen to meeeee. Everyone who looked at the situation objectively knew that this was not the correct time or place to get your opinions out there. We knew about the billion dollar security budget. We knew that there were many more police officers than normal. We knew that all of what happened would probably happen as it did. Those of us who were intelligent stayed away and did not get arrested for no reason. And mark my words, the protests fell on deaf ears - if anything, showing up was impressively detrimental to your cause.

I'm not even going to talk about the anarchists who were there. Anarchists hold a point of view that I can, in no way, have respect for.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that protesting doesn't have an appropriate time and appropriate place. I have protested things before. In high school, we had a protest about something. I forget what it was, but I sure was angry. And we knew the policy makers personally. We attended the protest, we explained ourselves reasonably. End of the story, we got whatever it was that we wanted (I think it was something to do with fund raising for a school trip to Scotland, but I'm fuzzy on the details). This model worked, because we were one interaction layer from those we were protesting (students <==> teachers). At that level, protest is effective. Strikes are on the same level (workers <==> employers). On this level, each side has something that the other side wants, so effective communication opens / can open and changes can be made.

Next time there is a G8/G20, do everyone a favour: Instead of going out, stay home, and think about how you can get involved in a meaningful way. Write your speech for when you run for city councillor instead of going out and getting arrested. It'll be much better way to serve your time.

I'm going to be revamping the blog again. I've already switched over to the new 2010 theme to have a look at how it works and what it does. I haven't decided if I'm going to build based off of 2010 or do something new and interesting from scratch.

For the next month or so, my family and I have decided that we cheer for Africa!

Go South Africa!
Go Ghana!
Go Cameroon!
Go Côte d’Ivoire!

Unfortunately, because of rampant Advance Fee Fraud I just can't cheer for Nigeria. (this is said pertly, tongue in cheek, and just for fun).