Anti-protest movement?
I’m hoping that some of my friends can help me understand a trend in politics that I’m seeing. Ever since being a student, people here at the University support or oppose one thing or another. The nature of the liberal arts education, I suppose. The thing that has always interested me is why students get involved in various topics. However, what’s often lacking is any active work to actually help their resolution.
I feel that this can best be summed up in an a T-shirt:
The first time I saw this T-shirt, I stopped the person to ask him why he felt Bush should be impeached. I really wanted to know. After getting his response, I asked him what he has done to get Bush impeached. His response was that he protested, circulated petitions, and talked with other people. Confused, I asked him a question to clarify the situation. I asked him, “So, have you ever called your congressmen to let them know what you’re thinking?” He responded with a half-hearted “no.”
And since that moment, I’ve had a skeptical view of those who broadcast their political, social, economical views. I think, in many ways, this is a good reflection on where we’re at as a society. I’ve written about my personal grips about blogging before. The fact is that it’s getting worse. A recent article showed that the number of Americans that do not talk about things that are important have doubled in the last 20 years. Does anyone else find that troubling?
I almost feel that this ‘instant coffee’ society, that protesting, circulating petitions is a ’safe’ way to get your point across. Maybe I’m wrong. But it seems that without actually talking to a senator or a congressman, many of the issues that are worth protesting will not really impact the government. I’m not at all saying that protesting is not a good thing. Many country-altering things happened because of protests and petitions. But I often wonder what would have happened if those same people called, sent letters, basically harassed their elected officials personally about the issues near and dear to their hearts.
Now I don’t think Bush should be impeached. But I totally support people’s right and privilege to petition the government. And basically, I was encouraging the man to do something I didn’t like or support. However, I think it was worth the 10 minutes we talked. I don’t know if he ended up calling his officials. I hope he did.