2010-2020 saw more mass protests around the world than at any other point in human history, but the societal changes that resulted were often the opposite of what protesters demanded. Author Vincent Bevins explains why.
Small protests are easily ignored. DC climate action protest - 75k people in a nation of 300+ million - even if the muster 1m it’s still peanuts. It doesn’t even move the needle.
Take that same number, 1 million, and have the vast majority be from Georgia marching in Atlanta. Georgia is 10m with 7m available voters. Now we have enough numbers to push the needle.
Sure it’s not on a Federal level, but politics are local. Federal action is a quagmire unless enough localities begin to gel behind a single direction - then those seeking Federal office will have to pivot.
I’m from the UK, the biggest protests in my countries history were the stop the war protest in 2003 where 1.5 million people attended and the protests for a second EU referendum where the largest had 1.2 million protest.
And because they were both peaceful protests, they were completely and easily ignored.
Then if you compare that to just about any protest in France where less popple protest, but they do so in a way that isn’t easily ignored, they get far more shit done.
There’s a couple hundred arguments as to why that’s horse shit, but give only a couple:
The brexit that was promised and voted for was not the one that was delivered, nor was it even possible.
By the time it actually happened and the protests were happening enough of the pro brexit population had died that if the same vote where to happen the exact same way, remain would have won.
Small protests are easily ignored. DC climate action protest - 75k people in a nation of 300+ million - even if the muster 1m it’s still peanuts. It doesn’t even move the needle.
Take that same number, 1 million, and have the vast majority be from Georgia marching in Atlanta. Georgia is 10m with 7m available voters. Now we have enough numbers to push the needle.
Sure it’s not on a Federal level, but politics are local. Federal action is a quagmire unless enough localities begin to gel behind a single direction - then those seeking Federal office will have to pivot.
I’m from the UK, the biggest protests in my countries history were the stop the war protest in 2003 where 1.5 million people attended and the protests for a second EU referendum where the largest had 1.2 million protest.
And because they were both peaceful protests, they were completely and easily ignored.
Then if you compare that to just about any protest in France where less popple protest, but they do so in a way that isn’t easily ignored, they get far more shit done.
The UK had its chance with the EU referendum and voted to leave. The populace had a chance to voice its opinion and it did.
There’s a couple hundred arguments as to why that’s horse shit, but give only a couple:
The brexit that was promised and voted for was not the one that was delivered, nor was it even possible.
By the time it actually happened and the protests were happening enough of the pro brexit population had died that if the same vote where to happen the exact same way, remain would have won.