A large group of people protesting President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration policies blocked traffic on the Hollywood (101) Freeway in downtown Los Angeles Sunday. The protesters gathered Sunday morning on Olvera Street for what the Los Angeles Police Department called a non-permitted demonstration. The crowd grew to a few thousand people who marched to City […]
Boycotts won’t work, as the ruling class has far more capital to throw around than we do. Blocking freeways interrupts life for normal folks but does serve to make the issue visible and have some degree of impact on local commerce. Ultimately, though, I am starting to think that the most efficient means of resistance is to come up with a few more Luigis, since most other strategies have been rendered ineffective.
I’m curious why you think boycotts can’t work but mass protests would. Don’t they both require a massive amount of people rallying together for a cause? If at the next shareholder meeting, the business owners can’t show “line going up”, they’ll have to respond to the consumers who are boycotting their product or get booted by the shareholders.
20+ years ago in Hungary, against Danone, for them wanting to take the Győri Édesipari Vállalat to the Czech Republic. It didn’t work the second time, because Danone got a way bigger hold on the Hungarian market and they made sure a lot more children will cry if they get yoghurt not made by Danone.
If a vocal, active group (way to go LA!) is pitted against their peers (booo) it is a message divided and our opponents win.
I hope my city shows their strength and voice, and I hear rumblings of people planning things which is awesome, but I’m not for dicking around on freeways and being an arsehole for clout and attention.
I’m sorry, but these people are at least spending their Sunday drawing attention. What are you doing that’s so superior? I agree that it’s not my kind of protest, but at least doing something is better than sitting on your thumb hoping for a savior.
If I told you what I was planning to do, I’d get arrested. So, no! But if you watch Army of Shadows (1969), you’ll get a general idea.
And you’re not listening. Focused protesting is important. It’s not an insult to tell people the target has moved and old tactics won’t work.
You just want to be mad and you think I’m the enemy. In reality, I want to help, but you don’t want help. You just want to be mad and yell in the street. Which is understandable, but not productive.
To everyone tearing into this guy: Boycotts aren’t applicable here, but one important thing to note is that protests don’t work. Straight up, they’re a waste of time unless you use them as a stepping stone to some other, more effective method. Just blocking traffic and making noise only serves to exhaust people who want change. If protests were any good, y’all wouldn’t have went to war with Iraq.
I’m assuming you’re talking about the Ukrainian revolution right? In that case that’s fair; I should’ve specified peaceful protests where you just make noise. That’s not what Ukrainians did, so they’re outside the point I’m trying to make. Quoting from Wikipedia:
A large, barricaded protest camp occupied Independence Square in central Kyiv throughout the ‘Maidan Uprising’. In January and February 2014, clashes between protesters and Berkut special riot police resulted in the deaths of 108 protesters and 13 police officers,[20] and the wounding of many others. The first protesters were killed in fierce clashes with police on Hrushevsky Street on 19–22 January. Following this, protesters occupied government buildings throughout the country, and the Azarov government resigned. The deadliest clashes were on 18–20 February, which saw the most severe violence in Ukraine since it regained independence.[35] Thousands of protesters advanced towards parliament, led by activists with shields and helmets, who were fired on by police snipers.[20
This wasn’t just protesters calling attention for an issue; this was a mass movement where more than half a million people actually went out made it very clear they’d not tolerate their government’s behavior anymore, going so far as to actually clash with riot police. Both these protesta and the protest in the OP are technically protests, but they’re completely different thingd and should be thought of as such.
Interrupting traffic has never been a successful strategy in the US. In fact it usually lowers support.
Success can only come by affecting the money. Targeted boycotts, if they can be widely enough embraced, would be 100 times more effective
Boycotts won’t work, as the ruling class has far more capital to throw around than we do. Blocking freeways interrupts life for normal folks but does serve to make the issue visible and have some degree of impact on local commerce. Ultimately, though, I am starting to think that the most efficient means of resistance is to come up with a few more Luigis, since most other strategies have been rendered ineffective.
I’m curious why you think boycotts can’t work but mass protests would. Don’t they both require a massive amount of people rallying together for a cause? If at the next shareholder meeting, the business owners can’t show “line going up”, they’ll have to respond to the consumers who are boycotting their product or get booted by the shareholders.
ICE isn’t a business though, it’s a government agency. It’s not something a citizen can boycott unless everyone just collectively stops paying taxes.
I don’t think the protest is all that effective either, but it’s better than a boycott.
I knew about the LA protests before the reports of blocking freeways came out.
I gave them more respect until that. We don’t have to make it easy to vilify a cause.
You wanna make noise, protest. You wanna make change, run for school board.
There’s always some excuse for enforced silence.
Yeah! Boycott ICE! When they come to take your friends and family away, say, “you cannot do that! I boycott you!”
I also hear if you put a line of salt across the door, they can’t cross it.
Boycotts don’t really work. Is there a good example from the last ~40 years of a successful boycott?
20+ years ago in Hungary, against Danone, for them wanting to take the Győri Édesipari Vállalat to the Czech Republic. It didn’t work the second time, because Danone got a way bigger hold on the Hungarian market and they made sure a lot more children will cry if they get yoghurt not made by Danone.
Yup, same team folks.
If a vocal, active group (way to go LA!) is pitted against their peers (booo) it is a message divided and our opponents win.
I hope my city shows their strength and voice, and I hear rumblings of people planning things which is awesome, but I’m not for dicking around on freeways and being an arsehole for clout and attention.
Removed by mod
I’m sorry, but these people are at least spending their Sunday drawing attention. What are you doing that’s so superior? I agree that it’s not my kind of protest, but at least doing something is better than sitting on your thumb hoping for a savior.
If I told you what I was planning to do, I’d get arrested. So, no! But if you watch Army of Shadows (1969), you’ll get a general idea.
And you’re not listening. Focused protesting is important. It’s not an insult to tell people the target has moved and old tactics won’t work.
You just want to be mad and you think I’m the enemy. In reality, I want to help, but you don’t want help. You just want to be mad and yell in the street. Which is understandable, but not productive.
To everyone tearing into this guy: Boycotts aren’t applicable here, but one important thing to note is that protests don’t work. Straight up, they’re a waste of time unless you use them as a stepping stone to some other, more effective method. Just blocking traffic and making noise only serves to exhaust people who want change. If protests were any good, y’all wouldn’t have went to war with Iraq.
Ukraine would like a word.
I’m assuming you’re talking about the Ukrainian revolution right? In that case that’s fair; I should’ve specified peaceful protests where you just make noise. That’s not what Ukrainians did, so they’re outside the point I’m trying to make. Quoting from Wikipedia:
This wasn’t just protesters calling attention for an issue; this was a mass movement where more than half a million people actually went out made it very clear they’d not tolerate their government’s behavior anymore, going so far as to actually clash with riot police. Both these protesta and the protest in the OP are technically protests, but they’re completely different thingd and should be thought of as such.