| Ruly Mobs |
17 February 2003
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Peace Rallies Tell Bush "No," He Ignores Them
If protesting could really change things, it would be illegal. Perhaps that is overly cynical, but the response of the American government to hundreds of thousands of protesters suggests that the war wagon has driven off, and the protests are as relevant as Gerry Ford's WIN buttons.
There are some parts of the world where street demonstrations actually threaten the government, e.g., Venezuela. Indeed, they brought down Marcos in the Philippines. Yet in the US and Europe, they are largely a social event -- with the possible exception of trade union labor rallies, where matters of dollars and cents are the focus.
So, yes, there were millions in the streets around the globe begging President Bush not to take on the army of Saddam Hussein. And no, the war is as inevitable as the sunrise. It was decided long ago, and the only question has been under what circumstances would the war begin. There is no doubt that the people who turned up are decent, thinking persons with right on their side. There is also no doubt that they wasted their time. They failed to stop the war.
The "technology" of the protest must be revolutionized, must become eeffective. The war will begin not because no one did anything, but rather because no one did anything effective. What form dissent must take to work is unclear, but one thing is painfully self-evident -- the current approach doesn't work, and therefore, it is evil in itself as it wastes resources in the struggle for a better world. That may be hard for some to swallow, but it doesn't make it any less true.