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Re: Reply to Adam Starr about "activist demonstrations" by Adam Starr 18 March 2002 02:22 UTC |
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Steven, Your critique of my question leads to what I initally stated about 'activist demonstrations'. They are mainly 'symbolic'. Thus, I maintain that they don't amount to major policy change. Consider the one event that has created the greatest wave of policy change at a world wide scale. Four crashed planes, two fallen towers, and a damaged Pentagon has initiated more policy and legislative change in the opposite direction from what we are aiming towards (a more equitable society) than has all the hundreds of thousands of activists marching through out the world with all their hours of: preparation and hard work, endurance of police violence, dodging rubber bullets and tear gas, and spending time in jail in all the activist demonstrations combined. I am not advocating terrorism in any manner but do you see my point? Did anti-war demonstrations pull the US out of Vietnam. I would argue no! The fact that the US was loosing the war ended the military campaign. Instead, the UScontinued its front in a subversive manner by sending the CIA to Cambodia to train and fund the Khmer Rouge in guerilla warfare against the Vietnamese puppet government (post 1979) in Phnom Penh at the cost of a million additional lives through out the 1980's. I'm not suggesting to stop activist demonstrations at all. If you interpreted my question this way, then I apologize. They do serve an important function. As you stated, there is the sense of solidarity, provide a means for networking, and generating public interest (not to mention, they can be a lot of fun). I do suggest looking into other avenues of protest and mobilization. As Dennis Blewitt suggested with bringing the Legal system back to the people, how can these offices of power be infaltrated in such a way that impliment policy change? Adam ===== Adam T. Starr Undergraduate of Political Science, UVic 3009 Quadra Street, Victoria, British Columbia V8T 4G2 Canada (011) (250) 472-1223 adam@hornbyisland.com or reunitedhornby@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/
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