End of Protest

Opinion writer and scholar of social movements Zenep Tufecki writes: "2024 looks like the end of the road " for the era of mass protest. She astutely points to the underwhelming results of protest starting with the invasion of Iraq, Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Womens March, Black Lives Matter, Free Palestine, and the latest protests around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago: "protesting just doesn’t get results anymore. Not the way it used to. Not in that form. It can’t." Not even mentioned are climate protests, which is sad but telling. With some ntable exceptions, the climate justice movement stuck with a playbook of one-off marches. No risk. Little disruption to capital flows or system legitimacy. Unfortunately, she lumps "civil disobedience" as practiced in the 2000's as part of that "form" and doesn't consider the tactic of filling the jails, used successfully by the civil rights movement. Otherwise she is spot on."considering the popularity and energy of these movements, they didn’t change the world that much. Two decades later, globalization still favors corporations. Wealth is as inequitably distributed as ever." Kamala doesn't mention Palestine, emissions keep rising, same as it always was. As the UN meets in New York, protestors, as always, take to the streets: "The New York marchers on Friday chanted climate protest favorites such as "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now" and "The people, united, will never be defeated" as they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. They carried banners with messages such as "Tear Down Fossil Fuels" and "We Strike for the Future." The Left is in love with its failed protest playbook. Wave signs, march and chant. Post stuff online. Maybe get a couple people arrested. No one controls the messaging or enforces tactical discipline and a few wacky outliers end up with the headlines. Everyone goes home and prepares to do it all over again. As an aside, I saw this little tid bit about the civil rights leader MLK. When approached by a student who attacked Zionism, Dr. King responded: “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism.” King believed he could see into people's minds and deduce what they REALLY mean. A real problem.