Is there anything you feel strongly enough about to protest like that?
In trying to look at it from the perspective of “what could make me do that” I can only think of some downright heinous shit. To get to the point that you’re willing to stand in front of cars and have people hate you for preventing them from living their lives? It’s pretty hard to imagine.
And on top of that, to know that your actions are going to ruin you in some way or another; that you’re facing jail time, bodily harm, or extreme financial burden? Either they’re being both sensitive and stupid or they’re so fed up that they feel like there’s no other recourse. It’s insane to me to think about being pushed so far that that seems like a good idea.
But then I think about how they must have gotten there, and the things that would get me there, and they’re not so different.
It’s all about who’s impacted by the protest. These people could funnel the same energy towards a targeted protest against some company profiting the war, or at politicians they disagree with, or protesting at a government building, at a college stifling speech, or at some high profile event or any other legitimate target. You can do something that isn’t targeted at everyday people, traps them in the protest, and carries the chance of stopping the delivery of critical services. “Sorry the paramedics couldn’t get to gram gram fast enough, but people needed to block traffic for Gaza today” is a bs possibility to allow.
Is there anything you feel strongly enough about to protest like that?
In trying to look at it from the perspective of “what could make me do that” I can only think of some downright heinous shit. To get to the point that you’re willing to stand in front of cars and have people hate you for preventing them from living their lives? It’s pretty hard to imagine.
And on top of that, to know that your actions are going to ruin you in some way or another; that you’re facing jail time, bodily harm, or extreme financial burden? Either they’re being both sensitive and stupid or they’re so fed up that they feel like there’s no other recourse. It’s insane to me to think about being pushed so far that that seems like a good idea.
But then I think about how they must have gotten there, and the things that would get me there, and they’re not so different.
It’s all about who’s impacted by the protest. These people could funnel the same energy towards a targeted protest against some company profiting the war, or at politicians they disagree with, or protesting at a government building, at a college stifling speech, or at some high profile event or any other legitimate target. You can do something that isn’t targeted at everyday people, traps them in the protest, and carries the chance of stopping the delivery of critical services. “Sorry the paramedics couldn’t get to gram gram fast enough, but people needed to block traffic for Gaza today” is a bs possibility to allow.