Important advice for protests: A March To Irrelevance

[Ian David]

A March To Irrelevance
By Matt Taibbi, New York Press. Posted September 11, 2004.

What positive effect did the protests during the Republican convention really have?

<snip>
We are raising a group of people whose only ideas about protest and opposition come from televised images of 40 years ago, when large public demonstrations could shake the foundations of society. There has been no organized effort of any kind to recognize that we now live in a completely different era, operating according to a completely different political dynamic. What worked then not only doesn't work now, it doesn't even make superficial sense now.

Let's just start with a simple, seemingly inconsequential facet of the protests: appearance. If you read the bulletins by United for Peace and Justice ahead of the protests, you knew that the marchers were encouraged to "show their creativity" and dress outlandishly. The marchers complied, turning 7th Ave. into a lake of midriffs, Billabong, bandanas and "Buck Fush" t-shirts. There were facial studs and funny hair and man-sandals and papier-mache masks and plenty of chicks in their skivvies all jousting to be the next young Heather Taylor inspiring the next Jimi Hendrix to write the next "Foxy Lady."

<snip>

But conformity looks a lot different now than it did then. Outlandish dress is now for sale in a thousand flavors, and absolutely no one is threatened by it: not your parents, not the government, not even our most prehistoric brand of fundamentalist Christianity. The vision of hundreds of thousands of people dressed in every color of the rainbow and marching their diverse selves past Madison Square Garden is, on the contrary, a great relief to the other side – because it means that the opposition is composed of individuals, not a Force In Concert.

<snip>

That's why the one thing that would have really shaken Middle America last week wasn't "creativity." It was something else: uniforms. Three hundred thousand people banging bongos and dressed like extras in an Oliver Stone movie scares no one in America. But 300,000 people in slacks and white button-down shirts, marching mute and angry in the direction of Your Town, would have instantly necessitated a new cabinet-level domestic security agency.

Why? Because 300,000 people who are capable of showing the unity and discipline to dress alike are also capable of doing more than just march.

The rest:
http://www.alternet.org/election04/19840/

[NYC]

1. RNC protests: Most people were dressed normally.

I don't know what that article is talking about.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. Boycotts work the best these days. Our society is based on

materialism and consumerism. Organized boycotts are the way to effect change. I think tax resistance may also be a good idea.

[Dancing_Dave]

3. Protests are especially good for raising the spirit among young people

Then you can bring in the boycotts and Tom Morello supports your boycott, even young kids will fight back against the manipulation in a way that's consequential in our society.

Boycotts without creative sociable protests are no fun...so they don't develop momentum and engage youth.

[bluedonkey]

4. The man has a point

"Uniformity",in this case,is not a bad thing!
Uniform equals like mind.It makes a powerful image seeing hundreds of people dressed in the same color.
Image is everything these days!
Eminems black hoodies come to mind,since it's getting/is cold out there.Or orange like in the Ukraine.
Something to think about.

[CitySky]

5. business attire

There was a protest here in Houston on the occasion of a Halliburton shareholders' meeting earlier this year. Several of the main organizers, including those who entered the hotel and chained themselves to the banister, were wearing business attire.

I think it was a smart move. We DO judge people by how they look and dress, whether we want to or not. I think it is just that much harder for the Halliburton types and the media to totally dismiss the opposition when they show up dressed for business.

An identical "uniform" seems odd to me, but I think that those of us who wear business clothes for work or to other dignified occasions should also wear them when we march. Those who don't, shouldn't. On some people, a suit & tie is just another "costume."

Just my 2 cents.