Talk:Protests against the Iraq War

Globalization

1990-ish globalization protests should probably move to globalization, but with thorough cross-wikilinking. Howard C. Berkowitz 07:59, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, it was only a small mention - just pointing out that the anti-globalization protesters and the infrastructure they built up was used by the anti-war crowd. I note it as it's kind of an example of one thing that I find very ineffective about left-wing strategy - because there is such a big cluster of issues those on the left are concerned about, you see a protest and it's about everything. The anti-globalization protests seemed to cover everything from the cultural inadequacies of shopping malls through to blood diamonds, trade unions, global warming and the provision of bicycle lanes in cities. There must be a name for this - scattergun protesting maybe. It means that stuff which actually needs to get done gets drowned out by pipe dreams. I mean, they might be more successful if they pick an issue that is winnable and do it. I really should get on and write something about the anti-globalization movement, No Logo and that whole era. --Tom Morris 09:51, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Tom, I think you know me well enough to say the next comment isn't red-baiting. In well-authenticated Communist organizational documents (e.g., Comintern), a fairly standard doctrine was the "broad front", in which you'd affiliate with groups upset about something, and then use them to endorse your position. After the Communist Party became largely irrelevant, the approach was still traditional.

The truly effective protests, such as in the Phillipines, have been quickly organized, usually by text messaging, on very specific subjects, at focused places. A Ministry might issue a decree and have a chanting protest an hour or two later; the cause and effect is clear and a strong message.

There are drawings of the ideological spectrum that, rather than using a straight line, use a "horseshoe" that puts the left and right radicals closer to one another. If you look at the Seattle vandals versus the Tea Party Movement, there may be tactical differences, but they share a sense of disenfranchisement and rage. On the Left, they seem to me to be more interested in striking at targets of opportunity, where the Right is more about bringing down the government, often without replacing it in a quasi-libertarian way. I say "quasi-libertarian" in that they speak of big government, except when the social conservatives want some of their views enforced.

So, there's a very legitimate article waiting on the general topic of public protests — and to be contrasted with some of the more disciplined, nonviolent (in word or deed) type. Howard C. Berkowitz 15:58, 22 December 2009 (UTC)