You identify a problem, you then call the attention of your family, friends and peers and really anyone who will listen to your rantings and ravings. After which if enough people support your claim to give confidence of legitimacy, you voice your concerns to authority. Or governing body or anyone that has been designated for the responsibility of resolving issues that arise within the realm of the aforementioned wrinkle in the rug. Only in the direst of need would would you and your conglomeration of dissatisfied citizenry shout, picket or otherwise raise a ruckus to your needs but life is such that needs be great at times. Go figure.
No, typically your movement starts with a letter campaign, phone calls and emails. If you're real lucky you might get a tête-à-tête with someone and if you're doubly lucky, on your way to resolution. It doesn't go down like that for most causes, most of the time it's all but ignored. Fear not seekers of change there is a way to avoid a fizzle out, get more people to join. Of course you could jump straight to hard disruption of daily life but letter writing, emails and phone calls are considered good places to start. Needs be great though and ignorance is willful and bliss. About now is a good time for ye ol' controlled rabble rousing... (it's a joke) but good intentions don't account for the actions of others though property damage doesn't trump a just cause. The bill on justification will come due and I expect to be satisfied. Feelings on rainbows don't meet my admittedly meager standards on letting your opinion be known, not that anyone asked.
There's not much recourse for your average person if the effects of your stance did not sway affections, unless that person is a multi-billion dollar corporation (cuz come on guys, corpos are people too) then you just drown the problem in money until it's buried or washed away to become someone else's problem. Most people are left with a problem unresolved and a pain in their chest that's not from the cuts, bruises or contusions that can accompany making your displeasure publicly known.
I would like to take this moment to tell you how stupid anyone is that intends to create change with the destruction of life that is not their own. I make an exception for self-immolation. If you believe in your cause so strongly that your only option is to extinguish your own flame in a dazzling display of sheer will. You get my respect for your force of determination if not your cause. The only 72 things anyone else gets though is in being blasted to 72 different dimensions of pain and shrapnel and good riddance too.
That is all to say that if you can't pay and you won't choose violence what other avenue is left to pursue?
Stop the machinations that allow people to remain willfully ignorant of the problem. I am sorry that you might be late to work, I'm sorry that couldn't get your triple pump whateverthefuck you're getting in a cup that makes you feel like the emptiness inside isn't so vast, I'm sorry you were delayed running those errands. I'm sorry for your death during a cardiac episode stuck in traffic. I am sorry. But to the point where your life has to stop in its tracks so you will listen, it's important. Some person decided to put their own life in danger to warn you that your own and those around you are also in danger. I'm not saying it is not a bitter pill.
Let us not forget that all of this is predicated on the assumption that when the piper cometh those ends were indeed justified by the means. What constitutes a worthy reason is beyond the purview of the arguments I'm laying forth. As for the eggs that are gonna get cracked, I don't mourn the loss of property only loss of life. In the many words I have used, I am saying that there is a reason the right to free speech and assembly are enshrined in places around the world and I believe in that reason. Whether or not those rights are protected in an equal and fair manner is a whole different can of worms.
tldr; I wrote this for amusement and for the play on words, doesn't mean I don't believe it. By default I care more about my own bodily waste than I'm going to care about your reactionary opinion. Exceptions will be made for adding to the conversation, upgrade to better-than-what-I'm-scooping-out-of-the-litter-boxes-at-home levels of interest.
I thank you for joining me in this ramble. Have a wonderful day.
edit: just want to give a couple special shoutouts, I won’t name names but you’ll know if I’m talking about you. First, to my peeps that are taking this personally, offensively or otherwise as an insult; fucking good, you need to face uncomfortable topics more often and I’m glad I could be there for you and share in this together. Second, to my peeps who found themselves vindicated in their original positions; the same to you as the first group. This has absolutely been my pleasure so thank you if you voted or voiced an opinion. Going to sleep for now but if you call me back to this topic with something good I’ll try to catch you in the morning.
both based and unpopular, a rare gem for this sub
edit: i didn’t read close enough and making this edit to say i don’t find the part with “sorry not sorry for your cardiac arrest, we won’t do better next time” based at all. the rest is fine though.
progressives are very in tune with the concept of harm reduction, and it is trivial to apply this to both the inconveniencers and the inconvenienced people of a protest to ensure maximum possible safety. fuck the “oops but it had to happen” attitude that’s cringe as hell.
So glad for your edit, added some interesting points.
Maybe turning this into the trolley problem will shed some light on how I think for ya. I will always sacrifice the few to save the many. Put my parents, my partner, my lovely cats on the line and as long as what I’m sacrificing is less than what stands to be saved then Imma pull that fucking lever and rail the few for the many. But it’s all hypothetical, we can’t for sure know what any of us would do until the shit actually hits the fan. I could always be a coward.
Now you don’t have to like it or even understand the way I feel and view the world but you should know that only arguments equally as convincing as the circumstances that lead me to where I stand could ever begin to sway me away.
i’ll put it this way. if a protest is held and the cops injure or kill protesters for doing the right thing, that’s a poignant sacrifice.
if a protest happens and the only casualties are accidental and preventable, that’s the epitome of bad optics and is tantamount to murder especially if this was a planned event. “sorry” isn’t enough—i need for protest leadership to take the very minor steps necessary to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
tldr, your attitude is just a little flippant. i’m sure you know i’m with you 99% of the way there, i just find your attitude toward death to be weirdly condescending. if you know medical emergencies happen, and refuse to plan for them, that’s intentional harm.
None of the things you’ve said were unreasonable and I freely admit to knowing my attitude towards death can be shockingly cavalier but sometimes you have to be willing to cross the line. I have a sense that old age or natural causes aren’t in the cards for me and I hope that it’s my actions and not my words that do me in, I just will never know for sure until my time is up.
It doesn’t work if there isn’t a deep understanding of personal responsibility. While there are causes that have gained my participation I have yet to find something I’m willing to bleed for much less possibly harm someone else by doing the things I say I believe people have a right to. If I catch an involuntary manslaughter then I caught an involuntary manslaughter and I will be made to pay, either time or cash for the benefit of society. And for my benefit I hope to find or create an opportunity to lessen the burden of death on my hands. That’s all I can do, all we can do and the buck don’t stop at sorry.
Any prevention that can be taken should be taken but what is preventable isn’t always so and what was impossible to account for is sometimes within the plan. You do the best you can at the time and roll with the punches as they come.