this artist life

Protest: A Critique

Hey friends, I’ve decided to seize an early opportunity to share my take on Olympic protests happening in Vancouver.

Protest is an addiction, and like any addiction it destroys the integrity of the action, object, or idea it originally stood for.

An addiction to alcohol, for example, always starts innocently enough. A person will try alcohol and enjoy it. The drink will bring them a feeling of comfort, of human connectivity. Drinking alcohol only becomes a problem when it is consumed in excess, or when it begins to fill a void.

The protests against the Vancouver Olympics have become, to some of the protesters, an addiction. The protest started with fairly noble goals and ideas- housing the homeless, allocating government funding for public health and education- but the protest itself contradicted these goals.

And so the addiction occurs. It’s stops being about the issues and it starts to become smashing windows, turning over mail boxes, fighting with police, and shouting political agendas. Just like an addiction to alcohol stops being about enjoying a beer.

Not only does this harm the integrity of the protester, it harms any respect that could be given to the idea of protesting. It also harms whatever good the protest could achieve. It even, to a certain degree, trivializes some injustices. Overspending becomes the popular thing to condemn while human-trafficking goes relatively unnoticed.

For protest to work there has to be a higher standard of integrity- being transparent and unambiguous about our intentions. Either we legitimately have a desire to see justice, or we just want to protest for fun under the pretense of being opposed to injustice.

I believe the issues- the reason why there is protest in the first place- would be better resolved if the protesters marched in action for the exact things they are petitioning for- Being the change they are demanding instead of letting demanding be the end itself, instead of the means to an end.

So what if, instead of marching against police, the protesters gathered in droves to serve bread and soup to the homeless population in Vancouver? It sounds a bit far-fetched, but isn’t this exactly what they are protesting for?

theadamroper@gmail.com

post-cursor: I realize feeding the homeless is only of the many complex justice issues that needs support. I used the example for dramatic effect. I believe a wiser approach to protest could lead to critical change in the areas of housing, human trafficking, drug addiction, and public education/health. As well I, in no way, claim to fully understand any of these issues. My strongest respect goes towards people who are devoted to working beside, and understanding, the human beings affected by these issues on a daily basis.