Dave Rahardja (temporarily spooky) on Nostr: I’m starting to wonder if mass protest can actually effect lasting change in the ...

I’m starting to wonder if mass protest can actually effect lasting change in the US. So many mass protests in the recent past has not had any lasting influence on policy or public opinion, and many have been exploited by conservatives to further their causes.

Maybe my perception is skewed, but it feels to me that the US is too physically spread apart for even large gatherings to look “big enough” to matter, and so the only physical protests that effect change are those that deal with local issues. Protesting national policy by amassing people in San Francisco doesn’t really work, because ten thousand people are quickly reduced to a small headline even when you’re just 200 miles away.

I think boycotts and behavioral change are more effective, because diffuse and they target a specific (and similarly widespread) entity directly. People and advertisers leaving X and Meta is significant. If people refused to buy Tesla cars, it will tank the product. People canceling Amazon Prime cause measurable effects.

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