Is There A Right Way To Protest?

[@AboveTheNoise]

Protests -- as American as apple pie, right? Well, turns out protests are pretty controversial and are a hot topic during the current Presidential election. We want to hear from YOU: is there a "right way" to protest something you think is wrong, and how far are YOU willing to go to make your point?

[@likebot.]

Y'know, each protest has its own context and are as different from each other like people are different from each other. The right way to protest would be unique in each case and shouldn't be the question as much as why establishment won't consider their point. There needs to be an avenue for complaints from significant populations to bring an education to an establishment which causes an oppression by design or accident of ignorance. So far getting out and protesting as we see it is effective enough to put it on the radar, but we can't let people in power, be it white priviledge, government or other organizations, use a strawman argument invalidating the message of the protest because it has violations of civil obedience. Civil disobedience is a much needed tool.

[@kittenclaws5775]

I'm a medic and got started in OWS. Literally, up until I was waist deep in it, I would have told you protest was pointless. But I actually spoke with lots of people who's view were counter to mine and did a lot of reading. NYPD physically assaulting me for mostly obeying the law and trying to render aid did not slow my change in opinion. I would say, if anything, having cops attack you for literally no reason does quite a bit to radicalize a person.

[@LorenaTheWitch]

I love this channel, I wish it got more exposure

[@AboveTheNoise]

Thanks for the love! We do, too. Spread the word!

[@cosmicwonderhoof133]

You can try make them go on recommends by putting in the comment section. #AboveTheNoise

[@neonbunnies9596]

Violence makes people watch for media, which makes people which more ads, which gives the media companies more money. Therefore, it is the best interest to run the more violent and pessimistic stories

[@ForumArcade]

I think one of the biggest challenges facing the protest movements of today is that there is much less recourse for civil disobedience. In King's era, to cause massive disruption all you needed to do as a black person was sit in an area that was reserved for whites. 0 violence, but it created an uproar. How would you do the same in the BLM protests today? You follow the rules and march? Nobody cares. Our governments are very good at ignoring inconvenient realities. And once the protests began to feature more violence and radical action, that did initially garner more political response [citation needed], which in turn reinforces the notion to the average protester that violence is an effective tool. We can see the opposite today play out in Belarus. That is by most accounts a largely peaceful protest, because the very act of protesting in itself creates the necessary political uproar. Iconic civil disobedience. And yet, the protests are against a government which deliberately and systematically ignores the will of its own people. And it's gone on now for months, without much headway. The idea of the government seems to be that it can outlast this spurt of political motivation in its people. Eventually they will have to go back to work, accept the status quo, or starve. And the protestors seem as of yet unwilling to employ more extreme tactics. Instead it is a siege. Belarus benefits from two things I believe are less present in the US. The first is dedication. People there are willing to walk away from their livelihoods to protest a system which they believe is abhorrently unjust, and to keep protesting for weeks on end. Does that same will exist in the US? I don't believe so. There are protests in the wake of every new affront, however they tend to die down inside of a week or two. The US protest machine requires regular fueling to continue to operate, which in itself encourages the sensationalizing of stories that otherwise wouldn't necessarily merit that kind of attention. The second benefit the Belarus protests have over the US ones is effective and coordinated leadership (which incidentally the Belarusian government has been trying very hard to eliminate). A protest without good leadership either disperses or it becomes an unruly mob. And in the US, I believe the protests have been driven more by spontaneous emotion than by a coordinated effort to affect real change.

[@01eocoe10]

This gave me a lot of food for thought- thanks for sharing! The biggest protest I've taken part in was a Critical Mass bike ride for BLM in San Francisco. Very peaceful and well-organized; streets shut down for a couple miles and everything. These days I've been thinking a lot about just how far I'm willing to go for things I believe in. Coronavirus adds an entirely different angle to this because, as someone at risk, even peaceful in-person protests feel somewhat dangerous.

[@raidanbolt4844]

The protesters need to hold the violent ones accountable to preserve the core message.

[@Haseri8]

The right way to protest shouldn't be defined by anyone comfortable with the status quo

[@AboveTheNoise]

Boom! Great quote (and point).

[@connor863]

Hi Myles. Would you be able to make a video on what makes a protest effective, what makes a movement effective, and how protests can actually change things?

[@661.julian4]

I’m glad my teacher showed us this video today

[@maynard04]

Well we condemn entire systems if just a few people are thought to be racist.

[@erdood3235]

I know I'm late, but, in my experience with public opinion of protests in Israel (where i live), peaceful protests might get a lot of support from the public, but that support doesn't translate into action. the greater support for peaceful protests is because they can be ignored. maybe people tell in surveys that they support peaceful non-diruptive protests so they can feel like good people.

[@Libertino]

This is the KZbin channel I need.

[@AboveTheNoise]

Welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@Sivah_Akash]

Informative video especially sharing that previous protests were similar to today's.

[@100aimlessthoughts8]

Also worthy of note is that protests are like a hammer, loud and attention grabbing. A great start but causes more harm than good if not thought through. If you have 2 pieces of wood nailed together you can hit them until they come apart or you use the claw and a buffer to remove the nail without damaging the wood. Sorry, in short protests aren't meant to magicaly solve problems, they're just to get the ball rolling and expecting more from them is like trying to open a window with a hammer, it can be done but it's more trouble than it's worth.

[@AboveTheNoise]

That's a useful analogy. Thanks for sharing!

[@veta0104]

If this was before I had kids I would absolutely risk jail time and possibly my life. Now that I have kiddos I have to be more selective in what ways I can participate in the movements that are happening around the country

[@purplecubeman01]

Thats fairly accurate what was said about some forms alienating yhe movement. I was driving home after work last year during the whole Cuban protests, and they blocked off a major highway for two hours, causing severe gridlock and making it so nobody could move, going so far as using a huge boat to block off the road one way. At first I was with the protests around the US wanting to help anybway I could. But now I'm not helping with any kind of protest like that. That's protesting that is destructive. Since then. I've been weary of helping with any protest.

[@connormonday]

On the topic of the way what we see on tv influences our perception of protests, I think it would be useful to consider how that same distorting lens influences how we perceive policing in this country. Many of the claims about systematic racism in policing are not borne out by the facts and are instead supported by anecdotal evidence that often turns out to be misleading or completely false (Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, and Michael Brown as the most egregious example). This leads people to be concerned that there is a bad faith interest in creating racial division rather than healing. I think this does more to discredit the BLM movement than the violence.

[@jacquelinemanzano9328]

“If you wish to keep slaves, you must have all kinds of guards in place. The cheapest way to have guards is to have the slaves pay taxes to finance their own guards. To fool the slaves, you tell them that they are not slaves and that they have freedom. You tell them that they need law and order to protect them against bad slaves. Then you tell them to elect a government. Give them freedom to vote and they will vote for their own guards and pay their salary. They will then believe they are free persons. Then give them money to earn, count, and spend, and they will be too busy to notice the slavery they are in.” - Alexander Warbucks “if the American people knew what we have done, they would string us up from the lamp posts,” by George H.W. Bush

[@jaijaiwanted]

Fantastic content, such an underrated channel

[@angelamossucco2190]

Excellent resource

[@AboveTheNoise]

Thank you for watching!

[@juddstrudd7018]

Violence begets violence, hate beckons hate

[@yosefjambi9540]

in Canada its way hard when I'm marching

[@springboard9642]

I wonder about effective protest. The Hong Kong protests come to mind. They want democracy, I think. But how? What do they want to happen tomorrow that brings democracy? Is how important? Initially, the Hong Kong protests were against a specific law, and it worked. They continued to protest and essentially a new law with the same effect was made. Did they shoot themselves in the foot, or just buy some time? How do you protest in a way that not only shows what you're against, but also advances your cause?

[@ryanmcfall1127]

I personally think there is a right way to protest, protests that cause property damage or physical harm should not be tolerated. While protests that follow the law and even protests that engage in civil disobedience (ie illegal actions that don't damage property or lives like loitering or trespassing on public property) can be justifiable.

[@Sufganiyot]

underrated

[@supermikeikev]

Alright but what about the effectiveness of violent vs peaceful protest?

[@mornon2394]

Do you know any footage from the same protest showing peaceful protesting, then the same protest turned violent? Also for different sources would be fine.

[@NDUWUISI]

Unlesa the protest is a bout people's right to block the road, then blovkimg the road will distract from the goal of your protest. And if your protest does not have a specific goal then it gets into clout chasing territory and you need to re-examine your protest.

[@karleighwesley6704]

FOR REAL IS THERE?

[@cosmicwonderhoof133]

"The more I feel Im not heard the louder I shall get."-My dog when she wants food. How far I'll go to be heard will probably depend on what I'm put through, if I feel what I'm protesting is worse than what they'll do to me if I break a law while protesting I'll probably break a law to be heard and get what I want. #AboveTheNoise

[@JackieLarose]

Palestine Israel, are you watching?

[@NDUWUISI]

It's not a matter of right or wrong protesting but more effective and less effective protest.

[@LifeAvoiding]

I’ve already lost so much, I no longer fear death I mean, I do, but if I died for the cause I don’t really care Meh

[@choedzin]

Since there have been proven incidences of undercover police or government agents provoking violence at demonstrations, I simply assume this to be the source of most of the violence at protest marches. As for the rest, I simply assume they're trying to Do The Right Thing .

[@jaymcmillan2038]

I don't get it because the way you say the media only shows the chaotic but why are the chaotic actions in the protest anyway and how do you call that a peaceful protest

[@user-cp1tv1zh6p]

play roblox guys (slap battles) teach me how to get jebaited

[@Hansca]

Can anyone give me an example of a time where protesting in the streets has brought about change?

[@AboveTheNoise]

That's a good question...and possibly a good follow-up to this video.

[@maynard04]

www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/11/05/peaceful-protest-is-much-more-effective-than-violence-in-toppling-dictators/%3foutputType=amp I’m pretty sure peaceful protests get better results.

[@ChadPANDA...]

It takes longer but it has long lasting effects and more impact on future than violence based riots

[@Hansca]

@@maynard04 The question is, when has protesting in the streets, violent or non violent, ever brought about change? I'm 58, I've seen hundreds of street protests but I've never seen one that resulted in the protestors getting what they want. It seems to me that street protests are more about throwing a tantrum than they are about achieving change.

[@alexanderhetzel8271]

​@@Hansca Politicians have to do their work, by introducing new or changing existing laws. However they don't work in a vacuum, they are influenced by public opinion. And that is where protests come in. They show that a big enough part of the population care strongly about an issue that has so far not adequately been dealt with in politics.