Civil Disobedience on the Rise
When complete, this freshly vandalized billboard in Northern California will read, “We make kids disappear. — ICE.”
The number of civil disobedience incidents is going through the roof. From this article: We are in an extraordinary era of protest. Over the course of the first 15 months of the 45th presidency, more people have joined demonstrations than at any other time in American history. Take a minute and digest that: never before have as many Americans taken to the streets for political causes as are marching and rallying now.
It’s true, a great number of us are angry.
Great job on the billboard, guys. Clever stuff.
Craig,
Vandalism is never to be condoned ! You may cheer these people today, but what happens whose message you don’t like do the same ?
Reading too much LA Kauffman, the rantings of Direct Action members, or even the Guardian can prevent any kind of objective judgement, reality or even sanity 🙂 !.
Both “Count Love’ and the more serious “Crowd Counting Consortium” data collection methods are not just flawed, but ludicrous ! Although, to be fair, Guardian journalists have alluded to the lack of reliable methodology, unlike media organizations like Vox, Atlantic or CNN who go so far as referring to “Count Love ” as ” scientific ” because the authors used a computer !
Craig,
The US is becoming more bitterly divided, and losing any sense of irony.
Seemingly harmless acts of “civil disobedience” that seem vaguely justifiable can start a chain reaction out of all proportion.
Take the case of Stephanie Wilkinson, owner of the Little Red Hen Restaurant when she ordered Sarah Huckabee Sanders from her establishment because she worked for the White House.
(The irony comes when you consider Red Hen displays in its window an admonition by Martin Luther King jnr saying “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend” !)
Okay, Craig you may cheer the actions of Ms Wilkinson too discriminate against the wicked White house employee, but what happens if the restaurants landlord decides he doesn’t like Ms Wilkinson’s political opinions and terminates her lease ?
So problems escalate, and before long vast sums of money is spent on litigation and lawyers. The political divide continues to deepen, and the media encourages righteous outrage by supporting one group or another, until all sides feel they have permission to commit any kind of misbehaviour or cruelty as long as they believe their ’cause’ is just.
I’ve never really liked the term ‘tolerance’, it always made me feel the person saying “I’m tolerant” really was saying, “I’m superior, so I can be tolerant”, as if feeling superior was a virtue.
I prefer “respect”, not respect for what you say, but for you as a person and your right to hold your own opinion and beliefs.