Monday, October 12, 2009

OK, protesting is fun, but...

Why do people think doing things that make them look stupid is going to win coverts on serious policy issues?

I can't count the number of times I've seen this. They'll bring traffic in the busiest part of a major city to halt by demonstrating on the road for hours. What do you think those hundreds of thousands of proles stuck in gridlock (not to mention the millions seeing it on the news) are talking about that night? The cause of these folks, or how angry they are at these idiots?

They throw pies at world leaders. I admit it's a great photo, but I haven't got the slightest idea what their cause is.

Greenpeace is at it again a week after blockading the coal mine at Svea for a day, this time scaling the roof of Parliament and getting arrested in droves. OK, I and probably most other at least get their issue in this case: Climate change is bad. But among the leaders and citizens who aren't convinced, are demonstrations like this and stripping naked by the hundred in vineyards more likely to advance serious debate or generate "hey, Martha, look at what those whacky Greenies did today" comments?

Sure, it's a great way to get media coverage. But how many serious wonks at the Copenhagen climate summit are going to be want to be seen meeting with these folks?

On the other hand, with a lot of people already making noise about whatever coming out of the summit likely falling well short of usefulness, maybe having fun and firing up your base of contributors isn't a bad thing.

No comments: