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Originally written by Om, Lum, Yum:

Clearly, what Alec needs from us isn't exactly a hug. Wink wink, dearie. Now, where did Dareva go just when I needed her help...

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Originally written by Najosz Thjsza Kjras:

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Originally written by Zeviz:

I am not going to snip quotes out of that monstrosity, so just a few comments:

- The complaint about being punished for skipping class to protest.
This reminds me of some "professional protesters" from Berkeley, who disrupted classes, fought with police, and then held huge protest rallies after some of them got arrested. (What's even worse is that the campus and police authorities gave in and dropped almost all charges.) The whole point of "civil disobedience" is that you take the punishment for breaking unjust laws to show people your determination and the power of your cause. If you are just going to cut class to hang out with your friends shouting some slogans, that's not "civil disobedience". It's "slacking off". If those Berkeley students dusrupted classes and fought with police, and expected not to get arrested, that's not civil disobedience. It's huliganism.

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I think protest is an admirable activity - probably the cornerstone of a functional democracy, and you see a lot more protest happen much more peaceably in democratic societies than authoritarian ones - and trying to clamp down on it and call doing it for a 'bad reason' 'hooliganism' is about the most fundamental move you could make towards fascism.

As a political scientist, I find suggesting that protesting is basically illegitimate and that participation (through protest or whatever) needs to be well-informed - otherwise, 'hooliganism' - to be harrowing, precisely because the simultaneous glory and squalor of democracy is the fact that any idiot can and should vote. You take that away, and you may or may not (usually not, if history is any judge) produce a more efficient system, but you will produce a more tyrannous one. It's usually a fairly short time between protest, disobedience and other 'illegitimate' outlets being deligitimized and stigmatized and 'legitimate' outlets getting thrown out as well. Yeah, I know some of these kids are protesting for no good reason, but then again, most school elections are popularity contests. It's a good thing for people to be used to the prerequisites of a republic, and one of those is protest.
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Originally written by Knobgoblinking:

Protesting in general? Power to the people, man.

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Originally written by Thralni:

Hitler didn't have to become germany's leader. If the masses wouldn't have followed him and believe what he said, nothign would have happened. I guess, though, that in retrospect it is very easy to say it. But I'm still of th opinion that the masses are quite dumb.

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