Have Protests Lost Their Power

Are we too dulled to feel the legitimate unhappiness of others?

An old friend goes out every Saturday afternoon and walks the street with a sign, protesting one of the causes he cares about. It may be right to life, wrongly convicted criminals, or anything. His latest thing is that he feels bikers are unsafe on urban streets.

We also write letters to the editor — like, all the time. He recently completed what he calls the holy trinity — getting published in each one of our country’s major national newspapers.

I don’t agree with many/most of his causes — he’s a Christian fundamentalist- but I admire his conviction.

He asked me last week — Do you think any of the things he does make any difference.

That was a tough question.

I’m a fervent environmentalist.

Some of my heroes are those who led the 1980s protests to protect old-growth forests in Canada. These protests were massive, and we know they worked.

I’ve attended many protests on environmental and social justice issues. But, to be honest, I’m less sure that they’ve had any impact at all.

It feels to me that we are so split between the left and right these days that any coming together in protest is seen not as a general or public uprising but as merely an interest group spouting its side of the story.