The US Politics |OT|

[sundin13]

LurkerJ said:

Machiavellian said:

Why would you think lowly of people who protest which is pretty much how the US is built.  Now violence during protesting is something totally different.  Your last paragraph acts as if Bernie Sanders is someone that everyone believe as a successful politician.  For every person that loves Bernie, there is probably way more that think he is an idiot.  Do not forget that 70 million people vote for another term for Trump so there is definitely a large segment of the voting population that would definitely feel Bernie is not the direction the country should go. Protest is a way to get attention that people are not happy with the direction the country, state or local government is going.  Nothing wrong with it but with anything that can be taken advantage of, there will always be the grifters.

We live in an era where voting is more powerful than protesting. You can get more done for you if you do your homework and organise and spread the message, protesting doesn't get you nearly the same results. But who wants homework, let's get out and blow the city up, that's always easier than educating ourselves about the candidates you're presented with and their history as politicians. In my opinion, Bernie failed (as a presidential candidate, not a politician), because people didn't do their homework, not that I am presenting him as the ideal candidate to elect, just an example of someone who would've pushed for real solutions if he was elected 10 years ago. So yeah, no sympathy for the lazy. 

To add to what others said, voting isn't perfect. If an issue only affects a minority of citizens, it may not only be difficult to get the majority to vote for a candidate who is on your side, but it may be difficult to get a candidate who even supports your cause. Protesting is a powerful tool for getting attention to a cause not just from other voters, but from politicians. Do you think all of the politicians making commitments to police reform are doing it just based on voting records? No, they are doing it because people demonstrated that this is a cause that will motivate them to support you if you take a stand. 

Yes, people should organize around grassroots causes more, but public protest is very much a part of that.