So I’m stuck in traffic because protesters against the Israeli attacks on Gaza decided to block La Brea - a major artery of transport - during rush hour. LAPD is on the scene and appears to be helping them redirect traffic away.
So what happens if I get a bunch of people together and decide to block La Brea for the lols? Is LAPD going to assist me in directing traffic away from my block party?
Can you buy a permit to block major roads during rush hour?
A protest that you can ignore is not an effective one. The whole point is to make people uncomfortable to provoke action, or at the very least make others feel what you're feeling. Politely walking on the side of the road is a great way to get ignored.
Regulating (non-violent) protests is also tricky. Where do you draw the line? Should the Boston Tea Party have been illegal because of the all the damaged goods? Should MLK's protests have been illegal because his marches blocked traffic?
That said, there is a wrong way to protest. Why protest in front of people with no power to change anything? If you're going to block traffic, do so near congressional buildings or outside the homes of politicians, Regular shmucks driving to work probably can't do much,
The environmental people do this all the time on the A12 near the Hague.
And then whine, once they’ve been warned to vacate the motorway, that they get sprayed with water cannons and arrested.
Dumb arses. Same with the bloody farmers and their tractors.
In the Netherlands you have the right to demonstrate. But, Dutch bureaucracy is famously tedious. You need to request a permit to demonstrate. And the local government can only reject the request if they have serious grounds to do so (say a nazi demonstration on a Jewish graveyard or blocking a fukking motorway… which besides being bloody annoying, is very dangerous as well).
The protests worked though! The Netherlands has stopped killing their penguin population. Or maybe the protesting wasn’t about that. I didn’t really bother listening to them.
@vivify saidAll the shmucks can do is vote, the idea that your government cannot keep the traffic moving is a vote loser, plus it keeps whatever the issue is in the news.
A protest that you can ignore is not an effective one. The whole point is to make people uncomfortable to provoke action, or at the very least make others feel what you're feeling. Politely walking on the side of the road is a great way to get ignored.
Regulating (non-violent) protests is also tricky. Where do you draw the line? Should the Boston Tea Party have been ill ...[text shortened]... ldings or outside the homes of politicians, Regular shmucks driving to work probably can't do much,
We have a lot of ‘stop oil’ protests stopping our traffic and people complain about the inconvenience of the protest but they don’t complain to the oil companies about the inconvenience of traffic being stopped by extreme weather or when they have to sit on their roofs due to flooding.
Conclusion:- at least the protesters are doing something and most people are stupid zombies IMO
@kevcvs57 saidI shouldn't have said "wrong way" to protect since any action is indeed better than none.
All the shmucks can do is vote, the idea that your government cannot keep the traffic moving is a vote loser, plus it keeps whatever the issue is in the news.
We have a lot of ‘stop oil’ protests stopping our traffic and people complain about the inconvenience of the protest but they don’t complain to the oil companies about the inconvenience of traffic being stopped by ext ...[text shortened]... ng.
Conclusion:- at least the protesters are doing something and most people are stupid zombies IMO
I should've said there are more effective ways to protest, like near congressional buildings or outside the homes of politicians. But not everyone can travel to such locations, so local protests like those that block traffic may be their only option.
@vivify saidMy partner and I fall out about this every time a blocked motorway, spoilt painting or interrupted sporting event is on the news.
I shouldn't have said "wrong way" to protect since any action is indeed better than none.
I should've said there are more effective ways to protest, like near congressional buildings or outside the homes of politicians. But not everyone can travel to such locations, so local protests like those that block traffic may be their only option.
It fries my brain that people are outraged about that but not a flicker of concern about the lives being lost and ruined in the parts of the third world that are at the sharp end of man made climate change.
I would agree with blockading legislative places but I fear no one would care or even notice if my Parliament was slightly less functional than it is already and it’s a shame that disrupting the lives of ordinary people gets more traction but it is that important
@shavixmir saidThere is an overriding issue of restricting the freedom of others. That is why there has to be permits. If my animal rights friends and I want to protest the sale of dog collars, that parade of losers would shut down movement on the roads for our commerce to thrive.
The environmental people do this all the time on the A12 near the Hague.
And then whine, once they’ve been warned to vacate the motorway, that they get sprayed with water cannons and arrested.
Dumb arses. Same with the bloody farmers and their tractors.
In the Netherlands you have the right to demonstrate. But, Dutch bureaucracy is famously tedious. You need to req ...[text shortened]... uin population. Or maybe the protesting wasn’t about that. I didn’t really bother listening to them.
So, the town council is there to regulate such matters, and would allow for your parades if they are reflective of legitimate social issues. The Viet Nam protests are a good example.
So, paraders must have permits.
@vivify saidPublic spaces like roads have designated purposes. It is wrong to hijack their intended purpose for your cause no matter how sincere your beliefs are. A person has a right to get home in a timely manner and certainly for emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks to has unfettered access. It is laughable that you could interfere with safety vehicles and peoples rights to travel on roads because no one is interested in your message.
A protest that you can ignore is not an effective one. The whole point is to make people uncomfortable to provoke action, or at the very least make others feel what you're feeling. Politely walking on the side of the road is a great way to get ignored.
Regulating (non-violent) protests is also tricky. Where do you draw the line? Should the Boston Tea Party have been ill ...[text shortened]... ldings or outside the homes of politicians, Regular shmucks driving to work probably can't do much,
@shavixmir saidWell, shav, then tell us how to get to work, with the quasi-vermin thoughtlessly give the finger to me, blowing my horn while racing to Wall Street? You seem to be saying that they (the losers in the streets wearing masks so we can't identify them) have a right to block my travel on the street. Do you think that? If you are in such deep thought, what would you suggest law abiding people like me do to get to work?
Yeah. That's truly proportional.
@averagejoe1 saidCalling humans vermin, eh?
Well, shav, then tell us how to get to work, with the quasi-vermin thoughtlessly give the finger to me, blowing my horn while racing to Wall Street? You seem to be saying that they (the losers in the streets wearing masks so we can't identify them) have a right to block my travel on the street. Do you think that? If you are in such deep thought, what would you suggest law abiding people like me do to get to work?
What does that remind you of?
@quackquack saidhttps://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/caravans-of-trump-supporters-block-traffic-on-nj-parkway-ny-bridge/2699128/
Public spaces like roads have designated purposes. It is wrong to hijack their intended purpose for your cause no matter how sincere your beliefs are. A person has a right to get home in a timely manner and certainly for emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks to has unfettered access. It is laughable that you could interfere with safety vehicles and peoples rights to travel on roads because no one is interested in your message.
Caravans of Trump Supporters Block Traffic on NJ Parkway, NY Bridge
What if it's for a cause you support like this one? When Canadian truckers blocked traffic to protest Covid mandates, were you against that as well?
@shavixmir saidI am sure you consider Jeffrey Dahmer vermin. From there, one draws the line somewhere. For instance, my line is at a general level of the people who impose themselves on other people. Yours has to be a bit lower than that, as liberals do impose themselves on other people. A guy blocking the road, causing me to miss my 8-yr old's ball game,,,,,,ooooooo, man, that is an imposition that I do not take lightly. Do you know that I pack heat!?!? Boy I hate it when liberals impose themselves on me and my stuff!!! I'm not real fond of marxists, for example, that gets real close to the V word!!
Calling humans vermin, eh?
What does that remind you of?
So here is an article. Note 'they "LIVE LIKE vermin". He says Marxists, terrorists, communists, fascists, thugs, etc. They are all below my 'line' so I am with Trump. He and I don't like diseases, either. Diseased people? Vermin? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Over the weekend, Trump delivered remarks to supporters in New Hampshire in which he pledged that, if reelected, he would “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” warning of the “threat from within.” He used the same language in a post on Truth Social last Saturday.