@MrWebster

I agree that protests can be far more meaningful and productive when they address issues rather than persons. I asked myself, "what issue would I choose to protest for?” After some consideration, since there are many worthy causes, I thought of one that could possibly have more reaching benefits ...

Limit the amount of money that can be spent campaigning for government positions, as well as limit the time allocated for campaigning. Of course exactly what is considered campaigning has to be defined, which in america seems to be the full time job of a politician, and would be difficult to qualify.

This might be a start -

The Broadcasting Act 1989 allows candidates to spend money on radio and television advertising that promotes a vote for themselves, but only up to their spending limit and only during a set election period. They cannot broadcast negative advertising. Eligible political parties are allocated an amount of public funding to pay for radio and television advertising based on certain criteria, and are also allocated free broadcasting time for opening and closing addresses. They cannot use their own funds to purchase additional broadcasting time.
https://maint.loc.gov/law/help/campaign-finance-regulation/newzealand.php

That every issue gets framed by politics, and broadcasted by media, is an obstacle. It separates the issues from what it is to be human.

This protest movement seems like bullshit to me. Let's protest something called due process. Every day in every court people are charged with crimes created by cops and supported by prosecutors and judges. Want to see this in action, search for Judge Fleischer on Youtube to see how cops and prosecutors put people in jail without recourse. Until that is, they meet this elected judge who simply asks, what did they do that was illegal. Just a taste.

Protests that are aimed at a person rather than a cause seems to be always bullshit third party organized. There were protests on April 15th in Trump's first year. Was it about tax equity. Fuck no it was about Trump publishing his tax returns. Oh, yah, gop went onto pass their own rich people friendly tax cuts. I though the most corrupt protests were organized by the SEIU which had these nicely printed signs about how bad Trump was, not their issue of raising the minimum wage.

Higher education?? Fuck higher education. It is now a grift to put into debt countless thousands of students and their families. Oh wow, poor fucking Harvard got their federal funds removed. I better go protest that affront to higher education. But not the debt my family and millions of others like us are under.

I was living in Portland Oregon during the first Iraq war and joined in what was truly a very large protest against it. I think at time only NYC may have have had a larger one. And literally no where else. The democratic party and their private organizer fronts would not touch that as in fact they were in favor of war.

Just an observation on organized protests. During Covid lockdown some people in CA organized a local protest against mandatory vaccines. AntiFa the so called anarchist anti-fascist group showed up attacked them. That is not stupid irony. That was deliberate and paid for.

@kelly
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thanks for posting it!

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@fire with fire via Keith McHenry.
No idea who the caster is, and would not have seen it otherwise.
Fairly hostile to video presentations, but this guy had the goods.
Beyond the tragic disappearance of century old media regulations amidst the drive to consolidation
and speech so free that they can now propagandize domestically and conduct the discussion with ludicrous falsehoods to garner clicks and so much more. Beyond the insulting participation of lowbrow foreign contractors soliciting talking points far removed from reality as well as the main issues,
the locally sourced public relations trolls seriously burr my saddle.

These are traitors. democracy. Information. Freedom.
All cast aside so some lowlife motherfucker can insinuate, imply and outright lie through every orifice.
The smoother operators feign innocence, as necessary.

Anyone proffering innocence in this day and age is as full of shit as anyone ever was through the history of this country.
Time to shun the partisan lie factory while pointing straight at it.
The technological assists they have accrued are more than intimidating within the platform.
Consolidation went smoothly once they reached a certain point.
The examples they present are useful when exposed.
but they have algorithms to Hoover all that shit up if someone doesnt know enough to notice.
They might prevail if we dont catch those clues.
hopefully their greatest victories are behind us.

Trying to avoid a purist isolation, I posted this thread to show that the 5051 phenomenon claims to be organic rather than astroturf. The argument against this assertion had been posted to the effect that its namby pamby messaging shows sheep dogging people away from meaningful protest.

My thought was that people getting mad enough to spend an afternoon raising hell is a good thing and a necessary Step One.

Kelly's post with a podcast makes the case from the messaging that this whole thing is a fraud. Persuasively.

I don't think that what we random folks say about stuff like 5051 has much real world significance.
But for what little my opinion is worth, I switch from Thumbs Up to Thumbs Down.