I went to DC yesterday, as many of you probably did. There was a pretty big rally against the Keystone XL pipeline that brought out not only pipeline activists, but also climate change activists, ecosocialists, anticpitalists, anarchists and persons of every stripe and persuasion. The speaker were great. Bill McKibben almost sounded surprised that so many people showed up. People from indigineous tribes in Canada spoke about the impact of the line and the tar sands on their lives. The Senator from Rhode Island spoke, and many others.
But that is not really what I want to talk about.
I was surprised at the unspontaneity of it all. I mean, when we showed up, there were speakers and video monitors in the Mall. The streets were blocked off and police were everywhere. At one point people kept telling us to get back on the street because we didn't have a permit for the sidewalk.
It's a SIDEWALK people. You are SUPPOSED to walk on it. I am highly confused by the necessity of confining my free speech to the street.
When we got in front of the White House, there were the usual cast of characters standing against the fence. supposedly some were to be zip tied to the fence, but I saw none of that. One young woman told me that I shouldn't stand there unless I was "arrestable". I responded to here that I wasn't breaking any laws. She told me it was illegal to stand in front of the fence at the White House.
Now first of all, that is a silly law. Second of all, I had just been less than an hour before on the OTHER side of the White House standing at the fence taking a picture. Me and a bunch of other tourists. So maybe it's only illegal if you stand in front of the fence if you are a protester? Or maybe only if you don't have a "permit". Of course, I didn't have a permit before. Didn't even ask for one.
No, I didn't climb the fence. I wouldn't climb my neighbors fence either. Give them some privacy, OK? But to think I would be "warned" against standing still and maybe taking a picture and then, if I didn't follow instructions I would be "arrestable"? Simply unbelievable.
I actually waited around for awhile to be warned so I could argue with the folks. Unfortunately, it became quite boring waiting. Which brings me to my next point.
If you DO perform civil disobedience, and no one cares, does it really matter? The police seemed amused. The protest organizers seemed more interested in separating themselves from the civil disobedience crowd than "owning" the acts. Perhaps the old style civil disobedience has less impact when a city becomes used to it. Perhaps it becomes old hat. I do not presume to pass upon the use of such techniques. I have seen them get great press and help move causes forward.
But I like to be in front of the curve, or maybe even learn from the past. A bus boycott had a great impact on civil rights. The bus company wanted riders. They needed the business. We live in a country where money talks. You don't want a pipeline, perhaps we need to boycott oil. Sounds good, but we all rode busses to the rally.
Perhaps we really need to realize the Front Line is NOT in Washington D.C. It truly is everywhere. Everywhere we meet, everywhere we live. As some of my friends said, "Enough talk....more action." Critics quite rightly point out the environmental and political movements that hypocritically use the same tools of the establishment. Of course, that is what we know, that is somewhat effective, but it is also largely a simple matter of being coopted. Capitalism has no conscience and one sale is as good as another. If you really want to change the world, imagine what you want it to be....and make it that.
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