Besides, even if massive protests worked (in the sense of forcing the leaders to take notice and respond), it's not clear that the outcome would be an improvement. They could cause economic and political chaos which could lead to further suffering. Or they could result in demagoguery from the country's leaders.
When the institutions of democracy break down, and when corruption and injustice are rampant, some people turn to protest and social disobedience. Perhaps things just haven't gotten bad enough for those strategies to work -- after all, bad as things are here, they are a lot worse in many countries overseas -- and people are doubtful, anyway, that protests and non-violent social disobedience would even work.
So, the alternative is the slow, tedious, frustrating, unending job of building grassroots democracy from the bottom up.
Fine. If you want to attend a rally to feel good, go ahead! But don't expect that rallies alone will get you what you want. I still haven't decided whether to attend Tuesday's rally in Seattle.
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