The negative effect isn't of protesting policies like this. It is of doing so in a way that is not fair to Mr Trump, and which allows other people to dismiss your protest as the whining of a not particularly sophisticated child.
Our actions have consequences. I like to ask people what they think about people blocking highways to protest against Donald Trump. People doing dumb things like blocking highways in protest of Trump or pulling his leg in a really makes it easy for his campaign to lump everyone who says he is not fit for office into one group.
Similarly, people who are sensitive about stupid stuff makes it easy for people to lump everyone who has a grievance together into "them" and dismiss their grievances at once. Think the boy who cried wolf but rather than just that one boy getting mauled, it is every single shepherd boy who gets mauled.
It's not meaningful protest that will produce any positive change, it's just being a jerk and wasting everyone's time. This is the kind of juvenile behavior that impresses 13 year olds.
Work. Volunteer. Take care of your family. Vote. It's a bit of a bad timing for protests right now - easily exploited, will likely result in negative change.
You've been making many comments to this effect. Do you agree with the Executive Order? If you disagree with the Executive Order do you think it's worth protesting? If you think it's worth protesting, will you allow others to protest with you even if they didn't protest to your satisfaction for similar issues in the past?
If you agree with the order, please say so explicitly. If you disagree but don't think it's worth protesting, what's the point of your comment? If it's worth protesting, can you forgive others their past mistakes and let them join you now?
Or are you content to just repeatedly point out what you perceive as hypocrisy? If that's all it is, at this point it's no longer civil or substantive, and please stop.
If I'm misunderstanding your goal, please do elaborate and correct me.
"it does nothing but positive things for the employees, the city, and the environment."
When you say something like this you really have to realize that there may be some bias here. I think these protestors feel pretty negative about this, I can't imagine that it's for no reason.
I normally cry cancel culture and I find this awful despite not sympathizing with the man's views. Likewise I'm concerned about the impact of 'nuisance' laws in the UK on legitimate dissent despite finding most protestors to be annoying.
I think it's barely worth protesting now (in the style it's mostly being done), because of how ineffectual that will be in obtaining results.
It certainly appears that the protests today had some effect. It at least increased awareness. Don't dismiss protests with specific purposes out of hand. The MLK Jr and others of the Civil Rights Movement were very effective when doing just that. And there are those on HN today that participated.
In terms of money, I've read numerous comments where members have made donations to the ACLU and other organizations.
I agree with you that there should have been more done to roll back the infringements on civil liberties that go back all the way to at least the Patriot Act. There were people that did, even though it was very difficult to do so without being cast as unpatriotic. I don't see how it does anyone any good to say "Well, you missed your chance then! Just wait until you get a president you like, you can protest then!"
As for "fawning over a liberal president", have you noticed the contortions some are bending themselves into reconciling the many blatant mistruths and inconsistencies uttered by Trump during the campaign? For goodness' sake. Not everyone on either side fits in either category, but there are those who do. Focusing on that and using such pejorative language does nothing to help the situation.
Certainly people should remain critical of even the politicians they vote for. With a limited number of parties, it's unlikely that any one candidate is going to align perfectly with anyone's particular set of values. But to admonish people to stop now because they weren't adequately righteous in the past is just asinine.
And there are those of us who aren't really happy put in one party or the other, but have issues we care strongly about. Do we get categorized as a Democrat when we happen to align with them and a Republican on other issues? What are we supposed to do, regardless of which party the President aligns with, or which party holds a majority in which chamber of Congress? Let people work together on the issues they care about, regardless of party affiliation.
Unless you have another agenda.
I ask you again: Do you support the Executive Order?
Innocent people are already being harmed. Here, refugees and Muslims. The protest is to call attention to that harm.
But let's run with your notion. Suppose there is somebody who says: "I guess I didn't know about the civil rights violations and the deaths that this policy will result in. And I guess it's terrible that these refugees have been waiting years in limbo trying to rebuild their lives. But what's really important is that I expected to be home on time for dinner, so now I won't help them."
I don't think a person like that was every going to be sympathetic to the cause. They weren't going to do anything. They were going to ignore it.
And that's exactly the point of MLK's style of protest. It is to make a problem for some into a problem for all. It is to make it impossible for comfortable people to keep ignoring the problem.
Only while the consequences of "not giving a shit" aren't immediately affecting them.
Those same people are the ones who turn around and complain "what can we do" and organize social media armchair protests when consequences simple enough for them to understand come along.
Why protest an issue that affects innocent people by creating another issue that affects innocent people? This is not persuasive and only leads to further disagreement against the actual movement. Creating more friction is not the way to motivate change.
Immigration/border officials going on strike and refusing to follow the ban order would be much more effective.
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