Power to the people

[gillian w]

With people protesting most of this week about basically the state of the country and the world ,at the time of the G20 summit in London, do you believe people power still means anything in this modern day.When you think what has been achieved in history by protest do you think we could ever have the same power now.
We are all capable of putting the world to rights in conversation but how many of us have actually felt we should be waving banners in the rain and if we do,do you believe it can actually bring about change or does it all just fall on deaf ears.
Maybe we have to rely on the protest and attention of celebrities now which seems the modern way to get things changed.

 

[Voodoo]

most people will comment about tragedy in the news and then turn back to their everyday lives and forget about it....it's normal human behaviour.

it takes special compassionate people to stand up and be counted, and try to make a change in the lives of others regardless of what the cause is.

most newspapers and tv channels don't show you what its going on in the world, until of course a celebrity decides to shout up about it - either for the attention or because they truly care.

i have recently decided to boycott any product that originates from china due to the atrocities they are committing in tibet, which has been going on for years but i've only just heard abou it.

they are drving the tibetans out of the country, murdering monks, pumping radioactive material into the country and forcing women to have hysterectomies in order to cull the population.

the army goes into houses, tell the women to have one done, if they refuse to then the army takes their cooker...so they cannot feed their family.

they then return and if they refuse one more time they set about removing their fallopian tubes with pliers.

this isn't made up...it's REALLY happening RIGHT NOW!

the british government is afraid to boycott the country due to economic ties...so for the sake of having cheap goods imported in, they are turning a blind eye to genocide on a large scale.

as for banner waving, i will be present at the next tibet rally...don't know when it is or where it will be, but i will be there.

jue x

 

[The Guild]

I would love to believe that people power still has a effect, but sadly I doubt it. Just look at the protests about the Chinese behaviour in Tibet and Burma before the Olympics. It neither changed perception or attendance of the Games, and certainly had no effect on the Chinese government.

It's one of those viscious circles: people don't believe it will work, so don't protest, so the protests become too small to make a difference.

Apparently these days, if your name isn't Bono, you don't seem to count.

 

[Voodoo]

unless you are french...they seem to have the commitment to standing up for what they believe in, and tend to get the result they want.

unfortunately the vast majority of people are too complacent about what is happening around them, and remain very insular and worry about their own problems.

which is understandable in this present climate, but isn't really the answer to most of the problems worldwide.

jue x

 

[tog]

Interesting thread . . .
What springs to my mind regarding people power was when the Polish Trade Union leader Lech Walesa started protesting about the way the Communist Party was running Poland, ( in the 80's I think, seems ages ago now ) and he got the whole country behind him eventually and the Communist leaders were booted out - and he later became leader of his country by popular demand.

I agree with you Voodoo about the human rights abuses in China.
The leaders of this country should be ashamed the way they toady up to the Chinese leaders and sweep anything nasty under the carpet.
Did you hear about how all the poor people were moved away from the areas where the Olympics were taking place last summer? and water supplies from rivers etc were diverted away from farms in rural areas which needed the water, in order to increase the supply in Beijing during the Olympics, as the authorities were afraid of shortages.
I could go on. Sorry to rant.

 

[angelina221]

I think people do have power to change things. I think democratic countries rely on the masses to survive. We are the masses, so we can change things. We just need to be passionate about our cause. If you get enough people behind you you can do anything. Unfortunately these days people just can't be ar**d!
Salon geek has just got sienna to take prices from it's website cos enough people complained. They don't want bad publicity so they bowed down to public pressure.
Only a small example but an example nonetheless!
Sienna today-tomorrow the world

 

[JessieBee]

This is a hard one as like has been said some people see it as "what's the point? Nothing ever comes of it so why bother?", however on the other hand you've only got to take the fox hunting protests to show that, eventually, if you get enough people behind the cause then something can be done.

In the last month Russia has announced a ban on the slaughter of seals under a year (for the fur!) due to pressure from animal rights companies and thier campaigners/supporters, people stood up for what they believe in and something came of it.
So yes, I do think there are things that people can change, they just have to keep putting in the effort