My first protest march!

[JTurner]

Sorry, this one's a bit rambling, because I'm tired and want me dinner, and am just putting down what comes into my head.

Back from the stop the war march through London. It's sad that the first thig I hear on the news is "There wasn't as many people as last time.". I'm sorry, but he police always average down the numbers, and even then they think it was 45000, and that's pretty respectable in my book.

One thing that did occur to me was how the whole thing must look to the non-protest set, those that arn't interested in politics, those who are pig ignorant, etc. The majority of the crowd seemed to have done there best to look like a bunch of hippies/ bums/ wierdos - basically stereotypes, like it as not. As we paraded through the West End, plenty of suits and shoppers were clearly criticising/ taking the piss/ getting annoyed that this crowd was disrupting their Saterday commercialism worship. It's a shame, because I really don't think that your average individual (who probably reads the Sun or Daily(hate)Mail)could ever identify with these people, and just disregard the whole thing as loony leftism - the protestors are just preaching to the converted, not communicating to those who need converting. And not for one second am I going to believe that any politician other than those in far left protest groups are going to take notice.

I was depressed with the alternatives to Labour that were being banded about as the real way to protest. The Respect party, and the communist party being the two that caught my eye, and I'm sorry, but neither George Galloway nor the reds could realistically govern this country. Even if those 45000 marchers don't vote Labour,Tory, or Lib Dem at the election, that number is peanuts, and will do no damage. The rest of the public will vote in either the Tory or Labour, and neither party will pay attention to protest, because lets face it, protest is just bark with no bite, and then the media water the whole thing down by saying that not many people turned up. I'm not saying that we should turn to violent protest, but whoever said that "If democracy worked, they'd ban it", was right.

Still, I'm pleased to have made my stand - and I'm glad that we still have a right to protest (but for how long?), and the chants were funny. But will today really change anything? I doubt it, not while both main party's would advocate war alongside the US. If one main party declared that they'd sever all military ties with America, then the war could become an election breaker. But for now it's just about Asylum seekers and the NHS.

[Bico]

People reckoned the 1980s typified the end result of a depoliticised and apathetic populace, and the 'fuck you as long as I'm alright'/greed is good/capitalism line of thinking, and politicians reckoned they could get away with anything because the voters were veering towards right-wing thinking...

Still didn't stop poll tax riots in the street, Maggie T kicked out in the aftermath and a period of left-wing thinking prevailing for a good while.  It's all very well worrying that people don't care where the world's going, but all that's *really* happening is that the people who *do* give a toss are slowly getting to the point where they won't take any more shit.

[Adrian Bamforth]

Sorry Jacob, but I just don't really understand the mentality of the protesters this time round.

I absolutely respect the opinion that we shouldn't have gone to war, it may or may not have been illegal though from what I've gathered only a handful of conflicts over the years have been (bombing Yugoslavia in response to the ethnic cleansing of the Kosovans was illegal I believe though it heralded the end of a decade of conflict and put Milosovich in the dock), but ethics is a complicated thing, it doesn't always work in straight lines especially when there are so many vested interests on all sides.

However, this time I just don't understand the call to pull the troops out now rather than let the new Iraqi government decide? Wouldn't that reflect the wishes on the Iraqi people more (most of whom in opinion polls state that the invasion was a good thing and that their lives are actually better now)?

ADE

[shazhughes]

>how the whole thing must look to the non-protest set, those that arn't interested in politics, those who are pig ignorant, etc.

So if I don't protest I'm not interested in politics and I'm pig ignorant?
maybe I amm interested in politics but don't agree with what you were marching for or maybe I had something better to do or a host of other things.
You were able to march because you live in a democracy but somehow can't imagine that there may be people with a different opinion.

[Matt Timson]

"So if I don't protest I'm not interested in politics and I'm pig ignorant?"

Ditto.  That's one hell of a sweeping generalisation there!

[janus stark]

ahh protest marches,
i remeber my first one
we went to protest against those new spinning jenny,s
fat lot of good that did.
janus ludd

[Tanky]

Firstly Jacob, much kudos for getting out there and being counted.

I'm a bit of a protest veteran myself and the ideas and experiences you describe are by no means new. I've yet to attend a protest that hasn't been played down, ignored or turned into a full scale riot by the so called authorities, media or more jaded members of the public and it's damned frustrating. The thing to remember is, you did your part, which is all anyone can do. Sometimes protests really do work, keep at it.
I do agree partially with Johnny and Shaz, although it's my opinion (and i *really* hope i'm right!)that they have both mis-read the section in question. Watch out for those generalisations. The 'hippies, bums and wierdos' are there for the exact same reason as you and like as not, organised the march in the first place. If you're going to spend all day on your feet stomping (or shuffling!)around London, you don't want to do it in your work gear, you want to be comfy. These are the people that care about the issues at hand. Knocking them because of appearance is judging a lot of books by a lot of covers; counterproductive and damaging.

I hope you've had a good experience overall, and once again - Nice one.

Tanky the wierdo x