America was founded on protest - protest against being British subjects. America was founded by Protestants - from George Washington to every president has been Protestant, except for two. The Protestant religion was a protest against the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Today in modern times we have many protests here and abroad; some are relevant and necessary as long as they are peaceful, while some are neither.
The Iranians are protesting their authoritarian government for not avoiding high unemployment and higher taxes. Their protest appears justified even if it ends up being unsuccessful.
Many Americans rightfully protested against having their country attack Iraq. While valid, it was unsuccessful and the U.S. entered one of several unnecessary and costly wars. In addition to the U.S. efforts to overthrow Iraq's government at great expense, we encouraged the people of Libya, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Tunisia to protest against their government. It worked out pretty well in Tunisia but not very well for the other countries with protests in the Middle East. Libya, Syria, and Yemen have become failed states, breeding grounds for terrorists like those in Al Qaeda and ISIS. In Syria, thousands of protestors demanded that their longtime dictator step down immediately. Much of Syria is now in ruins because thousands of the country's millions protested and got violent and destructive. Libya has also become a country in chaos. In Egypt thousands first protested against their longtime dictator and then protested a year later against their recently elected president who is now spending his time in prison. He was replaced by the former dictator's people and Egypt is back to where is it was before the protests, but tourism is way down. Yemen is now a disaster of lawlessness and violence.
But do we protest too much sometimes or even too often?
When our 45th president was sworn into office thousands of Americans protested in Washington D.C and at several U.S. cities. They wanted him to end his presidency on the first day. The next day there was the women's march with women representing less than 1% of American women. They were protesting against what they feared would happen - it would become harder to get an abortion. Both protests cost the protestor hundreds or even thousands of dollars for transportation and lodging.
These two protests against the president had no effect whatsoever. No change occurred.
When whites supremacists paraded in Charlottesville, Virginia. people wanted to protest against the alt right. They were involved in a riot, with members of each side fighting the other. They were protesting against a group of uneducated people who represented less than 1% of U.S. population. I wrote to some friends who proudly protested that it would change everything. Of course, it changed nothing except maybe to move people to further extremes on both sides creating hate groups like Antifa whose members vandalized the U.C. Berkeley campus to keep free speech from occurring because they disagreed with it. This at the home of the free speech movement. Their protests/riots were successful because the administration there was intimidated by both the rioters and the forbidden speakers.
A few years ago we had another kind of protest that lasted four months and destroyed businesses and other private property. The protestors/rioters were protesting the fact that a teen who was 6'5" was killed while trying to kill a police officer. The three month grand jury investigation and that of the U.S. Attorney General ruling that the killing was self defense did not end the protests, Perhaps, they wanted the teen to succeed even though it would mean a life sentence in prison.
A few years ago we had the start of yet another protest movement. A football player, who had been benched for two seasons up until then, decided to kneel at the National Anthem. Later other players joined him to show solidarity with their fellow athlete. No one noticed but these NFL players, many of whom make more than $1 million a year, were protesting about their condition. Many had been accepted to colleges, to which they would not have been accepted were it not for their athletics and got free tuition, room and board, and reimbursements for transportation costs. They were protesting that fellow blacks were being treated unfairly sometimes by police and more times by their condition. Perhaps they never asked themselves what country treats blacks better? What other country outside Africa ever elected a black president and twice no less? The NFL has more than 900 players getting $1 million or more to play in 14 games a year doing what they most love. They also neglected to admit that while police officers mistakingly kill some blacks, the majority of all homicide victims are black as are their assailants, while representing only 13% of the country's population.
Now we are protesting against powerful men who have ever harassed or assaulted women. Every day we hear about another who has lost his career because of his past misdeeds. In Alabama, a Republican state, the Republican U.S Senate candidate was found to have improperly touched a few teenage girls 40 years ago. That ended his chances at a Senate seat. Most of us agree that abusing women or anyone, for that matter, is wrong. Rape is a terrible crime. Other forms of sexual assault are also reprehensible. No one should feel harassed in the workplace. But it seems as though women are blaming men for innocent remarks like "You look great today" or "Is that a new hairstyle? It looks great." But it extends to unwanted requests for a date or kissing someone who didn't want to be kissed. The N.Y. Times reported that the failed presidential candidate and her supporters paid $700,000 to have women come out and protest the Republican presidential candidate's past harassment in order to secure their candidate's election. It was apparently not secured.
But now I have my own protests.
I protest against Democrat/liberals and Republican/conservatives. Neither group could come up a viable way to ensure that everyone who wants affordable health coverage can get it. They were also unable to fix the tax code so that is both simple and fair.
I protest against one company, Amazon, taking over business after business on its way to controlling our economy.
I protest against inconsiderate, dishonest, violent and/or vulgar people.
I protest against homelessness - a national disgrace.
I protest against shows that play music during dialogue. It drives me crazy because it makes it more difficult to hear what the characters are saying and is an insult to the writers, the actors and even the directors by acting as though all their efforts fail without background music.
I protest against huge cash settlements or jury awards for the slightest injury or for being injured while violently resisting arrest.
I protest against containers that are difficult to open or reseal.
I protest getting old and watching my body falling painfully apart. I protest even though there is probably no way to avoid it.
But I can protest without a crowd of supporters marching for my cause. I don't need vulgar and insulting signs or to destroy public property to wage my protest. I can write a blog, I can write to the responsible legislators or decision makers. I can come up with my own solutions and present them to our representatives.
In short or not so short, I am protesting protesting and I'm not even Protestant.
Me thinks we doth protest too much.
