Effective Protest: A Letter

Here is a letter I wrote to be included in a college newspaper of a liberal arts school near where I live. It's about an anti-war protest they had that I believe to have had no effect-to a negative effect compared to what they intended. The letter was too long to fit into their "letters" section, and there wasn't enough time for me to rewrite before a deadline. The letter became outdated for their school paper, but I think it still has some value in showing how misguided the will of a mob can be. Plus, it's satire. What man could withhold a work of satire from publication and still call himself moral? No man at all. No man at all...


Dear Macalester College students:

I got some details of your recent protest/walkout/strike against the war in Iraq from a few of your classmates, and found some interesting parallels to a protest I had recently organized. I wanted to help you avoid certain disaster with your protest, but I've been dealing with an annoying arson court case. I haven't been able to write this until after your event, and it's regrettably too late to stop you from making the same mistakes I did.

The other day, I got fed up with the war in Iraq. I decided to hold a protest. I'd heard of other people doing the same thing, and wanted to try one out for myself but didn't want to get cold, so I stayed inside my apartment. I called in to work sick, "Yeah I'm sick...sick of the war in Iraq! I'm on protest/walkout/strike today!" My boss was confused. Some people just don't understand political action. I pushed forward even though this absence would count against me as unscheduled, and would just make for more work the next day. I handed out signs to my roommates and started shouting about peaceful solutions to armed conflict, despite the fact that my roommates are both already vehemently opposed to the war. I may not have changed any minds, but it made me feel better for some reason.

In the euphoric fervor that always follows a good round of slogan shouting, I decided to write some anti-war epithets on the walls and steps of my apartment with a permanent marker. I knew the only likely people to see them would be people who already agree with my position, but it made me feel better for some reason.

After that, I went to the grocery store and held a banner that said "War: None for me, thanks." In order to get some good mileage out of my banner (after all, I had spent a whole 15 minutes making it!) I decided to block the exit and hold it high and proud. I left when people started complaining about how my behavior was annoying, and some sort of fire hazard. Maybe I was a hazard, but who ever said war protest wasn't dangerous?! I took this as a sign that it was working. Even though people exhibited nothing but visible annoyance, I felt better for some reason.

On the way back to my apartment I met up with a friend of mine. He has questionably violent views on how to deal with this ever-expanding government, but we agree that the war sucks, so I hang out with him anyway. After mixing up a couple of moltov cocktails, it was time to go back home.

When I got there and tried to continue the protest, my roommates told me the landlord had stopped by and said he was going to have to take the cost of cleaning up my anti-war graffiti out of my deposit. Furthermore, my roommates were sick of me shouting at them about things with which they already agreed. To top it all off, my boss left me a voicemail saying that skipping work was irresponsible and unacceptable, and that I was fired! My friend had used used the moltov cocktails to start my neighbor's house on fire because my neighbor is an Iraq war supporter. After his house was reduced to a pile of smoking ashes, I was shocked to find out that he hadn't changed his position on the war one bit, and was instead interested in filing a police report accusing my friend and me of arson!

I was just about to contact a lawyer to sue my employer for discrimination against my beliefs when it hit me: I had gone about my protest in completely the wrong way. As it turns out, the Mac protest regretfully followed very much in the same vein. I called in to work, while at Mac there was a mass exodus from classes. Some of the largest parts of the protest took place on-campus and indoors. The media was not alerted, so you ended up with rooms full of people shouting to one another about points they already agreed on. Like my marker art, several instances of stenciled anti-war graffiti showed up on Mac campus, which looks more like a confused effort to destroy your own property than an effective war protest. Some protesters blocked traffic near one of the city's busiest intersections with designs on forcing people to see their indignance toward the war. Unfortunately, this only inconvenienced people who agree with you, and likely solidified some seething hatred into the hearts of those who already disagree with you. In effect, I'm not sure either protest (mine or yours) changed even one mind in a positive way. We destroyed the good will of others, and destroyed our own property. We wasted time skipping out on opportunities to learn and work for a better life.

Finally, just like I associated with a violence-prone friend, Mac had the "RNC Welcoming Committee" as a guest organization at the protest. This group, according to their website, is intent on disrupting the Republican National Convention, through the use of violence if they deem it necessary. I have realized that war is wrong because the use of force is wrong, and have stopped associating with violence-prone friends. I humbly suggest Macalester College do the same. Violent opposition to my neighbor only confused the issue and led to charges being pressed. Violent opposition to the police state only seems to justify its existence in the minds of government officials.

Only through practicing the principles of non-aggression, and the common sense of logic can we win converts to and garner attention for the anti-war cause.