Anti-Protest Protest

Good afternoon.

I've been bumbling around for something good to write lately, and I've batted around ideas concerning body positivity and general nonsense concerning the American maelstrom that is political life there and also the messes that we have in our own back yard concerning free speech and so on. Something popped into my head, however, and I'd like to take a bit to discuss. It is this:

Protests.

So many protests.

University protests.

Statue protests.

Police protests.

Environmental protests.

Left protests.

Right protests.

All of these people coming from so far afield to be parts of these gatherings.  My experiences with protests have taught me that there's an ugliness to all of it.  It's not the pure, idealistic, spontaneous exercise that I, or people, believe it to be.  It's angry people.

Quite so.

Worse, in Charolettesville, it's angry people across the line from other angry people.  It's angry vs. angry.

So, I have to ask: why be angry?

What's to gain from picking a side between hard right and hard left?  Not a whole lot. What's the difference between a DPRK prison camp and a Syrian one?  Ideology?  One has oil pipelines?  One has a higher minimum wage?  Let's be real here.Worse than that is the fact.  They're two sides of the same ugly, old, battered coin.

And these are the ANTI-fascist protesters!  With friends like these...

Worse, these protests.  They're organized by unions, political operatives, business interests, and just generally people with agendas.  Sad to say, but protesters are pawns.  The larger the crowds, the more cameras, the more clicks, the more names on the petition and the larger the donations means a more successful protest. If you're a protester, you don't see a dime of the donations.  It's not a 50/50 draw, it's a 0/100 swindle.  These groups take issues that reasonable people find important and sympathetic...

Like so.

...and torque them into manufactured outrage to get paid off of your back.  It's a scam.

It sounds cynical.  It is cynical.

Here's the deal.  If you're out protesting, if you're out hating, if you're out chanting, you're not home. You're not vacuuming or cutting the grass.  You're not watching a ballgame or listening to an old album you've never got around to.  You're not...

...baking awesome cookies.

You're not...

...doing cool art.

You're not...

...calling your grandparents.

You're not...

...spending time with the kids.

You're not...

...enjoying your pets.

In other words, be happy.  Live life.  Love thy neighbour.

Hey.  I have an idea.

Well, I guess that's a good one.  But I have another!

Voting.

Cha-ching!

There's one form of protest that I engage in every chance I get.  I vote.  Federally, provincially and municipally I make sure my voice is heard.  Why, I was pivotal in the federal elections of...

Roy Bailey

Ralph Goodale

Ralph a second time

Erin Weir

I let them do the talking for me.  That's what a representative democracy is.  I pay people to represent my interests.  For example, Mr. Weir, since his election a couple of years ago, has gone and protested for people with disabilities, stopping cuts to government services, peace in the Middle East, and more.  I did all this protesting from the comfort of my own couch, and it was great.

Mine aren't.

As for donations and party affiliations and stuff like that, sure.  I could donate my hard-earned cash to politicians, but I have a brain.  I don't really need a party to tell me what to think.  I'm perfectly happy exercising my right to protect every four years or so in the only way that truly matters, at the ballot box.  Besides, donating even more funds voluntarily to politicians won't by that shop vac I've been meaning to get or pay for a vacation any sooner.  It may get a meager tax break as a reward, but I'll live.

And but so since I'm slagging politicians left and right, you may ask yourself why do I even vote if it's such a cynical exercise.  Well, to quote Winston Churchill, 

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."  

So, you know, it could be worse. and I've always espoused the theory that if you don't vote you can't complain.  Worse, could you only imagine if you protest, but don't vote?  What a waste!

I believe that the state has a responsibility to look after people who require assistance to get by every day.  I feel strongly about it, so I voted for someone to be my voice, and they are my voice.  That's what I pay him to do.  I pay him to do it, because I have a life.

Indeed not.

I have my own job, a family to look after, some good baseball to watch, and a dishwasher that needs repairs.  Also...

PREACH!

These things don't distract me from "the real issues" in a bread-and-circuses kind of way, they are my real issues in my life.  If I need anything at all, I'll get one of my employees on it.  They're good at that kind of thing.  That's why I hired them.

And that's it for today, folks.  Thank you for reading!