Photo by James Lewis on Unsplash
Hi, Hivers and members of EcoTrain!
I'm here to answer to this week's community question, which is done once more in collaboration with Dreemport.
Q. "ARE ACTIVISTS WHO INCONVENIENCE THE GENERAL PUBLIC JUSTIFIED?"
This is a difficult question to answer because it depends very much on which side we feel we are on in a protest or a particular cause. I live in a country where protesting has been part of our daily life for some years. Not for environmental reasons but for social and political ones.
In the last 20 years in Venezuela, we have actively and passively experienced thousands of protests.
The government has tried on many occasions to criminalize the protest. And on more than an occasion among the opposition supporters themselves, there have been conflicting positions on how far the inconvenience of those protests to the population can go.
And it would be very hypocritical of me to say that I don't agree with closing a street to protest when in the last 20 years, I have participated in and supported protests that did so.
But there must be limits. And those who protest should know that it often depends on it whether they can get the attention they want or gain followers to their cause instead of losing them.
As an example, I remember so well the 2014 protests in Venezuela when the so-called guarimbas took place. At that time, those who were protesting against the government, with legitimate motives, in my opinion, ended up taking the protests to an extreme situation. They sought to try to paralyze the city by closing main streets and access roads to neighborhoods. By putting in place improvised barricades 'guarimbas'. This went on for weeks, and the tension in the population increased not only because of the clashes with the authorities but also because of the tension between the inhabitants of the affected areas.
In the end, nothing was gained, and much was lost. The government criminalized the protest. The economy continued to plummet, leading to hyperinflation a few years later. And social control increased after these protests.
Those of us who lived in the affected areas lived days of terror, swallowing tear gas inside our homes and fearing that a pellet come through a window. What's more, it divided the opposition, which should have been fighting for a common cause, into those who condemned the guarimbas and those who supported them.
My example is a bit extreme. But the point is, in my opinion, it is justified to create inconveniences to the general public when protesting or doing activism for a cause you believe in. Otherwise, in most cases, those to who you are looking to draw attention would even look at it. And continue with their lives as if nothing happens. But you have to know that there are limits that should not be transgressed, or else you run the risk of subtracting rather than adding followers to the cause.
This is my answer to this week's EcoTrain Community question.
Thanks for reading!
Image credit on the caption
May 20, 2022
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Thank you very much! 🐝 😄
You're welcome @coquicoin, you deserve it well! Thanks for your constant implication here 😊🌹
There are limitations to things, hence, it might be disastrous and there wouldn´t be solutions to what you have been fighting for, rather you lose a lot. So why such effort when one can do it in the right way, even if you need to inconvenience others, it would be for the right cause that will surely bring positive answers in the end. Thank you for sharing ma.
You are welcome, Princess. And thank you for your comment. And yes, in my opinion, we have every right to protest, but there is a limit to everything. And the problem is that in the heat of protest some tend to become radical and then things can start to go wrong.
Have a nice weekend 🤗
Oh, brilliant insight, especially since it’s based on personal experience. Venezuela was a bountiful and wonderful land; it has been brought down by greed and incompetence. I agree with you on every level and hope to see an improvement in your circumstance. Political power is the nemesis of all evil, especially when controlled by a few eager and invested participants. Excellent post🤗❤️💕❤️🤗🤗❤️💕💕
Yes, the lust for power and wealth has no limits among some rulers, and it is the people who suffer the consequences of this excessive ambition.
Let us hope for better times for all. The world really needs it.
Thank you very much for your comment. Happy weekend🤗😊
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It's sad to hear about protests in your country @coquicoin. I try my best to remain at home when such events occur as they can turn ugly.
Stay safe!
Indeed, one does not know when things can get out of control. Since the pandemic began there have been no new mass protests here, but it is probably only a matter of time before there are some again. Because the reasons for the protests are still mostly there.
Have a nice weekend 🤗😊
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Yay! 🤗
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Nice. I've seen a couple of entries to this contest and I like how you emphasized the importance of having limitations in all these inconveniences caused by activists.
People can go about their protest. They can choose to block roads but once it gets to the spilling of blood and destruction of properties that are owned by individuals, it shows that they are already overdoing the protest and they need to stop immediately.
The example you gave about stuff happening in Venezuela is very similar to how protests turn out in my part of the world. We've witnessed a whole lot of protests but up to this date, nothing good has ever come out of any of them. Nothing at all.
Thanks for sharing this on DreemPort.
Hello!
I know that in your country, in many ways, you live through similar situations with mass protests. And it is very frustrating when one looks back and realizes how much we have left on the way. And that in the end, no changes have been achieved. On the contrary, in my experience, we come out with more repression and more freedoms curtailed when this happens.
Let's hope one-day things will improve here and there.
Thank you very much for stopping by, and have a good weekend.
I have the same sentiments as yours sis. I appreciate those who step up and do something for their voices to be heard, but I don't support it when it is done in a way that it also disrupts the greater population and breeds fear.
Yes, it is a difficult point. It is very easy when you protest to become radical and blinded, especially when you receive a violent response from the authorities. That's why there has to be a limit and definitely, the protest should not arouse fear in the population, at least not from the side of the one who calls for the protest.
It is a sore subject and in a democracy we should have the right to protest. Things though can go too far and backfire and lead to more crackdowns, imprisonment torture even death depending which country that you are in.
However, the voice of the people and the potential of the people as a force cannot be underestimated, look at how many governments and regimes have been toppled by the people.
How Venezuela is still run by these corrupt baffoons baffles me.
I am all for protesting but there has to be a line, which should not be crossed.
Yep, It is a sore subject and people will always have a different point of view depending on where they live and their circumstances.
Yes, the voice of the people is important but it must be accompanied by other forces behind the scenes. At least that is the conclusion I can draw from our situation.
Your bewilderment about Venezuela is understandable. I think for someone looking in from the outside there is no possible explanation. For those of us on the inside, the answer is very obvious. The huge amount of money that flows but does not reach the population, the corruption, the use of state assets as if they belonged to the ruling party, and the interests of the government's international allies are some of the reasons. There are many internal and external forces interested to keep it that way.
And I agree that there is a limit that must not be crossed and that is violence. When the protest becomes violent, you have everything to lose. Of course, it is also difficult not to respond to violence with violence. In short, it is a delicate subject with many nuances.
Nigeria and Venezuela have so many similarities and a sad state of affairs for both countries. I know some of the reasons why as you outlined, but it still bewilders me Super Eli!
Think happy thoughts and enjoy your Saturday night!
We won the Scottish Cup this afternoon after extra time 2-0 So we did win something after our loss on Friday and the funeral yesterday of jimmy Bell the kitman, a stressful time for all and now I have a break until August
No Surrender :)
Oh, that's cool, Super Ed. I'm glad you won the Scottish Cup after that heart-stopping game last Wednesday and all the stress. No Surrender! Other victories will come.
Thank you! I'm staying at home today and all weekend, I have a rather nagging and persistent cough and many of Rodrigo's friends are with Covid. So better to be safe.
Have a good night! 🤗
oh nooooo, how do you feel apart from the cough?
Yes No Surrender it was awesome to see:)
Covid is still here, we still need to be wary of it. Well I walked to Raith Lake yesterday finally and to the wooded park today woohoo I am fighting fit!
Keep hydrated Super Eli:)
I feel fine, except for the cough. But Covid is still here too. And Rodrigo about to graduate is going to parties all the weekends, even worse he and his friends don't want to miss going to school even one day, because they only have 3 weeks left. So my impression is that even if they have cough or minor symptoms, they are going to school.
I'm glad you finally went for a walk at Raith lake, so a post with cool pictures should be on the way, I guess ;) 😄
the swans have built their nest it is so cool :)
Yes I will make one and post
Yes I guess they don't want to miss a day right enough, oh well you take care of yourself and how is Carlos is ahe all recovered now?
i have never experienced yet joining a protest... i wonder if my time will come that I'll be joining them on the streets..
Hi sis! Let's hope that time won't come when you need to get out on the street to protest. I do not wish on anyone what we have had to live through here. Including the lives that have been lost protesting, and in the end, there has been no real change.
aw...not that kind of protest sis.. and definitely even I also dont wish anyone to be in the street doing some protest but I do wonder if I'll be doing that too just in case
I'm sure that if the opportunity arises and you find yourself in need, you would do it, sis ;)
I hope you had a nice Sunday :)
Hi, if I got you correctly, you answer that it is justified to create inconveniences to the public while fighting for a cause. My question is based on your experience in 2014. You spoke about how it affected your economy( the outcome of that event) so my question is, was the aim achieved? If not then why would you carry on a cause that won't yield any result?
I believe there are many ways to fight for a cause and it is best to go with the option that doesn't affect the general public and most especially, will yield a positive result afterward.
I enjoyed reading your post though.
#Dreemport led me here
Hello! Yes, I justify it. I think it is not wrong to create inconveniences but not violence.
The protest didn't affect my economy, but when it became radical it affected our security. The economy and bad policies were the reason for the protest among other political and social problems, and since no change was achieved, the country ended up in a brutal hyperinflation.
In my opinion, some protests should often affect the public and attract attention which is one of the objectives of protesting. To gain followers or to make those who can make a change do it. But what I am referring to here is the limit that must exist when exercising the right to protest. And in my opinion, when violence is a factor it is time to rethink strategies and set limits.
Thanks for your comment and for stopping by.
Some activists are actually paid just to participate the protest... But I do commend them for being braved on the street
Yes, some people demonstrate only because they are paid, but I believe that's not the rule. In my experience here is that the big demonstrations that have taken place against the government and in protest against the country's problems, people go out of their own free will. And I agree that you have to be brave to go out on the streets to demonstrate.
I think knowing the limit is the difficult part. Most protest escalate violently because the citizens begin to push too hard and the authorities begin to retaliate. But, protest are necessary...
Yes, they are needed. And knowing how not to cross the limits and stop depends on whether or not a result is achieved sometimes. Of course, this is not always the case. Thank you for stopping by. Happy week!
Great response. I think often protests are used by those in power for "divide and conquer" purposes. This seems very clearly the case in Venezuela. It is part of the Hegelian dialectic that has ruled political philosophy for the last few centuries or longer.
In recent years in Venezuela, there has been a lot of "divide and conquer", not always but it has been a tactic often used. And sadly the opposition falls for it time and time again.
This is a beautiful reply to the question. The action of activist can be justified only if the know when to start and also to stop.
Dropped by from dreemport.
Exactly, have to know when to stop and not let things get out of control, although this is very difficult to achieve most of the time. Thank you for stopping by :)
Yeah it is really difficult.
It was my pleasure reading through.
Thank you 😄 Happy day!😊
Yeah, have a good day too.
😄😊🤗
Have a beautiful Wednesday walk @coquicoin 😊🤗🤗.