The New York Times is calling the BLM/George Floyd protests against racism and police brutality possibly the largest scale protest movement in American history.
As of a few weeks ago, there had been protest gatherings and marches in over 2,000 cities and towns across America -- to say nothing of the international protests in other countries. Almost all of those gatherings and marches have been peaceful -- totally devoid of violence.
As it happens, there are actually people in this world naive enough to believe that a mass social and/or political movement can exist without it numbering among its ranks at least a few extremists!
These naive people seem to think human nature is such that you can gather more than a few hundred people together without there being some who want to burn the world down, or who delight in making unreasonable demands, or who love to make outrageous statements. But isn't it an unreasonable demand that a mass social and/or political movement number among its members only rational people?
What think you? Is the expectation that you can have a mass movement without any irrational behavior realistic?
If so, point to the mass movement that achieved that lofty and noble goal. That is, that had no extremists among it.
As of a few weeks ago, there had been protest gatherings and marches in over 2,000 cities and towns across America -- to say nothing of the international protests in other countries. Almost all of those gatherings and marches have been peaceful -- totally devoid of violence.
By the way, one of those protest marches even went by cottage. The first time any protest march has passed through my quiet neighborhood. Five hundred or so marchers. Very loud chanting, but nothing threatening or intimidating -- the marchers were in good spirits. And absolutely no violence.
As it happens, there are actually people in this world naive enough to believe that a mass social and/or political movement can exist without it numbering among its ranks at least a few extremists!
These naive people seem to think human nature is such that you can gather more than a few hundred people together without there being some who want to burn the world down, or who delight in making unreasonable demands, or who love to make outrageous statements. But isn't it an unreasonable demand that a mass social and/or political movement number among its members only rational people?
What think you? Is the expectation that you can have a mass movement without any irrational behavior realistic?
If so, point to the mass movement that achieved that lofty and noble goal. That is, that had no extremists among it.