Protest: How Not To

It has not been a good week for protesting here in the land of the long white cloud.
The Save Manners Mall campaign was snapped trying to hire protesters to ensure good numbers for its next march.
I believe it’s a sign of innocence, not conniving. The campaign’s organizer has not impressed me with her insight or forethought. I don’t support the campaign at all – it opposes the redirection of a crucial bus route through a pedestrianized street, and while I agree that public and pedestrian space should be conserved, I place a higher priority on a functioning public transport system (both for the environmental impacts, and out of recognition that the health of a pedestrian city is dependent on the functioning of its public transport system.) Still, I was happy for the campaign to push its points, the pressure they exerted would hopefully ensure city councilors followed through on their promises to make up the loss of pedestrian space elsewhere in the neighbourhood.
Now, this – sheer foolishness that has surely killed this campaign stone dead. It was rightly excoriated by Stephen Price at Media Law Journal, who identifies the greatest damage as being to the credibility of popular protest itself.
But up the country in Auckland, another protest showed that perhaps there isn’t that much credibility to damage, as the “March for democracy” (an attempt to force the govt. to Listen To The People i.e. take those badly-worded referenda and make them into some sort of binding law goddammit) pulled a fraction of the expected numbers, and was even hijacked by a bunch of people taking the proverbial.
Russell Brown shakes his head sadly at some of the idiocy on display, while Editing the Herald exults in the madness.
It’s all a bit wild and woolly, in other words, and I remain unconvinced about the merits of popular demonstration as a tool of political influence. Of course, those who read the Johann Hari article on reformed jihadists in the Friday Linky will see that protest can achieve other ends; and I wouldn’t support the 350 movement and actions if I didn’t think protest was entirely purposeless.
Still, not the best day for citizen action.