Using disruptive protests to push for action
mardi 11 juillet 2023 à 01:46Academis that study social change say that movements with high public support can use disruptive protests effectively to push for action.
Site original : Richard Stallman's Political Notes
Academis that study social change say that movements with high public support can use disruptive protests effectively to push for action.
An international conference about reducing greenhouse emissions from shipping did not agree on any concrete plan to do that — only a long-term target.
Long-term targets don't achieve anything unless followed by concrete short-term plans.
Migrant-smugglers typically recruit, or conscript, one of the migrants to run and direct the boat — so that the real smugglers can be far away if the boat is captured. After one boat fell apart and sank, its conscript faces charges for the death of some refugees.
The prosecutor said straight out that the fact the smugglers forced the conscript to do this, and beat him when he tried to refuse, was no excuse. This is an unusual form of a frequent prosecutor's excuse for treating someone as guilty who is manifestly innocent. The more usual form is "joint and several liability", where you can be convicted of murder that someone else committed.
Australia's previous government, plutocratist and right-wing to the core, scapegoated the poor and accused welfare recipients of nonexistent fraud. It imposed fake debts on destitute people, and it intimidated those who reported the wrongs.
A government inquiry recommends prosecution of some ministers. But we also must denounce the scapegoating of the poor.
Josh Appignanesi writes about how he learned that joining in the climate defense battle does not require becoming a different person. Nor does it require dedicating every minute of your waking life to the cause.
It's the same with fighting for software freedom. Taking steps towards less dependence on unjust computing will enable you to help.
The sad thing is when climate defense activities are set up to require people to run nonfree software. Many of their web sites do that. They shouldn't demand we choose between one of these good causes and the other — it is agratuitous own goal.