protest

nationality

American

occupation / innovator as

engineer

businessperson

is an ineffective vestige of the industrial age where workers could directly force employers to do things. To recoup its obstructionist role in the modern era, it needs to be brought directly into cyberspace via such legal-but-obstructing actions as does attacks (i.e. Crowdsourced logjamming online systems).

The protest is a vestige of the industrial age, where workers could directly force negotiations with employers by refusing to work, thus shutting down actual operations. What's ironic is that the current day protests arise (partially) from the very end of the industrial age. The operations of the powerful no longer flow through the open (e.g. Wall Street is not even the center of the financial world now that's how out of touch OWS is with their real opponents), they flow through fiber optic channels and banks. Ultimately, mass popular discontent won't be effective until it transitions into the modern era. To have any real effect, protests should really all be happening online, via 'crowdsourced' DDOS attacks on financial institutions and their infrastructure, with citizens 'occupying' or voluntarily choosing legal-but-obstructing actions almost entirely in cyberspace, so as to actually interfere with the operations of today's elite. Anonymous (as fragmented, trollish, and uncoordinated as it is), is far more clued in about how to effect real change than protesters on Zuccotti Park. Protesting in Wall Street does not interfere with the operations of the financial elite instead, they are just making trouble for the owners of the park, for the NYC police, and while the mayoralty of cities is somewhat in bed with the powerful, they are not the source or primary 'center' of the powers that OWS objects to. Thus, the real opponents of the protesters have no incentive to deal with them, negotiate, or change their behavior. Instead, the protesters end up grappling with the police for media sympathy, which is a red herring that diverts attention from any real worthwhile cause especially since, ironically, most of the police are demographically on the same side (i.e. 99%) as the protesters.

is ineffective because, in contrast to strikes, boycotts, or civil disobedience which interfere with operations, protests don't actually do anything, practically speaking, other than grab fleeting media attention.

Protests are ineffective because they are the successor to strikes, which originated during the Gilded Age. Strikes are an actual thing you can do to interfere with and block your opponent/enemy/oppressor's operations. You place them in a position where, if they do not negotiate or resolve conflict with you (hopefully with terms more favorable to you), they actually stand to lose something. The same goes for boycotts, and civil disobedience, in descending order of direct effectiveness. The problem with protests is that, practically speaking, they don't actually do anything. You are just a bunch of people complaining. Well, you could do that at home. You could be writing letters to your representative. You could be calling people. If the same number of people who would show up to a protest spent the same amount of time doing those things, they'd probably have more of an effect. Getting media attention for a cause isn't really a very effective way of causing change because the media is just looking for a sensational story, and once you've been 'going on' for awhile, it's not as interesting and novel any more.

is ineffective in its current form because it hasn't yet adjusted to the fact that the operations of the powerful no longer flow through physical spaces, but rather through fiber optic channels and banks.

The operations of the powerful no longer flow through the open (e.g. Wall Street is not even the center of the financial world now that's how out of touch OWS is with their real opponents), they flow through fiber optic channels and banks.

is no longer most effective as a site-specific activity because the operations of the powerful flow through the virtuality of the internet. Today it does little more than make trouble for local business owners and diverts the message into one of confrontation with the police.

Ultimately, mass popular discontent won't be effective until it transitions into the modern era. To have any real effect, protests should really all be happening online, via 'crowdsourced' DDOS attacks on financial institutions and their infrastructure, with citizens 'occupying' or voluntarily choosing legal-but-obstructing actions almost entirely in cyberspace, so as to actually interfere with the operations of today's elite. Anonymous (as fragmented, trollish, and uncoordinated as it is), is far more clued in about how to effect real change than protesters on Zuccotti Park. Protesting in Wall Street does not interfere with the operations of the financial elite instead, they are just making trouble for the owners of the park, for the NYC police, and while the mayoralty of cities is somewhat in bed with the powerful, they are not the source or primary 'center' of the powers that OWS objects to. Thus, the real opponents of the protesters have no incentive to deal with them, negotiate, or change their behavior. Instead, the protesters end up grappling with the police for media sympathy, which is a red herring that diverts attention from any real worthwhile cause especially since, ironically, most of the police are demographically on the same side (i.e. 99%) as the protesters.

Yishan Wong

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