The Tale of Two Themed Protests
Over the past month, there have been types of protests that have erupted in this country.
The first is the standard anti-war protests. Several 50 year olds, still in adolescence, want to relive the sixties, and go out and protest the liberation of Iraq. And by several, I mean hundreds and hundreds.
Yup. That's right. Just several hundred - except in San Fransicko. In Salt Lake City, for example, only 50 came out to protest. In New York, a heavily Democrat town, and one with a huge population, only about 200 protested. Go figure.
On the other hand, in the last 1 1/2 weeks. there have been huge protests over another issue - immigration. That is because a large percentage should be greeted by paddy wagons - and shipped back to Mexico. Because they, well, are breaking the law. That is because Congress has finally gotten serious and has considered deporting them (which fell out of conference committee). In Los Angeles along, there were 500,000 people. Chicago has had protests of 100,000 or more. And these in towns smaller than New York.
What is going on here? Several people do not want to go back to Mexico. They want to stay. They have a very important issue that affects them. In a big way. So they voice their support.
In a huge way.
On the other hand, while supposedly the majority of Americans oppose the war, it does not affect them. To many, Cindy Sheehan has shown herself to be the clown she truly is. The war is a Coke-Pepsi issue.
What I mean by that is that, while the majority of Americans like Pepsi, they will be nearly content if Coke is served to them instead. Only a small minority will be unhappy if given Coke. While there is a slight difference in taste, it is not much. And to Americans, it does not matter much as to whether we are in Iraq or not.
The people who form the anti-war lobby do not understand this. They still have visions of 1969, when there were huge protests. That was because the war issue did affect those who were protesting. Back then there was this thing called the draft - and there was a very real chance they could get drafted and sent to Vietnam. Protesting was the best way they thought they could prevent this. And when Nixon ended the draft, the protests shrunk a great deal. I think the anti-war lobby, the most ardent of the anti-Vietnam people in the 1960's, kinda forget this.
Thus, the war is not much of a big issue any more. In fact, wars are not something people are interested in protesting any more. What we are now witnessing is a shift in issues.
The issues of five years ago are largely going away. There is only a certain part of one's life on e can devote to issues - so some issues have to make way for others. Gun control is settled. Abortion will be around a while longer, but diminished. Social Security may not be as big a deal anymore - because the children of recent immigrants will be paying my bill (which, in a way, is not fair to them). Education will diminish as an issue (it is too complex). The environment is going to go away. Taxes will fade as an issue in the next couple of generations. Size of government will go away, too. And foreign wars will be much dimished as issues.
There will be new issues. The biggie is immigration. Health care may come back - farm laborers will want free health care - so we conservatives will still need to battle there. The minimum wage will be coming back big time. Given the Catholicism of the immigrants, I can see morality will come back in a big way in a generation.
Over the last two weeks, we have witnessed a the underpinnings of a changing America. It may not be an issue anymore of left vs right. Instead, we may have an issues landscape similar to the 1890's and the 1930's. While we can hold some of this back, we need to find ways to deal with it's worst abuses.
The first is the standard anti-war protests. Several 50 year olds, still in adolescence, want to relive the sixties, and go out and protest the liberation of Iraq. And by several, I mean hundreds and hundreds.
Yup. That's right. Just several hundred - except in San Fransicko. In Salt Lake City, for example, only 50 came out to protest. In New York, a heavily Democrat town, and one with a huge population, only about 200 protested. Go figure.
On the other hand, in the last 1 1/2 weeks. there have been huge protests over another issue - immigration. That is because a large percentage should be greeted by paddy wagons - and shipped back to Mexico. Because they, well, are breaking the law. That is because Congress has finally gotten serious and has considered deporting them (which fell out of conference committee). In Los Angeles along, there were 500,000 people. Chicago has had protests of 100,000 or more. And these in towns smaller than New York.
What is going on here? Several people do not want to go back to Mexico. They want to stay. They have a very important issue that affects them. In a big way. So they voice their support.
In a huge way.
On the other hand, while supposedly the majority of Americans oppose the war, it does not affect them. To many, Cindy Sheehan has shown herself to be the clown she truly is. The war is a Coke-Pepsi issue.
What I mean by that is that, while the majority of Americans like Pepsi, they will be nearly content if Coke is served to them instead. Only a small minority will be unhappy if given Coke. While there is a slight difference in taste, it is not much. And to Americans, it does not matter much as to whether we are in Iraq or not.
The people who form the anti-war lobby do not understand this. They still have visions of 1969, when there were huge protests. That was because the war issue did affect those who were protesting. Back then there was this thing called the draft - and there was a very real chance they could get drafted and sent to Vietnam. Protesting was the best way they thought they could prevent this. And when Nixon ended the draft, the protests shrunk a great deal. I think the anti-war lobby, the most ardent of the anti-Vietnam people in the 1960's, kinda forget this.
Thus, the war is not much of a big issue any more. In fact, wars are not something people are interested in protesting any more. What we are now witnessing is a shift in issues.
The issues of five years ago are largely going away. There is only a certain part of one's life on e can devote to issues - so some issues have to make way for others. Gun control is settled. Abortion will be around a while longer, but diminished. Social Security may not be as big a deal anymore - because the children of recent immigrants will be paying my bill (which, in a way, is not fair to them). Education will diminish as an issue (it is too complex). The environment is going to go away. Taxes will fade as an issue in the next couple of generations. Size of government will go away, too. And foreign wars will be much dimished as issues.
There will be new issues. The biggie is immigration. Health care may come back - farm laborers will want free health care - so we conservatives will still need to battle there. The minimum wage will be coming back big time. Given the Catholicism of the immigrants, I can see morality will come back in a big way in a generation.
Over the last two weeks, we have witnessed a the underpinnings of a changing America. It may not be an issue anymore of left vs right. Instead, we may have an issues landscape similar to the 1890's and the 1930's. While we can hold some of this back, we need to find ways to deal with it's worst abuses.
posted by EricMatthew at 10:00 PM
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