Thursday, December 4, 2014

Civil disobedience or social destruction?

Here is something that I don't understand. A protest mob moves through city streets disrupting vehicular traffic as they go along. The people in this mob do not follow pedestrian rules for crossing streets. They flow around cars & trucks in the road. A driver tries to edge their way through the group and suddenly the people in the mob are drawn to the vehicle. The mob people begin banging on the vehicle. This banging strikes panic in to the mind of the driver and the driver tries to flee from the mob in which they find themselves stuck. The vehicle lurches forward and more mob people surge around the vehicle. More fear. More panic. More lurching. More surging.

The vehicle hits someone and then more mob people swarm around the vehicle banging on it causing more panic in the driver who needs more than ever to get out of the unbearable panic situation. Somebody gets trapped under the vehicle and more people swarm the vehicle causing more panic in the driver. After people get struck by the vehicle, I understand the need to move towards the vehicle to help out people who are in harm's way.

What I don't  understand is the swarming around a vehicle when going against the flow of pedestrian traffic. Not letting the vehicle go on its way, but rather expecting it to bend to the will of the mob and stay put. The vehicle is bigger than one person in the mob, but the driver perceives, not a group of individuals, but a mob that is larger than their vehicle thus making them feel small and then when banging on their vehicle begins the driver begins to fear for their safety against the large mob.

How does antagonizing people in cars during a protest march do anything to promote the cause for which you are supporting?  Aren't those people really just bullies who are using the cause to further their own needs for needs for attention?  Has the entire social justice community embraced social destruction as the most palatable form of civil disobedience? If so, doesn't that really mean social justice is nothing more than a disguise for anarchy?

Reasons to watch Constantine

"Between thought and action comes temptation."
- John Constantine (Matt Ryan), episode 4, "A Feast of Friends"