Text 11986, 62 rader
Skriven 2007-02-11 01:45:41 av Angelika Tobisch (15427.babylon5)
  Kommentar till text 11468 av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (14907.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: My Presidential Pick for 2006
=========================================
Carl schrieb:

>>> I've said in the past I don't see the point to protest marches either.
>>
>> I do. I see it every time I cross the line telling me that this is where
>> the Berlin Wall used to be.
> 
> You see the primary reason the wall came down as being protest marchers? 
> Interesting.  Since you're obviously closer to the issue I'll take that into 
> account.

First off, I was only 8 when the wall came down, so while I certainly
did see things unfolding I didn't understand most of it until much later.

The protest marches I'm talking about aren't aimed at the public but at
the authorities. They're not meant to sway public opinion but to express
it.

I believe that protest marches like that are a no-win situation for any
non-democratic government. If there are enough protesters and if they
are persistent, sooner or later there has to be a reaction of some kind.
So either at least some of the demands of the protesters are fulfilled
or the protests are quelled violently. While the latter may be
considered a demonstration of force, most people will probably recognize
it as the sign of weakness it is. Having to resort to violence
undermines the government's authority, effectively taints any claims of
doing what's best for the people and thereby affects people's perception
for years if not decades to come.

In this particular case, the events at Tiananmen Square and the
supportive declarations issued by the government of the GDR had a
considerable effect on the overall sentiment in the population. For some
reason not totally clear, no such measures were taken when the first
real protest marches in the GDR started, the result being a massive
increase in participants in the weeks to follow (first 70,000, then
120,000, then 320,000 in Leipzig, a city with a little more than 500,000
inhabitants).

The marches had also spread to other cities by then and, most probably
in an attempt to calm down the situation but also at least in part by
accident, the government eventually relented and opened the borders.
However, the next Monday saw the protesters returning to the streets
demanding Germany's reunification. While my mom still comments this as
"that's when I thought they were going mad", it indicated to everyone -
be it Krenz, Kohl, Gorbachev, Thatcher or Bush - that this wasn't just
about money, traveling or visiting your relatives. The momentum gained
gave people like Kohl and Genscher the chance to argue their case and do
what they did.

So, no, I don't think for a minute the Wall came down only because of
the protests, but I firmly believe they had a big impact on how events
unfolded.

History lesson over. Sorry.

In a democracy I see protest marches as a way of unmistakably announcing
"This is important enough for me to get off my ass and on the street, so
you better believe I'll remember your stand on it at the next elections."

Angelika
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