Meet Me Out In The Street. Wear Pants.
By Mitch Berg
Last spring, when I appeared on MPR’s “In The Loop” on a panel discussion, Jeff Horwich asked me (and I’m paraphrasing closely) why conservatives aren’t out there on the street, protesting.
I stammered and yawped my way through the the answer, live on the air (it’s much easier being a host than a guest!). As I noted later, I wished I’d said…:
“Jeff, I think the difference is that conservatism isn’t fundamentally about emotions, or their expression.
Liberalism – or the left, anyway – is really a co-option (good or cynical, or a little of both, really) of a lot of things most of us are taught as kids; share with people, be nice, don’t fight, you’ll shoot your eye out with that gun. That kind of thing. Now, it adds some grownup things, like a legal imperative and, in extreme cases, a certain pseudo-religious ardor – but at the end of the day liberalism is just an institutionalized version of things we all learned in kindergarten.
Conservatism is not about emotions, usually; it’s something that doesn’t come easily to a lot of people, since it’s something you have to think hard about, and in some ways on the surface it seems to fly in the face of things we’re brought up to believe. You share, or be nice, or quit fighting, not because mommy or the government tell you to, but because it’s the right thing to do. And you realize that there’s complexity to all these things; sharing in the form of charity is good, while welfare has and causes serious problems. Fighting is bad, but sometimes it’s necessary to defend yourself, your family, and your country. That kind of thing.
So if you consider that becoming a real conservative is largely a solitary, intellectual journey rather than an emotional wave one gets swept up in, it makes a lot more sense that we’re not out there waving signs and threatening to, say, bum-rush Erica’s convention, to pick a random example.
Now, I was oversimplifying, of course; emotion is a huge, and justifiable, part of the pro-life movement. And the left’s war of bigotry against the law-abiding gun owner certainly left many a rigorously law-abiding citizen in a fit of pique or two.
But either way, with few exceptions, conservative movements are generally not about standing about in the street and waving signs – and certainly not about standing around hoping to get “arrested” and slapped with what in the (liberal) protester-friendly Twin Cities generally involves the most token possible charge and released instantly.
And I have no desire whatsoever to change that!
But if there’s one thing “protests” are good for, it’s getting outdoors, meeting people, and having a good time.
Now, on Saturday the 15th, the Anarkids are going to be throwing a “tune-up” march in downtown Saint Paul, in the environs of the Capitol and the X – basically the area that’s going to see most of the action next year.
And it’d be fun to get some of the Good Guys and Gals out there. To “show the flag”, literally and figuratively.
Of course, being a group of conservatives, we have to have an operating philosophy; I suggest “WWPJOD” (“What would P.J. O’Rourke Do?”)
Over this next week, a group of us at True North will be organizing a counterprotest; a big, fun, loud, fun, raucus, fun, “tune-down” for the passersby.
We’d love to see you there.
Details forthcoming.
It may be out of character – but it’ll be fun.
September 4th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Me, I don’t protest because I don’t feel right standing outside with a sign telling someone what a dumbass I think they are. It’s one thing to do that on a blog, another out in public.
But, I am all for joining your team and displaying my opinion with similiar minded folks. One thing the left hates is to see someone on the other side doing exactly what they do. That’s why they limit the first amendment rights for Pro-Life activists.
Unfortunately, like many conservatives, I volunteer my time to non-profits and am tied up on the 15th. But will be joining you for later events.
September 4th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Depends on the time for me. But I am down with chanting slogans and such.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Can we bring our OWN signs, or will all printed material be provided by True North?
September 4th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Me, I don’t protest because I don’t feel right standing outside with a sign telling someone what a dumbass I think they are.
I have to agree with Chuck but I would just add that if you live in a country where you have the freedom to legally protest in public, then chances are that you live in a country where you have far more effective ways of persuading your fellow citizens to go along with whatever it is that you’re proposing or oppose whatever it is that you’re opposing. Chances are you’ll have far more effect doing something like contacting your elected representative, working on a political campaign, calling into a talk show, writing a letter to the editor (or on your favorite blog), etc. then you would holding up a sign and chanting in the street which is just as likely as not to turn people against whatever it is that you’re there for.
Protests don’t happen because they’re an effective means of persuasion– they happen because it’s a cathartic release for the protester. They don’t do it because they work, they do it because they “feel good.”
September 4th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I do counterprotesting because it belittles my enemies!
(Yes I also feel the best thing in life is to drive my enemies before me and to hear the lamentations of their women[or womyn{this last is only so I can do this}])
September 4th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Does protesting, or counterprotesting, really do any good?
Of course not!
But it gets you in the same place with some of your fellow travellers at the same time, doing the same thing. It does wonders for your (plural and singular) morale. And it’s fun, if you don’t take it (or your opponents) too seriously.
September 4th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
“But it gets you in the same place with some of your fellow travellers at the same time, doing the same thing. ”
So does a party at the Mansion, and you get to consume scotch and cigars. A much more productive use of time, IMO.
September 4th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
What would PJ O’Rourke do…
Drink. Maybe smoke a cigar. Surely he’d be a smart-ass.
Hmm, this sounds like fun.
September 4th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
We can enjoy it because we are evil and our opponents are stupid!
(recalling the old saw that conservatives think liberals are stupid while liberals think conservatives are evil- had to state this for our literal minded lefty lurkers)
September 5th, 2007 at 3:30 am
Conservatives Are From Mars, Liberals Are From Venus…
Doh! Now I’m doing it. Using soft, fluffy euphemisms to avoid being direct (must … resist … feminist … society). Here’s the blunt-end of what I am saying: Conservatives Are Manly Men, Liberals Are Women. Mitch got me going on this after he deno…
September 5th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Conservatives from Idaho want Uranus.