Don't Just Paint a Sign
It is Friday, I should be excited about the weekend, but I am not. I have three papers to finish before next week, and I haven't begun to study for exams. I am going to fail out my last semester of law school. Yesterday at lunch I was discussing classes I didn't take with some friends, and I said I never took Domestic Relations. A certain person that I will not mention by name has been begging me to take that class, but no, I refused. Anyway this buddy of mine said I didn't need the class, just never get divorced. I said, "well, I might just never get married!"
I have to finish my writing requirement this weekend. Everyone has to do a "writing requirement" in order to graduate. This consists of diving off into some legal topic and discussing in a set number of pages. My topic is "whether or not boycotting the Olympics because of China's religious oppression, will actually change things?" I argue that it will not actually change anything. My solution is that all the groups, that are calling for protests and boycotts, ban together and enforce a private trade embargo on all religious material made in China. I am not sure if I believe that my solution will work, but you have to have a solution. You can inquire further with me personally for any details on this subject. I in no way would like to start a debate on this blog, and I "just had to have a topic people".
The reason that i am telling you all of this is to say that I don't really get protesters. I used to work close to the World Bank, and there were protesters every single day. They protested everything, if you can think of it they protested it. I also worked on Capitol Hill for a little while, and there are many protesters there as well. Again, if you can think of it they protested it. The funny thing to me is that 99% of the people who work around these areas, do not pay attention to these people. I am so sorry if I am offending you and you have spent your life protesting, I am just giving you my perspective. Honestly though, the only group that garnered a lot of discussion was the group that protested circumcision.
One of my favorite past times in D.C. is heckling protesters. If you ever ask them a lot of questions about what they are protesting, a lot of them can't answer. In fact one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed was watching this older man, very nicely dressed business man, heckle this protester. He asked him about twenty questions, and the protester couldn't really answer any of them. Then the man informed the kid that he was on his side and even worked for the organization the kid was a proponent of. I am not sure the kid was smart enough to realize he looked dumb, but I thought it was great.
I just think it is really easy to paint signs and stand on the side of the road. It is much harder to organize and actually try and change things. Why is that? Why is it that most of us would rather donate our money to organizations rather than our time? I am guilty of this at times. People will organize work groups and volunteer programs, but most people would rather send their money than actually do something about it. I challenge all of you to give your time, not just your money. Actually try and change things, not just lip service. I will be the first to tell you, its much harder than you think. But if we all try and do one thing at a time, maybe we can affect someone for the better.
I have to finish my writing requirement this weekend. Everyone has to do a "writing requirement" in order to graduate. This consists of diving off into some legal topic and discussing in a set number of pages. My topic is "whether or not boycotting the Olympics because of China's religious oppression, will actually change things?" I argue that it will not actually change anything. My solution is that all the groups, that are calling for protests and boycotts, ban together and enforce a private trade embargo on all religious material made in China. I am not sure if I believe that my solution will work, but you have to have a solution. You can inquire further with me personally for any details on this subject. I in no way would like to start a debate on this blog, and I "just had to have a topic people".
The reason that i am telling you all of this is to say that I don't really get protesters. I used to work close to the World Bank, and there were protesters every single day. They protested everything, if you can think of it they protested it. I also worked on Capitol Hill for a little while, and there are many protesters there as well. Again, if you can think of it they protested it. The funny thing to me is that 99% of the people who work around these areas, do not pay attention to these people. I am so sorry if I am offending you and you have spent your life protesting, I am just giving you my perspective. Honestly though, the only group that garnered a lot of discussion was the group that protested circumcision.
One of my favorite past times in D.C. is heckling protesters. If you ever ask them a lot of questions about what they are protesting, a lot of them can't answer. In fact one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed was watching this older man, very nicely dressed business man, heckle this protester. He asked him about twenty questions, and the protester couldn't really answer any of them. Then the man informed the kid that he was on his side and even worked for the organization the kid was a proponent of. I am not sure the kid was smart enough to realize he looked dumb, but I thought it was great.
I just think it is really easy to paint signs and stand on the side of the road. It is much harder to organize and actually try and change things. Why is that? Why is it that most of us would rather donate our money to organizations rather than our time? I am guilty of this at times. People will organize work groups and volunteer programs, but most people would rather send their money than actually do something about it. I challenge all of you to give your time, not just your money. Actually try and change things, not just lip service. I will be the first to tell you, its much harder than you think. But if we all try and do one thing at a time, maybe we can affect someone for the better.
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