Chapter 10 in Meyer’s book leaves in the hearts and minds of the readers, this idea of the continuation of protest. We see in this chapter his opinion on protests, mainly his belief in the power of protest and its vital place in our political society. I think he sends a strong message to his listeners about the importance of their role in politics. What I took mainly from this chapter was that the citizen should always be active. They should not fear rejection or change; rather they should desire to voice their opinions and act upon them in protest. The great thing about our nation is that it is a democracy. We declared that we should be given the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Later, we turned these dreams into policies of justice and freedom in our bill of rights. Meyer brings to our attention this fact because he believes it has been somewhat lost. He suggests that some citizens have begun passive or cynical about politics and thus retreat to their private lives. But we are blessed with the gift of free speech yet how can we expect our voice to be heard without protests.
In three famous examples, with recurring themes about voting rights he demonstrates the change created by our historical involvement in social movements, as well as one example from the present. This idea that American citizens including soldiers, African-Americans, and women were at one point in time denied the right to vote, is astonishing for any present day American to even fathom. We are lucky to have both the freedom to voice our opinion in protests and elections. Not every person around the world has this right. So use it! Exercise your rights. Instead of complaining about the government, be an active citizen. A great example, Meyer gives us are the protests against George W. Bush’s resurrection. These protests, like OWS, and the civil right movements give us hope for the future, as long as citizens with “collective standings” as Meyer defines it, continue to come together and fight for these common grievances, our country can rebuild itself.
As I have reflected above upon this chapter, I have been able to look at my own role in politics or lack their of. I have a lot of work to do in being more of an active and informed citizen. I have realized through this book and class the importance of protest. Although, I may not believe in every trivial issue, I do believe in the broader theory behind voicing these issues. Protests keep us all in check. They remind us of how privileged we are to live in the land of the free and they bring justice. My first step to improve my own civic responsibility is to vote.
1) Do you think eventually the OWS protests will create change? Or do you think that our politics are so corrupted that their efforts will go unanswered?
2) What steps can you take to be a better citizen? How can you avoid becoming ignorant and inactive? What are some of your own grievances towards American government? Or more specifically, the Richmond government and community? What injustices do you see?
3) Do you think Meyer is too idealistic and simplistic to say that creating change is as easy as being a courageous citizen who accepts political responsibilities by protesting with others?
Eliza McLean
To answer your third question, I appreciate Meyer’s optimism in the last chapter, but I think he throws a lot of his major points to the wind by telling us that those “brave enough to believe otherwise make history.” He has already told us in Chapter 5 that the media and ways of getting political messages of protest out are governed by advertising and money. And while framed positively, he admits in Chapter 9 that those who benefit the most from protest are the poor (which is because those who already control the system are those with money and power). Meyer has showed me that political protest is the little guy’s way of getting their voice heard outside of the ballot box, but I think these are more the exception than the rule and Meyer oversimplifies that in his sweeping conclusion.
– Amanda Lineberry
Thanks for your reply! As a person who is optimistic and idealistic about mankind as well as the American democratic system, I have learned a lot throughout my studies in Jepson that change is a long and hard process in today’s politics. No matter what protests occur, sometimes the less fortunate in society just can’t catch a break. As much as some large-scale social movements have been successful, not all get the attention that they deserve. There are still so many injustices in America today and I personally think that the only way to truly change them is by changing our mindsets. We need to focus more on morality and striving to seek justice because it would help our neighbors. We can’t just be apart of politics because we want to win or just so the opposing party can’t win. Politics has become so angry these days and there is a lack of respect and pure compromise among one another. Honest deliberation has been lost and we have forgotten about the issues at hand. Now all we care about is the leader of a specific party or what side they are on. So as much as I have become fed up with politics in America, I do know that I can’t change anything without protest, so what is there to lose. It is better to do something than nothing at all.
I disagree that Meyer makes the claim that it’s easy for citizens to stand up and protest with others. I don’ t think that Meyer ends with sweeping optimism, but rather frames his conclusion by reiterating that a ton of factors and tactics go into changing politics and policy. In the end, Meyer closes with three take away messages for the reader. One, for a person who is interested about social justice issues and cares about movements, it is not enough to sit back and want things to change. As an American in a democracy, he reminds us that “we all bear some responsibility for the policies our government peruses.” Second, Meyer encourages the reader to find the “dense networks of people” that cares about the same issue you do. He reminds us that passionate activists exist in all cities, you have to seek them out. Lastly, after coming full circle and re-iterating that social change is a slow, tedious process, in the end, Meyer tries to write an open-ended concluding paragraph that leaves room for some optimism.
Overall, my perspective about social movements has changed since reading this book. I now see political protest and activism as one of the only feasible outlets for the “little guy to get his voice heard outside of the ballot box,” and I don’t believe that the small efforts in a movement are the exception rather than the rule. I used to shake my head at the suggestion to “stand up and get involved,” but now I believe that putting in the groundwork and menial tasks in a movement are actions that are necessary and contribute to the larger, seemingly more meaningful cause.
Thanks for your reply! I can say I agree with you that I have learned a lot about social movements from reading this book. At times he can get too detailed or caught up in the defining characteristics, but the important thing is that he wrote this book because he believes in protests and believes that we need to continue to be active citizens. I have seen from numerous examples the positive consequences of a successful protest. The U.S. is known globally as the land where ones dreams can come true. This is because of our participatory democracy and our faith in the ideals of freedom of speech, and religion, and movement, etc. But I agree that over the past decades we have been exercising this freedom even more and we should continue these efforts. Although at times we may not see instant gratification but our efforts are not unnoticed. Politicians see them, media see them, but most importantly the bystanders see them. Those people who have become cynics and no longer go out to the polls will see these American citizens fighting for something they believe in, something bigger than them that will solve injustices for a broader sphere of Americans.
I don’t think that Meyer closes his book with an overly optimistic view. I think he’s trying to show his readers that being interested and involved with activism for a cause is not futile. He is not trying to say that social change is easy or quick; he is reiterating the point that change times time and that it requires dedication. Those few who were “brave enough to believe otherwise [and] make history” responded to a call to action, were dedicated to actually do something, and believed that their actions could result in a change even when a majority did not believe that things could ever change. To me, Meyer is highlighting the optimism necessary for continued activist actions overtime rather than simplifying the politics of protest and of social movements at large.
Really liked the blog.
Do you think Meyer is too idealistic and simplistic to say that creating change is as easy as being a courageous citizen who accepts political responsibilities by protesting with others?
To answer this question, I do not think that Meyer is being too idealistic in his conclusion of the book for the fact that he is trying to challenge our level of passion as citizens and the duties that come with being a citizen. I believe that all citizens should be challenged, after all that is what provokes someone like Ella Baker or Martin Luther King Jr. to take action and protest for what they believe is right. However, i believe that the way Meyer ended the chapter may have been a little too simplistic because any person can be challenged to take a stand, but that does not mean that person will rise to the occasion. It takes a special kind of person with strong character and strong moral beliefs to be a successful activist
To answer your first question “Do you think eventually the OWS protests will create change? Or do you think that our politics are so corrupted that their efforts will go unanswered?” I would first say that OWS protests ought not expect to be answered if they do not formulate a clear agenda. Yes, they have an obvious mission, but no, they have no realistic goals or ways by which to achieve their desired changes. If they remain unanswered, it is not a matter of our politics being corrupted, but rather a result of poor preparation and poor planning by OWS protesters. As we saw in chapter 9, policy takes a long time to change, and it often moves in increments. If this movement does not clarify what policies or systems they are in opposition to (rather than expressing anger towards a preferred group as a whole), then they cannot expect anyone to listen.
I do in fact think that Myers is being too simplistic when he said that creating change is as easy as being a courageous citizen who accepts political responsibilities by protesting with others. In fact, I think that he is contradicting his entire book my making such a bold claim. One of the key points that I took out of this book is that it is not easy to bring about social change. In class we have talked about how in order for a social movement to even exist there must be a perfect storm of circumstances. Furthermore, once the movement comes to fruition change does not necessarily come quickly. I am not denying the importance of exercising our freedom and right to protest, but rather I am saying that it does not denote that change will occur. As a result, i think Myers is being overly optimistic with his sweeping claim at the end of the book.
I agree completely with Ethan. Also, like you Eliza, I am optimistic and idealistic about the prospects for social change. I am even enthusiastic about being engaged in social movements. Thus, I appreciate Meyer’s conclusion as a sales pitch to his readers to get involved in protest and believe that they can make change. As his conclusion for his whole book, however, I think it fails to truly capture the essence of politics of protest as Meyer framed them for us. I think his conclusion would be more powerful if he at least more holistically acknowledged the challenges posed to attempted social movements by institutions of power and the media. In my opinion, these challenges are a source of fuel for protest in and of themselves. The biggest message that I took from Meyer’s book was that protest is harder than it should be in a democracy like we have. Meyer’s book is helpful in that it explains the nature of protest so that we can more effectively engage in it, and we should use these skills to demand a more effective process of participatory democracy where citizens’ voices are not stifled by power, money, and media that caters to big business. I just wish Meyer’s conclusion had addressed these issues alongside his little pep talk in his conclusion.
– Amanda Lineberry
Do you think eventually the OWS protests will create change? Or do you think that our politics are so corrupted that their efforts will go unanswered?
To answer your first question, I think that in some ways, the OWS movement has already created change. Maybe not in terms of political policy quite yet but OWS definitely drew attention to the economic issues the nation is facing and more importantly, the amount of people that are struggling under those conditions. The occupy movement is one of the most widespread, nationally covered social movements this country has seen in awhile and I think that it was a necessary step in the direction away from apathy.
2) What steps can you take to be a better citizen? How can you avoid becoming ignorant and inactive? What are some of your own grievances towards American government? Or more specifically, the Richmond government and community? What injustices do you see?
In terms of what we personally can do to be better citizens I think that just taking steps to remain conscious of national issues and discussing them is most important. Going beyond that, apathy is one of the biggest factors that holds us back from participating in social movements and political issues. The realization that if people come together to make their voices heard, real change can take place is key in becoming an active citizen.
I agree with many of the things that you said in your blog post (and I’m going to respond to the post rather than the questions at the end). I think that active citizenship is something that has been talked about for a long time, but is a very hard thing to sustain. Most people are not informed enough about many issues to even form an opinion, let alone do something about it. I agree that many people have become complacent and cynical about politics in particular, and I am probably one of those people. It is easy to see yourself as not really even having any power for chance, since politicians probably won’t even listen and you only have one vote in millions. This is where social movements come in, I think. They draw people’s attention to important issues, and when thousands of voices band together, it sounds much louder than just one. That is why I agree with you when you said, “we are blessed with the gift of free speech, yet how can we expect our voice to be heard without protests.” If you see something in society that you feel should be changed, I think it is a shame not to exercise our rights, as Eliza said.
I strongly agree with your post here Kristin. I guess it is mostly because i find myself in a similar position feeling way uninformed and on top of this, also a bit cynical. The two put together are just like a recipe for non-participation in any movements. I then ask the question of how can citizens become more informed about issues if there is so much going on nowadays in people’s everyday lives. I would agree with you by saying that it is often the responsibility of social movements to bring these issues to fruition, because otherwise the major of these issues will be “swept under the rug” and under the noses of the general public.
This is kind of why I like OWS because I see it as a great success if we are talking about how it has heightened public awareness of economic inequality. Especially today, I would say that people are so entrenched in their everyday lives that living in this kind of ironically oppressive system goes without notice. Sometimes people don’t even know what the issues are when they are actually living it. This issue can easily be attributed to the great disparities in education which inhibit teachers to discuss such issues. Because of this, the responsibility of teaching Americans what is really happening ends up falling to social movements.
Also, I would agree with Amanda when she stated “The biggest message that I took from Meyer’s book was that protest is harder than it should be in a democracy like we have.” This makes me think that protest is hard and rather than make the effort, Americans are falling short of their civic responsibilities. Doesn’t this call for a complete re-arrangement of our “democracy” then? Maybe this is exactly what OWS is aiming for in the long run? Getting the word out there is definitely a start, because just like movements, changing the whole system will take a loooong time, but in the end, it will probably be worth it. But then again, nobody will ever be happy with whatever decision is made. Hmm..im starting to see a cycle. Maybe social movements will exist forever no matter what.
I agree with most of what was said your post, however, like Kristen, I feel that many of us citizens have become disenchanted with the system and feel that they are not represented fairly or justly. OR, they blame their peers for not voting “correctly”. But, I feel also that because our generation feels the need to constantly be “revolutionary” even in our daily lives, (marketing, education, technology, music, etc), a courageous citizen would be lost in WHAT EXACTLY to protest and WHICH SPECIFIC group to protest with? Even in regards with OWS, I feel that there are too many diverse ideals in the movement and no leadership to accomplish anything. Furthermore, once leadership was established, I feel that there is no way that the entire movement could be satisfied with that “elected” leader as the occupants all have varying degrees of motivation and opinions, and then the movement will lose momentum and die out.