Why have we, the citizens of America, sunken to the need to organize protests of

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   Don Bobbittposted 12 years ago

   Why have we, the citizens of America, sunken to the need to organize protests of our government?
   
   What has happened to our government when they are so distanced from what we, THE PEOPLE, must organize protests and demonstrate outside their doors around the country in an attempt to get them to listen to us?
   
   

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   Amy Bechererposted 12 years ago

   Protests against the government are well deserved.  The backbiting, underhanded sabotage pitting one party against the other does not solve the disasterous economy the American people are now struggling in.  I was laid off after 13-years with excellent work performance at a small, family-owned, commercial electrical contractor when the construction industry was impacted by the economic downturn. The company implemented voluntary workshare in an attempt to save everyone's job, to no avail. Now, two-years later, at an age just shy of early retirement, I remain unemployed and without an income.  After working all my adult life, I now fall through the cracks without a safety net.  I am on my own now, without income, health insurance and the uncertainty of keeping a roof over my head.
   
   From day to day, the reports vacillate, one day stating the economy is slowly improving, to seeing a newspaper article later the same day that advises relocating for work, as St. Louis is lagging behind in job growth. Just recently, a correction was published in the paper regarding the numbers of newly employed workers, reducing the number from 1,900 gains to a corrected figure showing 3,600 losses. Now, with the closing of the Charter Schools, many teachers are unemployed. The unemployment numbers are a dishonest picture of the truth, directed by the upcoming election.  Those that have been kicked to the curb see firsthand the effects of lies, half-truths at best and political tactics that only serve government.  The complete disconnect between elected officials, the candidates, and the American people has led a call for organized protests in order to have a voice. Without trust in government, there is anarchy.  We see it across the globe today.  The people are mad as hell and they're not gonna take it anymore.   When our leaders fail to take the reins, the people, in order to survive, will take control of their own lives.

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      Amy Bechererposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you kindly, Don.

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   handymanbillposted 12 years ago

   I don't think that demonstrations are anything new in this country. They have been going on for years. that is part of our country is the freedom of free speech. i am happy that we have the right to demonstrate. The earliest demonstrating that I remember is about Vietnam. Kent State with the National Guard. Martin Luther King
   They Listen, sooner or later they listen.

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   crazyhorsesghostposted 12 years ago

   Some people are waking up to what is really going on in America. America is slowly but surely circling the drain. The Republicans, Democrats and the Tea Party Darlings continue with their spin games and get everyone's mind off the important issues.
   
   A birth certificate, bullying at schools many years ago or such issues are not important. They are put out there to keep you from asking about important issues that should be on the minds of every American.
   
   Like that in the next 25 years or so we are going to have serious issues with our roads, bridges and other infrastructure. We have a serious problem here and no one is talking about it. But they will when all the bridges and roads are beyond use.
   
   One in five Americans go to bed hungry. And the fastest growing portion of this is women and children. And I see no politician yelling about this.
   
   Fifteen thousand or more people live homeless on the streets of New Orleans. Another 300,000 people have no home to come home to. All these years after the hurricane and guess what it's hurricane season once again.
   
   We continue to lock people up for marijuana when we should make it legal and tax it heavily to pay for say our roads and bridges. Prohibition never worked with alcohol and it never will with pot. I don't smoke it but its stupid to keep up the war against it we can never win. Tax it and use the money to fix our roads and bridges.
   
   NAFTA was passed by both fine parties and it has turned many cities in America's south into ghost towns. The steel industry was also sent overseas. Look at Detroit and Gary Indiana.
   
   Its a lot later than you think my fellow Americans. We need to stand up and demand America back and that the American Dream be restored. We also need to throw all our current politicians out of office and we also need term limits and a ban on lobbyists. With those things we would have a new America. And quite possibly restore the American dream.

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   Attikosposted 12 years ago

   The United States government broke through its constitutional boundaries long before any of us was born. Now, its accumulation of authority, wealth and power is progressing at an incredible pace. The only thing still restraining it is politics. There are no more legal limits on its ability to act in whatever manner it chooses. Holder even argues now that the assassination of Americans is entirely correct when done by the executive branch alone, on its own initiative and with secret process contained exclusively within itself, with no congressional authority or judicial oversight. That, mes amis, is totalitarianism.
   
   Of course the American people are protesting this state of affairs. We are accustomed to believing that we live in a free country. We no longer do. Most don't understand the depth of the problem, but they do instinctively know that the only way they have to register opposition to what has been done to them by what is supposed to be their own government is to take to the streets.

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   Craig Suitsposted 12 years ago

   I'm 70 now and I can tell you there isn't anything new about organized protests. There may be more these days and the media sure helps to make it look that way. We also have a lot more of a population, and there are changing times to consider, and there will always be groups of people that don't know how to voice thier opinion any other way.
   Protest are a good thing provided they don't become violent.
   Martin Luther King Jr. was a great man indeed. Most of his life was spent out in the streets protesting peacefully. if it were not for him and scores of other die-hard protesters, our country would probably still be segregated. As a direct result of all their collective efforts, we now have a black president in the White House.
   
   Violent protesters are criminals. Make no likeness between the two.

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      Curiadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Craig, You don't have to like my comments. They are my opinion like yours and have as much value. By the way, I am not the least bit "defeatist". You simply do not understand what I said.

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   Curiadposted 12 years ago

   I can agree with Amy, Bill and Crazyhorse on this. The country is already down the drain and I see in the near future a total anarchy. The people in the streets will be all for survival and no one of any status can change that. There will be civil "war" once again.

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      Craig Suitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Don't ask me why because I won't bother answering you but statements like that really piss me off. If you don't like it here move, Don't help to propagate our great countries hard times with defeatest statements that are sure to influence our young.

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   Fatigmonposted 12 years ago

   America has always had protests and demonstrations, some with very tragic consequences.  However, today there is a difference.  A lot of what has happened since WWII, and later, into the 60's has created a different set of circumstances.  I don't think it is any one set in stone answer, but an accumulation of incremental theft of constitutional rights and legalized corruption.  I have a hub that I believe contains a lot of the answers in several short statements from history.  If you care to read them and give them some thought they might be worthwhile.  http://hubpages.com/t/27f4d4

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      Fatigmonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is my posted answer but I want it to be know that I did not make "protests and demonstrations" a hot link.  This is not the first time I have had an answer tampered with.

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      Don Bobbittposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Fatigmon, Thanks for the comment, but as to the hot link?
      Who could have put the link there in your answer?
      Why are they allowed?

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      Fatigmonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Don, I have no clue, but it happened once before.  The only link I am responsible for is to my hub.  Why they are allowed is one thing, but for it to be possible for someone else to add one using my words would have to be a hacker.  Enough said.

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      Attikosposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Curious. The link leads to a Hub Pages category, Topics->Social and Political Issues-> Activism. I wonder if Hub automatically converts certain phrases into such links?

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   Old Empresarioposted 12 years ago

   Read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. US citizens have been protesting the US government about every ten to twenty years since 1783 up to now. This is nothing new--in fact, the current protests are pretty tame compared to protests in the past. Needless to say, the protesters almost never won.

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