Appreciate the thoughtful response and I don't mean that as a throwaway line. I *never* comment online and am only doing so because I have so much respect for you and have learned a lot from you.
On XR vs. Free Palestine. Both have had similar success - at the rhetorical level. XR was able to get the UK government to declare a climate eme…
Appreciate the thoughtful response and I don't mean that as a throwaway line. I *never* comment online and am only doing so because I have so much respect for you and have learned a lot from you.
On XR vs. Free Palestine. Both have had similar success - at the rhetorical level. XR was able to get the UK government to declare a climate emergency. Free Palestine has been able to get many to declare what is happening a genocide and war crimes. Both have not had success on larger goals - "a just transition" or a ceasefire (let alone a Free Palestine). So I don't think you're really comparing apples-to-apples in declaring one a success and the other a failure.
I think the other thing your piece and comment are missing is that Power (state and corporate interests) learn from the very same social movements that you have. We don't have a draft anymore, for instance, because the access to more (often reluctant or disgruntled) bodies for the war machine isn't worth people opposing US foreign policy.
But even more importantly, Power has learned how to leverage the always on outrage machine and surveillance that J Edgar couldn't have even dreamed of to crush movements. Consider the murder of George Floyd. You and I probably disagree on the revolutionary potential of the police station burning down. But I bet we do agree that what that moment evolved into - corporate DEI trainings, pronouns in email signatures, land acknowledgements - was ridiculously milquetoast. And yet that has still led to a massive backlash with enormous and horrendous consequences.
We live on screens now and that has changed the social movement equations. I'm not confident that Bull Conner would engender the same reaction today. Attacking civil rights activists might just be outrage porn for people on both sides for a few days before they moved onto the next outrage.
Finally, lots of grandparents out there (including my parents!) out there advocating for Palestine. Just not enough people of age between the students and the grandparents. But that is true of every US movement I've ever witnessed so don't think you can blame protest tactics or strategy for that.
Appreciate the thoughtful response and I don't mean that as a throwaway line. I *never* comment online and am only doing so because I have so much respect for you and have learned a lot from you.
On XR vs. Free Palestine. Both have had similar success - at the rhetorical level. XR was able to get the UK government to declare a climate emergency. Free Palestine has been able to get many to declare what is happening a genocide and war crimes. Both have not had success on larger goals - "a just transition" or a ceasefire (let alone a Free Palestine). So I don't think you're really comparing apples-to-apples in declaring one a success and the other a failure.
I think the other thing your piece and comment are missing is that Power (state and corporate interests) learn from the very same social movements that you have. We don't have a draft anymore, for instance, because the access to more (often reluctant or disgruntled) bodies for the war machine isn't worth people opposing US foreign policy.
But even more importantly, Power has learned how to leverage the always on outrage machine and surveillance that J Edgar couldn't have even dreamed of to crush movements. Consider the murder of George Floyd. You and I probably disagree on the revolutionary potential of the police station burning down. But I bet we do agree that what that moment evolved into - corporate DEI trainings, pronouns in email signatures, land acknowledgements - was ridiculously milquetoast. And yet that has still led to a massive backlash with enormous and horrendous consequences.
We live on screens now and that has changed the social movement equations. I'm not confident that Bull Conner would engender the same reaction today. Attacking civil rights activists might just be outrage porn for people on both sides for a few days before they moved onto the next outrage.
Finally, lots of grandparents out there (including my parents!) out there advocating for Palestine. Just not enough people of age between the students and the grandparents. But that is true of every US movement I've ever witnessed so don't think you can blame protest tactics or strategy for that.