Honestly McPherson is probably the one I like least, but they all seem pretty decent. I agree the idea of left solidarity is important and am well aware of the damage that infighting has done to our causes, but I really don't think that another moderate is what Canada needs right now. The Cons are running further right, the Liberals are chasing them. We can't afford to abandon leftists in this country like America abandoned theirs.
You can't... that's my point. I'm really confused about what you're trying to say here. If you don't think that doing all of the other actions I mentioned are a sacrifice, I'm not sure I can help you see any of the points I'm trying to make. Sure those actions are not as visible as protesting, but people do them every day, and that's where change starts.
A few years ago a small group of transit riders in my area teamed up to put pressure on local governments to provide free transit to children. With enough pressure those municipalities came together and agreed to do it, and now we see free transit for children across our province. This wasn't done through "passionless inaction" but the hard work of people spreading awareness and putting pressure on their local governments. They continue to spread their message to improve transit by attending rallies and protests, but the majority of their work is behind the scenes. This might look like inaction to you, I guess, if you are not a part of one of those communities.
I disagree with you because protesting every day wouldn't be an effective way to enact change. Like I mentioned, the point of protests is networking, solidarity and awareness-building. The change happens from the other actions that are less visible/get less media attention (fundraising, community building, letter-writing campaigns, putting pressure on local governments, boycotting, disrupting events, etc.). Going out to a protest every single day would ignore the actual work that needs to happen, and it would burn you out almost immediately.
Okay, so reading your title again, you are saying: people that only go to protests on their day off (and don't engage in any other type of activism), think that protests don't work. Is that accurate?
I've met people at protests who have organized boycotts, advocacy campaigns, fundraisers, and many many more things that enact measurable change. These people often meet through these types of events and I can guarantee you, if it wasn't for rallies, I wouldn't have even known where to start or how to find people that are doing the work.
Your "truth" is only true if you (or whoever the fuck you're talking about) isn't benefiting from the protest/rally/event. So maybe you should go to a protest and find a network and do some work if you feel like you're not getting what you need from protests.
And just to be clear, I'm not judging people who only go to protests and then go home. That's fine too. The whole point of activism is to do the best you can, and if it just means showing up on a weekend for 2 hours, that's fine. Other people will see you, they will feel your support, and they will feel motivated to keep working toward whatever they were advocating for in the first place. That is the real point of protests.
Protesting is one part of a variety of anti-establishment responses. I'm tired of hearing people say it doesn't work - obviously, on its own it doesn't, but combine it with the many other aspects and there can be change. Of course, not everyone is fit to do every single one of the things required, but stop shitting on people who are trying to do even one of the things.
Protests are what get people fired up. Protests are part of what connect people and provide networking opportunities to organize other actions. Protests make people realize that they arenot alone, and that they CAN do something. Will they? Some of them will, and that's the fucking point. Protests are a warning. Telling people "protests don't work" only harms the fucking movement, so fucking stop it.
I've done this a couple of times and I'd say if you can afford it, it's definitely worth it. But renting often leaves you in a tight financial situation so it's not often realistic to be able to do it.
First, your mom is being toxic af and you are not a coward. However, she is not wrong that going outside can help with depression. It likely won't "cure" you as it sounds like you are in a difficult situation, but it can be helpful to take short walks every day.
That being said, the ICE shit is scary af. I'm not American but I worry every single day for my family members living there. We are Mexican and the fear, IMO, is warranted, because they don't even seem to care about legal status. I've been avoiding visiting for this same reason, and will not go down there until I feel it is safe to do so.
From my understanding though, they are not everywhere as much as social media makes them seem. My uncle and cousin down there (Chicago and San Diego) go about their regular days and even travel between the US and Mexico frequently and tell me they still feel safe doing so.
Even if you don't go outside, I would highly, HIGHLY recommend disconnecting from social media for a while or limiting your intake. The difference I feel mentally when my usage goes from like 2-4 hrs down to ~30 mins or less is huge. Find another hobby like crafting or even video games if you don't feel safe doing stuff outside yet.
Lastly, also, I said this to you a few days ago and will say it again, YOU MATTER. You are not a coward & being afraid of this insane fucking world is a reasonable response. I hope you can escape your parents house soon. You got this!
Nah, while I agree the book ending was great in its own right, the movie would not have succeeded without the ending they gave it. It would've felt anti-climactic and probably a little boring tbh. The movie was for entertainment, the book was for thought.
But pooping indoors is so much nicer :(