"protests are a good thing as long as they are left-wing"
Lefty blogger Jeremy Sear comes out today in favour of the leftist clowns who recently occupied Melbourne central.
Why? Because the protesters are of similar political orientation to Jeremy.
But don’t take my word for it. Read his justification for the occupation:
Well, for one, it shows politicians that it’s not just the far-right who are angry with where things are going… So a protest from the other side helps balance out that pressure. Even if that’s all it does, it’s still arguably worthwhile for that reason alone.
Second, it lets politicians know that there are people out there – possibly many more than have simply attended the protest, for the reasons above – who think we’re going too far down the American path. Who want them to consider the public sphere, the poor, the community as a whole, when deciding whether or not to support legislation that either redresses the imbalances in our society or which makes them worse.
The protesters don’t need to come up with a set of specific policy proposals to have an important impact. What they’re calling for is clear – policies to redress inequality.
So there you have it – the protests achieve something because they”counter” right-wing protests and stand for more wealth redistribution.
Back to the physical world where outcomes matter, patriots can be relieved that the erstwhile occupational leftoids haven’t made any difference to anything. There will be no further tax hikes, income redistribution, protectionism or bureaucracy as a result of their foolishness. We can be glad that they in actuality they have and will achieve precisely nothing.
In true Jeremy style, he also comes up with this little howler:
Protests tell government the direction in which ordinary, engaged people would like it to go. When we have three years between elections and the blunt instrument of a mostly two-party system even then, where the voters’ precise directions are sometimes difficult to discern accurately, protests are a necessary and important part of the process of democracy.
Sadly for Jeremy, the majority of people intend to vote for or preference the Liberal /National Party at the next federal election. Fortunately, Newspoll does reflect voter’s wishes accurately enough. And whilst the protesters purported to speak on behalf of 99% of the population, their views are not shared by most Australians.
No one seems to be disputing the rights of groups to protest, even if they are fringe groups who do not reflect what most people think and feel. But it is absurd to suggest, as Jeremy does, that occupying public spaces for days on end and causing general disruption is acceptable.
