TRULY, WE DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH

The Ubiquity Of Protests Renders Them Ineffective

EDMONTON (CUP) - On Sept. 28, Marc Emery, the leader of the Marijuana
Party of Canada, will be sentenced to five years in an American
prison on a charge of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

Emery, known as the "Prince of Pot," is a Canadian citizen but, after
a joint DEA and RCMP raid in 2005, he faced extradition to the U.S.
Thanks to the extreme efficiency with which North American court
systems run, he will finally appear in a Seattle court next week.

In response, demonstrations were organized to take place all around
the world Sept. 19 to protest his extradition.

One such rally was in Edmonton, where around 40 people marched from
city hall to the Alberta legislature, demanding justice for Emery.

I was there.

It was a fun-filled afternoon of chanting, cheering and air punching,
all for one person.

I met some great people, waved at honking cars, grabbed some cool
photos and just had an overall awesome time, even before any natural
enhancers were perhaps, kind of, maybe involved. It's clear and
obvious: protests are very social events.

However, one shouldn't expect them to have any effect at all on Emery's fate.

Demonstrations are becoming so common these days that their meaning
and effectiveness is slowly wearing off. Every so often a friend of
yours will hear about some march being planned and say, "Hey, there's
a rally next week. That's pretty cool. Wanna go?"

"Yeah sure, I think it'll be fun," you might say.

Look back at February of 2003, for example. When millions of people
around the world took to the streets to protest George W. Bush's
decision to invade Iraq. That day froze traffic, caused significant
financial unrest, and put a halt to society on an otherwise normal day.

The media probably loved it, but did Bush give a shit? Was the
invasion of Iraq affected in any way? You've got to wonder what
Saddam was thinking when he watched those anti-war protests on his TV.

A demonstration is almost like some giant party, except without the
alcohol and subsequent inebriated acts of embarrassing proportions.
Attending one of these social gatherings is also an easy way to get
on TV with little effort on your part, although a witty sign or an
oversized papier-mache head of a politician certainly helps.

One could say it's like those iPhone commercials. Dissatisfied with
Harper's public education policies? There's a protest for that.

Feel like you're getting ripped off by the Canada Pension Plan?
There's a protest for that, too.

Want to marry your dog but the government won't let you because
that's downright absurd and disgusting? There's a protest for that.
(Though please don't forward the link to me.)

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with someone wanting to rise up
and stand in the centre of it all.

I admire people who can fight for a cause. But don't expect peaceful
protests to be the solution to all the world's problems. Not to be a
pessimist, but history tells us, unfortunately, that the most
effective demonstrations usually end in bloody streets.