to think that protests do make a difference and do bring about change?

[cakeorwine]

Linked to the thread about protests and the new law.

Over the history of the world, there have been protests. Some peaceful, some disruptive.

And some of them have brought about change.

Gandhi and his non violent resistance.
Rosa Parks
Anti-Vietnam protests.

I am sure there are a lot more.

I wonder what this world would look like if people didn't stand up for their beliefs and weren't able to protest easily.

And it looks like it's getting harder to protest.

Good post by @DownNative on Greta Thunberg and the effect of her no doubt well meaning but sometimes misfiring rhetoric on climate change.

One protest in the UK in recent times that did make a difference and brought about change was that against high fuel duty in September 2000. Peaceful blockades of fuel depots quickly led to shortages of fuel which in turn caused disruption in retail, mail, buses and other areas. The cost was estimated at £250m per day. Public support for the protests initially stood at nearly 80%, but fell quickly once emergency services started to be affected.

The protesters quickly realised the danger of losing public support so the blockades were halted and they gave the government 60 days to respond (some of today's protesters have clearly failed to learn this lesson). On 12th September Tony Blair said the Labour government would not back down in the face of protests, but within 60 days, on 8th November Gordon Brown announced the abandonment of the fuel duty escalator, a cut in duty for some fuels and a freeze on other fuels for at least 18 months along with cuts in VED, with a massive 50% cut for HGVs.