To think there shouldn't be a right to *protest*

[Bathingnow]

People constantly repeat that the right to protest is some kind of sacred democratic principle that must be protected at all costs. I genuinely do not understand why this is taken as an unquestionable truth. What about the rights of everyone else? What about the right to go to work, get children to school, attend hospital appointments, or simply go about daily life without being obstructed, shouted at, or intimidated?

I fully support the right to dissent. People should be able to express views that challenge the government, corporations, or any other powerful body. That is a basic part of a free society. Free expression means being allowed to say unpopular things without fear of punishment. It does not mean having a free pass to disrupt other people’s lives or hold them hostage to your cause.

If you believe for example climate change is an emergency and the government should “just stop oil”, fine. Argue your case. Write letters to newspapers. Lobby MPs. Stand in Speaker’s Corner and shout yourself hoarse. Post endlessly on social media. Organise debates, whatever. All of that is legitimate and entirely compatible with democracy. None of it requires blocking roads, gluing yourself to infrastructure, or preventing ordinary people from getting where they need to be.

The idea that making life miserable for strangers somehow advances your cause is absurd. Blocking an ambulance, stopping a parent getting to work, or preventing someone from attending a funeral does not win hearts and minds. It just creates resentment. You are not enlightening people. You are inconveniencing them and expecting applause for it.

This applies to every issue, whether it is climate change, Gaza, housing, or anything else. A cause does not become morally superior simply because the people shouting about it feel very strongly. Once a protest crosses the line into infringing on other people’s civil liberties, it stops being a protest and starts being coercion.

Democracy should protect free speech and peaceful expression. It should also protect the public from disruption imposed by self appointed activists who believe their views trump everyone else’s rights. If exercising a so called right to protest requires trampling over the freedoms of others, then that right needs serious limits. I see no reason why the ability to disrupt daily life should be treated as some untouchable democratic virtue.

Thankyou, I always aim to please and inspire 😍

You're an inspiration xx

Another problem is, it now seems to be a short step from “protest is wrong” to let’s send in people like ICE in the US , and let’s start shooting. This is not who we are.

I worry that people who come on here with domestic arguments about buses are really helping to pave the ground for Reform to behave like that in the UK. They wouldn’t admit it, if that were the case.

People dont care when they arent inconvenienced..

“Once a protest crosses the line into infringing on other people’s civil liberties, it stops being a protest and starts being coercion.”

I agree with here OP. And those who state that writing to MPs doesn’t work are wrong, however, it takes dedication to a cause and plenty of people being energised into doing it, presenting reasoned arguments. In my experience, lobbying the media and being counter argue also helps. I speak from experience.

Yes, I think we should keep the right to protest, and the lines need to be drawn more clearly as to what those rights are exactly.

I also kind of like people not being able to own slaves, and people of colour being allowed on the same bus as me. It's also nice that places which were once unfairly colonised, often by the British, can have their independence, leading to a more emancipated world generally.

Oh and I like the fact that my stupid pink makeup doesn't always include rabbits being tortured to death and my medicine, while still injuring some animals in the making, keeps that to as strict a minimum as possible.

None of those have directly affected OP's right to go to TK Max when she feels like it, though, so yeah, maybe none of it matters.

The right to protest is similar to the right to Freedom of Speech. Sadly both are being eroded by the government due to pressure from people who don’t like what is being said and protested about.

It is. It could get far worse under other, too, sadly.