Reader Writes: The Value and Devalue of Public Protest

I find it both encouraging and discouraging that people are coming together to demonstrate their displeasure with the outcome of the presidential election.

The encouraging:

1. The world at large sees that we're only half comprised of people that feel so abandoned by the "establishment" that they're willing to play russian roulette with the future of the human race hanging in the balance.

2. People haven't given up on stating that their minimum requirements for society are greater than the many forms of bigotry that still permeate our nation.

3.The vast majority of protestors are doing so peacefully.

The discouraging:

1. A small minority of the protestors are vandalizing property. those around them need to prevent that from happening for the following reasons:

a. The media will focus on these aberrations because it's sensational and that's what drives ratings

b. It's exactly the type of disgusting behavior that we attribute to the basest of Trump supporters

c. If it becomes the primary "take-away" that those watching the news coverage get, it will delegitimize the protest in the minds of those we need on our side to create positive change.

2. What good does blocking traffic do? It inconveniences people arbitrarily, no matter what their political or apolitical leanings, and makes them less likely to join the movement for positive social change.

Two things this election has highlighted:

The traditional 2 party system is not able to function if the end game of one, or both parties is to prevent any successful progress initiated by the other party.

There are certainly enough people that feel abandoned by both parties that there are a lot of opportunities to be successful by thinking outside the box.

Now would be a good time to combine resolve, wisdom, compassion, and pragmatism so we can realize that "being great again" is Trump's one slogan that we can get behind.