The Power of Protesting Now more than ever we need global change. The past few years have seen major political conflicts and failures, the most obvious now being Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, the COVID pandemic has seen political leaders including Scott Morrison, Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro neglect to protect their people by opening and/or closing borders at inopportune times, or simply failing to act at all, thus increasing the number of infections. Furthermore, Australia has seen a major cry for help from the health sector; nurses, aged care workers, and other health workers have been made to work overtime, go to work whilst infectious, and receive a less than satisfactory salary. The near passing of the Religious Discrimination Bill also came as a shock to the nation and revealed where the Morrison government’s loyalty truly lies – not with Australia’s most vulnerable and in need, but with their own self-interest. Such condemnable actions have inspired grief and anger in Australian people as well as the globe.
This collective anger must find not just an outlet but a receptive audience. Here is where ‘the protest’ comes in. A protest is ‘a strong complaint expressing disagreement, disapproval, or opposition’ (Cambridge Dictionary). Protests represent a collective of people whose grievances about a certain aspect or aspects of their society are expressed online or in person. Usually, they’re expressing their grievances towards a government body, who possess the societal power to instigate change. These powers usually include lawmakers, parties, leaders of an institution, elite members of society or, more broadly, those with money, power and influence. A common attitude towards protests and rallies is that they rarely amount to anything. They’re just a channel through which delinquents can express their rage and quench their thirst for violence and radicalism.
31
