As a longtime activist I have often gotten this question from all sides: what good comes of all that protesting?
On the one hand there are people who don't participate in grassroots politics and think those who do are wasting their time (despite all the obvious counter-evidence).
On the other, pickets, boycotts, marches, and demonstrations through all the months and years when nothing much comes of them leaves attendees and organizers alike discouraged by the seemingly-poor return on investment ("ROI" as the business folk would have it): the microscopic changes (if any) effected by effort that is actually pretty taxing, on a personal level.
Is it worth the effort, the sacrifice, the time? Or is demonstrating an exercise in futility?
The answer seems obvious this week.
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