A new report published by a German think tank is worth looking at. World Protests 2006-1013 doesn’t contain any major surprises, but our communities should take a look. The short version: citizens are angry at the world’s elites. More of them are taking to the streets. And increasingly, the protestors are sophisticated enough to place a finger on the lack of real democracy because of unaccountable corporations and multinational institutions.
Unfortunately, the authors do not address the question of what is to be done; that task is left to us.
Some of the points made:
- We are in the midst of a major global upheaval comparable to 1848, 1917 or 1968.
- The most sobering finding: the overwhelming demand is not for economic justice per se, but for “real democracy” which would allow national governments to address core economic issues.
- This core demand is coming from every kind of society, from authoritarian to liberal democracies.
- Protests are attracting sectors of the population historically less likely to participate.
- Increasingly, protests include some form of civil disobedience or meaningful direct action.
The authors of this report are hoping to inform and guide elites to better evolve in a way that increases stability and restores trust. But we can read it as a how-to manual. This is what I took away:
Focus on the long term. Protests generally fail to meet their objectives. They make sense mostly as a way to generate attention, recruit more active participants in the movement, and then regroup – possibly years later – for more public direct action at the inflection points. Protests that are not built around the onboarding of new people to their movements will fail to sustain themselves.
Focus on the right issues. The large number of protests around governance and real democracy keep a needed focus on governance and real democracy. (In the U.S., that means addressing the power of corporate elites on our elected officials, aka the political corruption inherent in our system.) This is a long struggle; we need long term strategies that outlast the current upsurge in protest.
Power cannot function without legitimacy. It is essential for our systems to work: confidence in the banking system, trust in the results of elections, the willingness to pay taxes and even a society’s ability to accept scientific truths, like the current state of climate change. Progressives need to be clear: are we working to restore legitimacy to power as long as someone we prefer is nominally in charge, or do we help deny legitimacy until more far reaching reforms are enacted?
The Road to 2016
As I see it, this will play out over the next few years inside the Democratic and Republican parties as contests between the old elites seeking to revitalize themselves and restore the trust and challengers to those elites. The Democrats have Elizabeth Warren vs. Hilary Clinton and the Republicans have upstart Tea Partyers like Ted Cruz vs. Chris Christie or Jeb Bush.
As a progressive, I think our job is making sure that we defeat representatives of the old elites. First in our party, and then in the contest between the parties. There is no way in hell that our historic role in this moment is to strengthen Clinton’s left flank. As this massive upsurge in protests demonstrate, the right candidate - the best candidate - will advance the goal of transforming our corrupt systems, not serve as its most trusted confidante.