Protest Is Not Enough

Protest, as the saying goes, is the highest form of patriotism. That may be, but it is becoming increasingly clear that protest, on its own, is an insufficient mechanism for ushering in the scope of change necessary to overcome the dystopian trajectory being laid out by the globalized neoliberal economic order. Since the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, there have been some very large and passionate protests, like the Women’s March on Washington, or the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Before that, during the Obama administration, there was the Occupy Wall Street protest and the wider Occupy Movement that spread across the nation. Protests like these, and others, have inspired millions of people to stand up and express their growing dissatisfaction with our current political and/or economic establishments. These are all important efforts. But they aren’t nearly enough.

As long as the Left is unable to articulate a compelling alternative to the status quo, these protests represent little more than a rear guard action in a losing battle against a right wing that has been relentless in pursuing its ideological goals since the Reagan administration. You can’t win this battle by simply being against something. You have to have a vision of what you’re fighting FOR, otherwise all the energy that is expended in these protests ends up being dissipated through countless channels that amount to little or nothing. The Occupy Movement managed to do a little of that, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Democratic Party, in its perpetual effort to stay only one small step to the left of the Republicans, is a useless organization for articulating or inspiring change. Even if Bernie Sanders were to somehow win their nomination, any good that might ensue would certainly fall well short of altering the essential workings of the neoliberal capitalist system. And as for the old guard Marxist-Leninists…I’m afraid their time on the world stage has long since come and gone.

What is needed is a movement that offers a compelling alternative to the status quo. One that would go beyond inspiring people to vote for the lesser of two evils and to instead start the actual work of building a working alternative to the current system. That movement is a 21st century Utopian Socialism as embodied in the growing intentional communities movement. They have articulated a vision for a sustainable and equitable future, and have demonstrated a growing degree of competency in carrying it into practice. Instead of merely protesting against the iniquities of the capitalist system, you need to build actual alternatives to that system. Alternatives that aren’t mere theory, but ones that people can observe and interact with. Alternatives where their passion and effort won’t dissipate into thin air as they endlessly wait for future revolutions or electoral victories, but tangible alternatives that will instead play a demonstrable role in building the type of world they want to live in right now.