Or course, they do! History has shown time and time again that collective action and even violent action has changed society. The French Civil War, the American Civil War, our very own EDSA revolution have all had an impact on society in either deposing a corrupt leader or abolishing an inhumane practice.
Recently, the Hong Kong protesters did win a huge battle where after weeks of protesting, Hong Kong's leader pull the extradition bill, which was the cause of the protests in the first place. So yes, protests work. Almost as soon as this bit of news broke out, many of my UP friends pointed out that if Hong Kong can stand up to China, why can't we? And that we should protest as well!
Well, no - not really. The activists in our country are at it again. For all five years of my life in UP, activists have been calling for mass action, walk outs, and protests consistently. For five years... consistently. I can only assume they've been doing the same since 1986 until now. That means they've been discontent with our government for more than 30 years.
It's hard to describe how I feel about the activists calling for rallies for every single small thing that they don't like. It makes me wonder if they took the time to approach the issue calmly with open dialogue and discussion. But one more accurate analogy I can think of is the feeling of the villagers about the boy who cried wolf. If rallies are the done consistently for more than 30 years, what makes the Filipino people think that this time will be any different.
Do I think we should voice out our ideas to our government? Most definitely. The best avenue would be a calm discussion with our political leaders. Like I've said previously, the best antidote to faulty ideas is to put them out in the open... calmly. Rallies, protests, and mass action should be a second to the last resort with civil war being the last resort.
Let's give our current system a chance. For 30 years, the activists have not once given it a chance. I think it's about time they stop crying wolf.
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