Now that it is over: The Counter Inauguration

There are two major aspects of the Inauguration protests: 1-the traditional, people in D.C. with signs, turning their backs on the President protest and 2-the "Not One Damn Dime Day" Protest.

To take them in order...

The traditional protest was, by all accounts, rather successful, at least from the perspective of getting attention. The fact that there were people talking about it the next day (albeit in more negative than positive terms) means that it got attention. It was never the sort of protest that would change policy, actually, the people talking about it before the fact never attempted to claim otherwise: they only claimed that this would be a signal that Bush did not have a mandate.

One thing to consider though: even some Democratic congressmen thought there was innapropriate behavior by the protestors. Reports of people throwing rocks at the Vice President's car were the most mentioned and, was condemned by all.


As for the "Not One Damn Dime" protest, it was a failure.

I mean, c'mon, it was doomed from the beginning. How many people are willing to put their jobs on the line (by not showing up) for a symbolic protest? And if some massive number of people decided to call in sick...it wouldn't mean much during flu season.

And look at the age group most likely to want to be involved in slacktivism (slacker activism or activism that requires minimum effort): college students. As a recent college graduate, I just want to remind people that college students have access to 'free' food and are not particularly likely to spend money in the middle of the week.

By the way, I was actually out on Inauguration day. I saw for myself that people were definitely out and spending freely...more than a dime each, I would think.

And if it had worked, then what?

It wouldn't have harmed President Bush in any way...only the American people. Every time a trade happens, both parties are better off (a basic tenet of capitalism). When trades don't happen, people are worse off.

When people boycott a company, they are willing to be slightly worse off themselves in the hope that the company is massively worse off. Who were the intended victims of the boycott? The American people.

Makes one wonder if that isn't what the protest organizers were hoping.