As an American's American (Guns and Liberty for everyone!) I really appreciate the French people's intolerance of government overreach. They say no, and they don't sit down.
>Your overstimate what we protest for and the effectiveness of it.
I don't keep up with all the protests but it's a far more active middle finger against infringement than most countries where we sit around and watch our liberties erode away in the name of progress and security.
That erosion is really all a front in the US for increasing power of already concentrated power and we sit back idle and watch it happen as we struggle to stay afloat in a set of abstract rules we must follow to survive.
When I see France, I at least feel like your citizens haven't given up and are still trying to fight for their rights. How effective it is is another thing, but at least there's some will left. In the US we just bend over and say, "oh boy, this again..." We seem to have already given up the fight, are unaware, and/or simply don't care anymore. I'll take an ineffective attempt at retaining rights over complacency any day. It's not like we have more clever strategies that are more effective, we just don't participate at large, period.
Regarding Australia's limits on protest during the Sydney covid lockdown, one official basically said "people can exercise their freedom of speech other ways, like writing a letter to the newpaper or sending an angry email" (paraphrased). I think he seriously thought these circular-filed complaints carry the same weight as a protesters in front of government buildings.
> I think he seriously thought these circular-filed complaints carry the same weight as a protesters in front of government buildings.
They do carry the same weight.
They are both useless.
Standing around holding signs and marching and chanting has never been effective.
Having the crowds filmed and broadcast, on the other hand, is effective. If the media isn’t making a story out of it, it means nothing.
In the 60s and 70s people began to believe marching and protesting en mass was effective. But, it was only effective because the media, for their own reasons and agendas, decided to broadcast the Freedom Marches and anti-war marches and all the rest.
I don’t believe that prior to the 60s, anyone would have considered milling around in front of govt buildings effective at all. To be sure, having mobs tearing down the buildings was effective and happened frequently.
You could assemble a million protestors in DC and, if it’s not shown in CNN, you might as well have stayed home.
As an American with staunch opinion about civil liberties, I love France for this matter. I recall Charlie-hedbo and their stance towards freedom of speech/press during the shooting that killed several cartoonists a few years ago. The entire world mourned that moment. It was sad and beautiful to see everyone raise their voices against supression of speech.