If Your Protest Is Being Backed By Old People And The Establishment, Then Your Protest Is Wack As Shit

If Your Protest Is Being Backed By Old People And The Establishment, Then Your Protest Is Wack As Shit

 

 

Students from all over the state today participated in a walkout to protest gun violence, a day after the rest of the country did because of the recent Noreaster we got smacked with. We were told that the purpose of these protests was to stand in solidarity with the 17 people killed in Florida. But predictably it turned into a school sanctioned political protest in which only one side of the issue was heard.
I have 3 beefs with this:

1. Schools shouldn’t be promoting one political ideology over another.
2. If you skipped your protest because there was no school that day then you don’t really believe in anything you’re protesting for.
3. If your protest is supported by the establishment, then your protest is bootleg.

Point 1
Public schools are funded by the taxpayers. Under no circumstances should teachers and administrators be teaching kids that one point of view is right and the other is wrong. But that’s exactly what happened with these protests. If you want more gun control you’re right, and if you don’t then you’re wrong. What happens if anti-abortion students want to do a walkout next week? Will teachers get behind it and allow them to skip class in order to do so?

Or how bout this – what if students had protested for an end to refugees after two refugees killed 8 year old Martin Richard at the Boston Marathon? It’s the same concept as gun control. Guns kills people – restrict guns. Refugees kill people – restrict refugees. Of course the schools wouldn’t allow that. It would probably get the kids in trouble for hate speech. This isn’t a right-left thing. This is a consistency thing. Schools have no business endorsing one political viewpoint over another.

Point 2 
The students who participated in this are being patted on the back by adults, teachers, and others for “taking a stand.” But they’re not praising them for the fact that they’re protesting. They’re praising them for WHAT they are protesting. This is the Boston Globe’s latest headline:

Again, does anyone think the sunshine patrol would be calling for the voting age to move to 16 if these kids were holding protests to build a wall? Of course not. They only want the age lowered to 16 because they know that kids this age will vote the “right” way.

That they have no convictions. If they did then they would’ve protested yesterday on the day the protest was to take place. But then they wouldn’t be able to skip class. And they’d have to get off their asses and find a way to school to come together and protest. Way too much work. They proved beyond a shadow of a doubt today that the only purpose of this protest was to get out of class.

Point 3
Here’s my biggest beef with this – what kind of bootleg protest is allowed by the establishment? Do you realize how lame your protest is if “the man” approves of it?Seriously, the Worcester Fire Department and Police Departments both went to Burncoat High School today for crowd control because they walked out of school. They were there to protect the kids and allow them to protest.

At least Colin Kaepernick, as idiotic as he is, was willing to take an unpopular stance and sacrifice his career as a result of it. These kids are sacrificing nothing. They won’t suffer or get in trouble. They’re actually being praised far and wide. They’re being invited on Ellen for crying out loud.

What the hell is wrong with these kids? Do you understand how protesting works? You’re supposed to be raging against the machine. When the machine is telling you how brave you are, and not punishing you for your protest, your protest has completely lost its meaning.

People protested the Vietnam War by burning their draft cards. When protesters crossed the bridge in Selma they were confronted and beaten by the police. These actions were ballsy because they could get arrested or hurt. The people in power did not want to let them express themselves.

Not these kids though. Old fogies are literally telling them they’re the greatest generation that has ever existed. That they’re “brave” for skipping class and announcing that they’re against gun violence. As if anyone is in favor of gun violence. This would be like kids in the 60’s protesting that men shouldn’t grow their hair long.

Congratulations kids, your protest is wack as shit and you’re officially part of the establishment you think you’re protesting against.