They radicalized ME.

I was a teenager at the time, surfing the internet, and lo and behold, here was this enormous THING that was happening that none of the other media I got my news from were talking about.

I learned that the WTO existed. I learned that the news media cannot be trusted. I learned that there are people who I don’t know, who I never voted for, making decisions that affect my life in profound ways. I learned that there are tons of people out there who are trying to “accomplish something” even though the apparatus of state power is rigged against them, and it’s hard to see if you’re making progress sometimes.

Pretty insignificant, I suppose, but from my perspective there were huge ramifications.

Also I believe the Seattle protests inspired the WTO to hold its next meeting in Qatar.

“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”

The current hell-hole that is Russia and the former USSR is the legacy of Lenin. The 10′s of millions of people who died under the regime that he brought to power can never be brought back, and all the works and creativity that they WOULD have contrinuted to the world if they weren’t starved, worked, or shot to death, are MISSING all around you. The legacy of the communist regime brought forth by Lenin, like the legacy of Hitler, Pol Pot, et al, is measured in the scars they left on civilization.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0127-07.htm

http://dc.indymedia.org/media/index.php

That is yet to be seen. I’ve heard Howard Zinn has say he has all of his students read Emma Goldman and many of his students have had and continue to have an impact on our world, Alice Walker for one. It is a little hard to measure.

I just returned from our local peace march held in conjuntion with the march in Washington DC today. One thing it does is make us a visible entity in our community. Back in the early days of this war it was clear that if a few of us got out there with our signs it gave other people in our community a little more room and courage to question what was happening. Today we were well supported by those we encountered. If it gets people talking and thinking I feel it is of value. Today people from one of the smaller Islands came to join us so the social aspect is enjoyable and information sharing keeps all of our momentum going. How effective any action we take is impossible for us to know at the time we take it. Public gatherings and works of art or liturature may not be initially as effective as marching people around at gunpoint but may have greater effects over time.

But Lenin achieved power and transformed his country (into a hell-hole, but nonetheless he achieved his immediate aims). It’s not clear what Emma Goldman accomplished with her dancing. She was an inspring rabble rouser but in the end Lenin had a bigger impact on the world.

I’m afraid I fail to see how you are suffering due to our illusion. I also don’t see the connection between demonstrations/protests/civil disobedience and your ability to perform your functions regarding political campaigns.

Because the energy, time, money, and other force that was wasted in demonstrating, COULD have been used to accomplished something concrete. We are suffering by all the things that WEREN’T accomplished because of that diversion of energy, time, money, and enthusiasm.