Why the Left’s Protests Usually Fail

screen shot from a Guardian video of anti-war protesters outside the DNC convention in Chicago in August 2024; the mainstream pro-war, pro-genocide Democrats wouldn’t even let them or their delegation in through the door Vincent Bevins has recently become something of a go-to person for information on why protests, especially by the ‘left’, almost always fail to achieve their objectives. Here’s a summary of a recent extensive interview he did with The Tea. His thesis, based on both having participated in protests all over the world, and as a journalist covering and studying them, is that disorganized change movements that just protest without organized following up allow the right to co-opt that anger and make things worse, and also increase repression going forward. He asserts that often mass protest makes headlines but achieves absolutely no change, because it isn’t in the interests of the rich and powerful who own all major political parties. Governments have learned it’s easiest…

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