FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

How to shut up a protester

How to shut up a protester

It seems to me that we focus on the tactics of protesters instead of the injustices against which they are protesting.

In the 1960s you had civil-rights leaders ranging from Martin Luther King who talked about peace and love to H Rap Brown, who told people to burn down the country. I felt the focus should not have been on the black leaders but on the white racism that caused all the turmoil.
As an animal-rights activist, I can tell you that 99 per cent of the people in our movement are kind and gentle. But animal exploiters focus on the one animal-rights activist who engages in extreme violence.
Most people will condemn a Palestinian suicide bomber, but do they ask why he would want to be a suicide bomber in the first place if he were treated well?
Buddhists say every action has a reaction. So wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on the action (injustice) and thus prevent the reaction (protest)?
If certain readers want to shut me up, there is a simple solution. Stop committing atrocities against humans and animals and I promise that you’ll never hear from me again. Otherwise, I will continue to fight for the oppressed until the last day of my life.
Eric Bahrt
Chiang Mai

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