Protesting never solved anything - except defeated the ERA

Have you ever explained to a friend of yours how fun protesting is, about how important it is, how its right in the constitution because the Founders wanted us to be protesters - only to be met with irritation or a belief that protesting is somehow a "left wing thing"? Or, the worst one of all is this one: "Yeah well protesting never solved anything". Honestly, I think this one could be just as bad: "I have a job", as if somehow being active and involved is beneath you and apathy is virtuous.

I have news for you, because you may think that marching in the streets with signs you made with a sharpie is a waste of time, but if you thought that you would be wrong.

You ever heard of the ERA - Equal Rights Amendment? Yeah. The establishment thought they had that in the bag. The media called it a fait accompli in their news coverage. The Democrats led the charge. The republicans were on board. Then, out of nowhere, she showed up:

And what did she do? Well, she did a lot to move mountains and get people involved but otherwise? Look at that picture. She's out in front of the White House. Yes, that's right. Phyllis Schlafly was not only a successful protester, but she was a winner. Here's another, this time not in front of the White House:

So the next time someone scoffs at the notion of the importance of protests, remind them that one of the most important conservative leaders of the 20th century was a protester. And remind them that she beat them all. If they want to tell you protests don't work? Tell them to piss off. Facts are stubborn things. Protesting was in fact a part of the formula that halted the ERA.

Yes, protesting is in the Constitution. Yes, protesting is loads of fun. Yes, protesting makes you more powerful than the media - their words, not mine.. Yes, for these reasons protesting is important but above all: protesting is necessary because protesting is a successful formula to achieve desired goals. Make sure you bring your kids, so they can see you doing it. This part cannot be overstated. Teaching our kids that apathy is acceptable is a recipe for failure.

Protesting only fails for two reasons. One is small crowd size and two is failure to keep the pressure up. If you're only going to show up once and then five years from now wonder why that didn't work, well what exactly did you expect?

And for those of you who "have jobs", you're probably the worst of all. Ask any small business owner you like what would happen if they only showed up to(or called) their small business once every two years. The answer is that said small business owner would reasonably expect for their small business to be out of control. Well, Mr. I have a job, if you only show up to vote but then you're silent for the next 729 days, then you should expect an out of control government.

That is a reasonable expectation.

As for me I'll continue to protest because protesting works and has a track record of working.