Protesting Correctly

I'm an anarchist, so I would never petition the government for anything. That means that I will never take part in protest that are directed directly towards the bureaucracy. I'll never stand before parliament with a placard, shouting slogans. Such behaviour implies subservience to their system and is not in effect a protest. It's a petition.

A true protest is different. It's not directed towards the government. It's directed towards whomever is upholding rules that we want to get rid of. The anarchist view of society is that the acting agents, rather than the ruling elite is the real problem. The problems associated with government derive directly from bureaucrats' ability to enforce arbitrary rules, which can only be done with an army of unthinking drones.

A protest must therefore be directed towards agents of government. These are rarely found in private spaces. Shopkeepers are not the root our problems. When in a private space with little to no connection to government, we make life as pleasant as possible for our selves and our fellow men. Many shopkeepers and entrepreneurs are suffering just as much from arbitrary rules as we are. If anything, they deserve our support and protection from thugs who think otherwise.

The right places to protest government edicts are in public spaces where the offending rule is being implemented. One way to do this would be to gather a large group of people who simply ignore the rules altogether. However, this requires a good deal of planning and a certain momentum. It cannot be done individually or in small groups. A far more effective way to protest is therefore to mock the system by coming up with something absurd or right out disturbing that fits the rules. The current flu scare has for example resulted in strict mask wearing rules in both private and public spaces.

The way I have responded to this is that I always follow the generally accepted norm when in private spaces, all be it somewhat shoddily. But when in public spaces such as a metro station or train, I sometimes opt for my outrageous outfit. I put on my spooky mask which has the effect of seriously upsetting both the enforcers of the rules and my fellow passengers.

Spooky mask

There's nothing illegal with this outfit. But some people freak out. Others ask me to please put on something less disturbing. However, I'm undeterred by this. I explain that this is a piece of performance art. It's a protest.

Since this is a protest, and also a piece of performance art, it's not supposed to be done more than once or twice every now and again. The whole point of it is to be random and targeted, so that people start to beg for a change to the rules. Some will insist on more detailed rules so as to make a repeat of this particular act impossible, and others will start to realize that the rules must be removed. Bureaucrats will then be faced with a choice. They can either make changes to their rules, or they can scrap them. But if they stick with their rules, the protest can simply change form to accommodate for the change. If scary masks are banned. Put on a disturbing fun mask instead, or come up with something entirely different.

Done correctly, a protest is fun to do. It causes a stir. But we must be careful not to become too emotional and impatient. The initial effect of our protest is zero. Nothing happens there and then. Onlookers are bewildered and bemused, but no action is taken. Sharing the experience with friends, and on social media, is where most of our initial satisfaction comes. But time has a strange way of finding its way into our narrative, and suddenly there's similar things happening somewhere else. The ball starts rolling, and suddenly there's something big and real going on, inspired entirely or in part by our performance stunt.