Why should we demonstrate?

What difference does going to a protest really make? It’s an important question and one that needs to be understood. Certainly, just before the Iraq War broke out in 2003 what is claimed to be the largest demonstration ever seen in Britain (around 750,000 - 2,000,000) protesters marched on London and still the war continues. However, we cannot judge how effective protests are by looking at them from this perspective. After all, we are now pulling our troops out of Iraq and if public pressure had not been so high, built up by protests like these, no doubt we would not be seeing the same results.

Certainly on the environmental perspective we should be celebrating as we have now passed the first ever climate change bill committing us to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 10% by 2015 and 80% 2050. However, at the same time as passing this bill our government is still considering a 3rd runway at Heathrow airport and opening a new coal power station. If these go ahead then we are looking at the real possibility that we will not be able to hit the targets we have set ourselves. Once again, the government is not acting in our best interests so what choices have we but to take action ourselves.

I wonder how different things would be if the suffragette Emily Pankhurst had stayed at home and wrote an angry letter. Imagine how different our world would be if Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King had just stayed at home grumbling about the problems they face without doing anything about it?

Protesting is a vital part of the democratic system and without it we would not have many of the rights we take for granted today. We must not become complacent though, we may be living quite comfortably now but under the surface trouble is brewing. We’re sitting on a ticking time bomb that for many in developing countries is already ringing. It’s time to stand up in solidarity and take our place in history to prevent runaway climate change.