Have you ever participated in a protest?

Fascinating. Now I see someone else commented that protests don't work. Would you say that any of these protests you've attended have been successful?

Yeah, several of them. The picket lines were involved in nearly all successful strikes, the anti-nazi protest was very effective, and the health care protests were super effective and stopped privatization of health care in my home province.

Protest absolutely works. It doesn't always of course. Right tool for the right job, and pick battles you can win.

@TyphoidJerry: Good to know. I understand that not all protests have the desired outcomes, but I just wanted to be sure that there were some cases where they've worked.

@hiddenkitty: If you research the origins of any number of rights, you'll find a protest movement at the core. For example your right to vote as a woman. Or the right to overtime and an 8 hour work day. The American Revolution even started as protests.

Protest is one of the most basic ways people can force a government to do something. If your protest is big enough, it can shut down governments, or even entire cities from functioning. At that point, the government has to do what the people want, or resort to violence to get them to stop.