Cyrus Aghamolla’s assertion that “even today, almost all of political activism stems from traditional liberal views” in Monday’s Diamondback is downright absurd and couldn’t be further from the truth. Conservative activists have had an unprecedented share in influencing government policy in recent decades, from immigration and abortion to the Swift Boat Veterans debate in the 2004 elections to the recent judicial nominees selection. The “relentless pursuit of irritation liberals supposedly love” is what keeps our government a democracy, and if it weren’t because of this pursuit, there would have been no slavery abolition movement, no civil rights movement, no women’s and gay liberation movements – all of which forced our country to become more than just a nominal democracy.
If Aghamolla is earnest in his opposition to the false idea that “all the big riots and major protests have been associated with liberal ideology,” he is preaching for a pre-civil rights America where women would be barred from the workplace and blacks wouldn’t be allowed to drink from the same water fountains as whites. Democracy is founded on an active civil society that makes its voice heard not only through lobbyist organizations but also directly through civic assembly such as protests.
An active and effective civil society that keeps the government’s power limited is the foundation of democracy and is exactly what we are trying to export to Iraq. When civil society groups, such as non-governmental organizations which influence public policy are repressed or weakened, democracy will cease to function, and the government will be freed from the traditional restraints on its power. Civil interest groups cannot keep up with the millions of dollars poured into politicians’ campaign treasuries by corporate lobbyists, consequently depreciating their influence on behalf of the people. Political activism is key to ensuring governmental transparency. The repression of NGOs and other elements of civil society result in an authoritarian style of government. We witness this in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin consolidates power and silences the opposition and the people by passing laws in his crony-backed parliament outlawing and severely limiting NGOs and other civil society groups. Political activism is the means for changing unjust laws and limiting government power, and a lack of a functioning and active civil society produces the current abuses of power and corruption that is so widespread in our own government and in every dictatorship in the world.
When a nation lacks an active civil society to voice its concerns and influence government policy, the only effective means for the people to reclaim their due power is by means of mass assembly or protests. The ability to assemble peacefully is the trademark of a functioning democracy, and in dysfunctional democracies or authoritarian monarchies that contain an impotent opposition to the ruling party and a repressed civil society, a massive protest by the people is the only way for the citizens’ rights to be recognized. When the people are unable to protest in reaction to an unjust law or in opposition to an authoritarian monarchy, the people have no influence over their lives and are at the whims of an all-too-often hostile state. Before the Civil Rights Movement, blacks did not have enough potent representation to change the repressive culture and government in this so-called democracy, so Martin Luther King Jr. and millions of other Americans took to the streets with this then-“liberal ideology.” Examples abound of the importance of protests in ensuring democracy today. Ukraine and Georgia’s recent revolutions wrenched power, at least for a period of time, from a repressive state back to their people. Movements such as these testify to the importance of protests to democracy.
The bitterness, apathy and cynicism toward civil society, political activism and protests that are so prevalent among our generation are far more dangerous to “the ‘sacred pillars’ of American life” than any “conspiracy theories” of the “socialists.” Without civil society and the right to assemble, democracy as we know it would cease, and minority and civil rights, abortion rights and the power of the people would come tumbling down right along with it.
David Schultz is a junior English major. He can be reached at phunkman@umd.edu.
