Protest and Survive

Febuary 15 2003, London

A 'decent' quasi-friend chortles that "[a]ll that protesting against the war did nothing!" and goes on to say that all protests are a waste of time. But the demo is so enormous, that, as if in a dream, I meet four people I haven't seen for a long time. Stories and addresses are exchanged. The dozens of people we meet along the route are eclectic, funny, interesting, the route a fascinating history tour of the nation's addiction to war and the near anticipation that perhaps something is about to happen make it a day that stays luminous in the memory. Alas, something does happen. A few years later I meet the acquiantance again. He still lives in the same disintegrating area, same job same declining pouvoir d'achat. I get the urge to say 'All that voting did nothing! Voting is just a waste of time!', but his answer would have been far less interesting. On the TV, the huge demos in France against the CPE and the Prime Minister withdrawing the proposal.