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The Men’s and Women’s March
You mean you haven’t heard of the Men’s and Women’s March? You must have been living in a cave! Or you suddenly realize that no one has ever thought to organize such an exciting and significant event. And that it’s long overdue.
One notable freedom we have in this country is the freedom of assembly, which includes marches and protests. We have many of them, large and small, sometimes one-time events, sometimes annual demonstrations. To get a sampling, go here. We tend to see mostly Leftist demonstrations (notably the Right to Life is an exception), whose values mostly conflict with the values of the Right. So I propose it’s time to have a march that speaks to the men and women of this country, their traditional views and values.
The goals of this march would be multi-faceted:
- To celebrate that men and women are different: physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.
- To honor relationships that are not equal, but are equitable, giving men and women the opportunity to act in those areas where they are gifted and can and want to contribute.
- To have a sense of humor about how men and women often don’t understand each other, but appreciate that those mysteries are intriguing and part of the human condition.
- To acknowledge that men and women love each other, support each other, grow with each other, honor each other, and celebrate each other with all their foibles and strengths.
- To stress the importance of appreciating differences, and not locking men or women into stereotypes that prevent them from learning and growing.
- To unite in condemning forces that create hostility and barriers between men and women.
- To embrace the paradox that we will have moments where we want to throttle each other and hug each other. (Well, okay, this might not be part of the formal platform.)
- To tell not just citizens of the United States but the world how intolerant we are—intolerant of those who try to divide men and women instead of bringing them together.
- To declare that those who insist on condemning these foundations are not supporting the improvement of the world, but its destruction.
- To encourage men and women to speak of each other honorably, speak to each other with love, curiosity, and empathy, and speak for each other publicly as a united, powerful force for commitment and marriage.
Wouldn’t you love to see this Men’s and Women’s March? Don’t you think it would be a force for hope, goodness, and unity?
Published in Culture
I think you’re absolutely right on that. This is one reason that Consevative protests and marches are almost totally unknown. About the only place you ever see Conservatives protesting is outside of abortion clinics, and those are not meant as grievance protests, but as support for the unborn.
Why can’t this be a celebration instead of a protest, @stevenseward? Why can’t it be a demonstration of our love of this country, of the men and women who live here and rejoice in its values. I think we can change the whole meaning of marches!
With all respect, this is not an effective way of communication or persuasion.
Maybe if they marched on CNN headquarters or something like that.
Why? Because they control the narrative and will use the march simply as a jumping-off place to make their case.
All the people who agree already agree and those on the left will deliberately resist, refuse and rationalize away.
Better to organize politically, try to expand alternative media outlets, push back culturally and work diligently to expose them.
We must first deal with the gatekeepers and propagandists before making plans for demonstrations that no one will talk about ( other than ourselves inside our own bubbles) and if/when the do will be framed in the best way to damage the cause.
Why can’t we do all of the above, @franco? And marches celebrating the men and women of our country? We might even have some of the Lefties celebrate with us. I have to believe some of them are tired of the hatred but have no where to go.
It should be a celebration, no disagreement there. Though I pointed out that Conservatives almost never protest, they do hold rallies once in a while. Glen Beck went on a “rally tour” in 2003 to support our troops in Iraq. In Cleveland alone, he got more than 10,000 people to show up. His “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington D.C. in 2010 drew around 100,000 people. So it is possible to bring Conservatives out of their houses to congregate, but only for positive reasons, such as your suggested march.
I’ve been thinking that demonstrations outside the headquarters of propaganda outlets would be worthwhile.
Also, everyone who goes into a public place where CNN or other propaganda outlets are being shown on big screens should speak to the management or if possible just walk up and turn it off.
Imagine if everywhere CNN was being beamed into people’s heads we all just . . . shut it off.
Maybe pick a day. Call it “Turn off CNN” day, and encourage everyone to get CNN out of public spaces.
Love this, Drew!!! This action breeds more speaking out and power!
Needs to be “Turn off CNN week” to make sure they get the message.
Would I have to turn it on first?
If it’s not on, you’re already in a propaganda-free zone. Celebrate!
Actually, I think it should just be an ongoing effort. If you go into a restaurant or other retail establishment that’s showing CNN, turn it off. If you can’t, tell the closest manager that you’ll take your business elsewhere unless they turn it off.
From Parliament of Whores: “Not long after Andy [Ferguson] and I met, we were driving down Pennsylvania Avenue and encountered some or another noisy pinko demonstration. ‘How come,’ I asked Andy, ‘whenever something upsets the Left, you see immediate marches and parades and rallies with signs already printed and rhyming slogans already composed, whereas whenever something upsets the Right, you see two members of the Young Americans for Freedom waving a six-inch American flag?’
‘We have jobs,’ said Andy.”
Well . . . I remember some woman at the bar in our subdivision demanding that Fox News be turned off and I was angry. (I heard about it after the fact.) So now I’m wondering if that’s a good idea, Drew . . . .
I’m fine with that. Turn it all off. : )
Thing is, As you note the left routinely does this when Fox News is on in a place. Why isn’t the right doing this when CNN is on?
Use the Alinsky method. Pick a target, isolate it, . . .
We have so many more targets than they do.
Start with CNN, since they’re objectively the worst.
An alternative would be to provide a running commentary of whatever is on the screen. Kind of a spontaneous fact-check. (That’s my usual approach.)
Silencing things is the left’s shtick, because the truth dies in silence. More talk. More criticism. More gentle mocking. More laughing at preposterous things.
The emperor is naked. Let him walk in the street. Just say something when he does.
Thing is, I don’t think it would take much to get fence-sitters to join in. Many on the left already think CNN is propaganda, but they think it’s mostly a corporate mouthpiece, and they’re still under the illusion that “corporations = right wing” (that’s another topic altogether).
So . . . call it by something that will appeal to the left. Call it “Free Your Mind!” week . . . they’d love that.
Are you going to stand in the middle of a restaurant and shout out corrections so that the whole place can hear you?
Will you have all the information you need ready at hand?
Not shout, no. But the kind of restaurant that plays CNN while I’m eating will have to accept that I’ll be stating political opinions to the people with whom I’m eating, and that I won’t mind if other people overhear.
And it isn’t hard to provide balance to CNN.
But honestly, do you think we win people over by demanding that the TV be turned off or we’ll be petulant about it and storm out? Who wants to live like that? Who will live like that? And what do people think when they see that?
No. Look for opportunities to provide a conservative viewpoint. Most people never hear a thoughtful, sensible conservative perspective on current events. Many people, perhaps most people, will agree with a conservative perspective, if they hear it. Turning off CNN doesn’t give you a forum, it just temporarily silences what these people are going to hear the next time they eat.
More talk, not less.
The problem here is, you’re talking to three or four people. CNN is talking to everyone in the restaurant. That’s why collective action is needed.
Drew, I can’t honestly say that I think there’s no place for the kind of collective action you describe. Probably there is. But it doesn’t appeal to me and it isn’t what I think is most important or likely to work.
You and I probably just have very different perspectives on the business of persuasion. Maybe we have different ideas about what most people are like. I think most people are conservative, are put off by drama, don’t like rudeness or aggression, and are won over by a demonstration of patience and thoughtfulness combined with sensible ideas. So I favor talking to small groups of people, dialing back the drama, and never trying to silence the opposition.
That’s just what I think seems most sensible. But I probably have blinders where it comes to this collective action thing of yours. Maybe some people are best reached that way. It has a real us-versus-them quality to me, but I’m a quiet introverted type, and maybe that’s at least part of why calls for collective action don’t appeal to me.
Do your thing. I’ll do mine. We’ll hit them from every side. But politely. ;)
That’s why the right loses. Always. Because we don’t know how to organize.
As appealing as the idea of turning off tv’s sounds, I honestly don’t think it is going to win a single person over to conservatism. It will just make us look like rude idiots. There are many more ways to channel our energy for positive change.
Pun intended?
Nope. Accidental. I’m a bit slow. It took me about two minutes to figure out what you were talking about!
It wasn’t CNN that drove me off. It was ESPN. ESPN was included in every cable package that I could get, and I didn’t feel like paying part of Jemele Hill’s salary anymore.
More ideas, please. I target CNN because it needs taking down.
Or, perhaps, exposing.
There’s a reason CNN has such miserable viewership. There’s a reason the left shuns formats where a dialogue can occur, and is so eager to suppress discussion. The left is its own worst enemy. Shine a light on it.
I like you, Henry, but I think you’re naïve about this. Good luck, anyway.
Well, how about telling your children, friends, or family members about what you’ve learned about good government? As bad as CNN is, not that many people are paying attention to it. I did a quick search and found that CNN gets an average of 706,000 viewers across the 24 hour day. That works out to about one out of every 453 Americans. Apparently this is down 9% from last year.
With the ever expanding Internet, mobile devices, and cat videos, network TV and cable TV just don’t have the impact they once had when Chet and David used to say good night to each other.