Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Critical Mass
Critical mass involves people taking over the streets with bikes rather than cars, buses, or any other means of transportation. The turnout for the critical mass was so large that it upset many people who were trying to continue their normal day to day measures of transportation to and from work. I feel that in some ways this could be seen almost as a silent protest. The bike riders are trying to make a point to all other people that riding bikes as opposed to cars or buses not only eliminates traffic, but it also allows for a more peaceful, thrilling means of transportation. Because this group of people has no assigned leader, it is difficult to pinpoint this act as a true protest. It also makes it more difficult for any type of authority figure to control the group's actions. However, as seen in the video, this led to some harsh actions by the policeman as they pushed people off of bikes and arrested them. If I was a bystander to this act, I would probably think it was very creative. On the other hand I would be a little angry if I was the person in the car and was being blocked from the streets by people on bikes.
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4 comments:
Picking up from your "silent protest" comment, I think it was up to the individual rider whether it was a protest in his/her mind. However, any onlookers would obviously see every rider as a protester (if they even believed it to be a protest). This just goes to show how complicated the situation was.
I agree it might be frustrating to be a bystander to this protestor, especially if you were in a hurry. I have to say I thought it was great that so many on lookers seemed to support the bikers. I was surprised the police were so agressive towards the bikers considering the bikers were completely non threatening.
I do agree that lack of an assigned leader makes it hard to view it as a true protest. So many people join for different reasons and have different opinions. It makes me wonder what exactly their true cause is.
I agree that Critical Mass is not a true protest. It's up to the participants to decide what CM means for them.
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