In Turkey they are doing something we find fascinating...standing protests. We love standing protests. So amazing. People are brilliant.
We've been watching all along, since the first hopeful huge gathering walked in the sun to waving flags from above. We've have been watching, photo-shopped or not, videos of the confrontations. Even in 2007 we could see images of violence in response to protests in Turkey. This time more people are paying attention, and again, a violence response from Turkey's leadership. It doesn't make sense. If people are peacefully protesting, what is the point of spraying them with pepper spray? Or sending out cops in riot gear?
This is a world wide problem. If you believe in austerity, why spend so much money attacking citizens? What's the marketing message there? These are perfect examples of no cohesive message by a governing body. Governments, democratic governments, are for the people and by the people. Right? So who decided that the people need to be pepper sprayed or beaten up or arrested. So confusing. It is a clear cut case of many departments, and no leader. Every time a mayor does something like this, he is saying he is lost. He brings the world's attention to that moment in time, instantly, and the world condemns it.
Even if you are a tyrant, what is this brute use of force going to accomplish when these acts are done in the open light of day? We all see it all. Every corner of the world sees what is happening in a split second, if that. And people there tell everyone else. If you want to shut people up, you have to do so before they tweet, like by governing better in the first place.
It is no longer possible to stop a rebellion, before it starts, using overwhelming force. It's just not possible. Even if you kill all of your citizens, someone already posted the video, dude. Someone already posted the video.
And so we get to see images like this:
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| Man emulating the performance artist who started this new form of protest. (Getty Images, 2013) |
We've been watching all along, since the first hopeful huge gathering walked in the sun to waving flags from above. We've have been watching, photo-shopped or not, videos of the confrontations. Even in 2007 we could see images of violence in response to protests in Turkey. This time more people are paying attention, and again, a violence response from Turkey's leadership. It doesn't make sense. If people are peacefully protesting, what is the point of spraying them with pepper spray? Or sending out cops in riot gear?
 |
| This picture is going viral everywhere, image of a Turkish riot police officer attacking a woman with pepper spray. What exactly did she do? Did this act make him feel safer? Was he trying to arrest her? Was he trying to get her to stand down? (Policy Mic, 2013) |
This is a world wide problem. If you believe in austerity, why spend so much money attacking citizens? What's the marketing message there? These are perfect examples of no cohesive message by a governing body. Governments, democratic governments, are for the people and by the people. Right? So who decided that the people need to be pepper sprayed or beaten up or arrested. So confusing. It is a clear cut case of many departments, and no leader. Every time a mayor does something like this, he is saying he is lost. He brings the world's attention to that moment in time, instantly, and the world condemns it.
Even if you are a tyrant, what is this brute use of force going to accomplish when these acts are done in the open light of day? We all see it all. Every corner of the world sees what is happening in a split second, if that. And people there tell everyone else. If you want to shut people up, you have to do so before they tweet, like by governing better in the first place.
It is no longer possible to stop a rebellion, before it starts, using overwhelming force. It's just not possible. Even if you kill all of your citizens, someone already posted the video, dude. Someone already posted the video.
And so we get to see images like this:
 |
A young musician won the hearts of the crowd by taking his piano on Taksim square and staging an improvised concert that lasted for hours. His performance of "Beatles" songs was met with thundering applause. People kept piling food and non-alcoholic beverages on the piano in sign of gratitude.
(Policy Mic, 2013) |
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