The Purpose of Protest

Protests come about through our innate human desire for change. If we lived in a world where nothing ever changed, we would not be able to grow or experience new ideas. However, ideas are constantly evolving and one example is the idea of women in our society. Before the 1920’s, women were treated as inferior to men and were therefore unable to vote. Many prominent women took a stand during this time, and by protesting their beliefs the 19^th amendment was ratified, and women were finally able to have a say in their government. Think about how our world would be now if nothing had ever changed. Perhaps the colonists never would have protested against England, and America would not be the free nation it is today. Perhaps the union wouldn’t have protested against slavery and Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t have announced it’s abolishment in the emancipation proclamation. We as people need change and protests are one of many ways in which to spur on such change.

I believe that what is important about a protest is not the size, but the result. For example, a strike with hundreds of people protesting against a tax increase could very likely have no effect whatsoever. On the other hand, one person who decides to give up driving their car in order to do their part to help global warming could have so much more of an effect. Even though it isn’t much, that person is helping to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and the more people he or she tells, the more are affected by that simple act of protest. Therefore, I believe that no matter how big or small a protest may be, what really matters is the amount of change that it perpetuates.