"...Because We're Winning"

On Tuesday, one of the discussion questions that was asked was: "Why is collective organizing important?"

I wanted to relate that question to another clip from This is What Democracy Looks Like. I think one of the most important aspects of the WTO protests (and something that is highlighted in the film) is that SO MANY people banded together in order to confront an organization they felt was committing global injustices. I am of the opinion that the protests in Seattle would not have been as big of a deal if the group was significantly smaller. As the one interviewee points out in the clip, "What they're telling us is that it's okay for you to protest if you're small in numbers and weak, but once you grow into a mass movement it's not okay to protest." While this quote obviously comments on the undemocratic viewpoint of the Seattle government and police (and the way they handled protesters), it also makes a comment on the "atmosphere" of the protests--they weren't carried out by stereotypical "liberal, activist, lefties," but by a wide variety of people in a very organized fashion. The protests were a true social movement.

I uploaded this clip from the movie to YouTube. Hopefully it doesn't get pulled because of copyright issues, but if that happens I'll find another way to upload the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_9IdSxvi04

Do you guys (dis)agree that the Seattle protests would have caught as much national attention if the number of protesters was significantly lower (even if the same tactics of peaceful protest and civil disobedience were used)?