David Roberts’ most recent post tackles an issue I spend a good amount of time thinking about: the efficacy of civil disobedience in the modern era. More specifically — what can we do to give it a shot in the arm?
He celebrates Tim DeChristopher’s simple-but-bold act of bidding on land desired by the oil & gas companies, because it caught the nation’s attention the way that conventional eco activism hasn’t been able to for a long time now.
Things like dropping banners with anti-nuke slogans on power plants and conventional sit-in protests are important, but Roberts argue that they’re essentially played out. The American public has digested that tactic — we’re used to it, and can easily ignore it.
So what brand of civil disobedience will captivate Americans in the modern age? How can we upgrade or improve upon the traditional tactics to get environmental issues mainstream news coverage? What will demand attention, inspire excitement? I’ll expand on some of my ideas in future posts — but for now, what are everyone’s thoughts?
More on Civil Disobedience
Tim DeChristopher Calls for More Civil Disobedience in Climate Fight
Massive Civil Disobedience in Australia Over Climate …
What Will Effective 21st Century Civil Disobedience Look Like? : TreeHugger.