Ask HN: Is This Normal?
These are rhetorical questions.
Q1: Is this normal?
A1: No this is not normal.
Q2: What can I do about it?
A2: The most obvious is to protest.
Q3: Have protests in the past resulted in significant change?
A3: Only in some contexts. Protests can be suppressed by force.
Q4: If protests don't result in significant change what are other options?
A4: Boycotting is another option.
Q5: Has boycotting resulted in significant change?
A5: Only in some contexts. Boycotts require unity behind their objectives and people tend to let objectives superseded to convenience.
Q6: How do get more people to stay convicted to the boycott?
A6: Provide support / alternatives to the things you are asking them to go without.
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We need to organize and collectively reject giving our money to the very systems that are oppressing us.
Voting no longer works nor has it worked for a long time. We need to vote with our dollars.
This is the only way.
This will only work if we learn how to support those who will go without as a result.
This gives birth to new opportunities.
We need to support all who are willing to take those risks.
Q7: What are you willing to do?
A7:......
If the number of threats of physical harm (death, disfigurement, rape, etc) my colleagues are receiving are an indication, I feel the protests are having an effect.
The only issue I see with protests are they can be simply ignored by people in power.
But when you boycott, you are doing that very thing to the people in power. Ignoring them. It's the reverse uno card if you will.
I would agree that protests alone are less effective than if they are combined with other things.