*The views of the Bucknellian and its staff are not necessarily reflected in the opinions presented by this author.
The right to protest is the fundamental right to be heard. Civil discontent, without engaging in otherwise criminal activity, is the only true way to make your voice heard outside of those few days of voting. It is the ability to directly communicate the intent and belief to your elected officials outside of election years. After all, if there remains a consistent issue with public order that cannot be legally resolved with law enforcement, then even those who don’t support the movements for which people are protesting will not support a leader’s re-election.
That is, of course, unless you use the funny cheat code of “make it illegal.” And if that’s illegal? Use the cheat code “no one will stop me.”
I think I’m crying because of how much I’m cutting from The Onion.
Perhaps I digress too greatly from the topic at hand. After all, what use is the tossing aside of the pesky rules if the rules have already been changed? No, we are here to debate whether protests should be allowed, or if they should be turned into a criminal activity, so that we may punish those “filthy” peaceful rioters. Punish them and we may watch as more rise to replace them. Punish them and watch generation after generation rise in their place. Therefore, quite obviously, the entire lineage must be dealt with. Remember, children, if you associate with an enemy of the government, then you are an enemy of the government. That’s what it says in the Bible— or something like that, probably.
I think I’ve played spokesman of the devil for long enough. The “necessary evils” of restricting rights, such as the right to protest and the right to be heard, are preached by many to excuse constitutional violations. Truly, in this age where Americans are again deciding to treat people whose skin doesn’t blend in with snow as openly subhuman, going so far as to refuse the basic rights granted to all under the laws of our land to which every one of our lawmakers has sworn an oath, I grow more and more sickened by this farce of a country with every day that passes.
The thought that a particular group of people does not deserve due process is not uncommon. It’s been seen numerous times in history. With the people being torn from the streets and their front yards and their meetings, there is no more ability for an American of any marginalized calling or creed to feel safe in their home. You could say that I’m creating a boogeyman where there is none, and to that, I declare that I am afraid for international students, many of whom I consider to be my friends, because of what is happening. None of them have done anything wrong, mind you. Regardless, their immigration status could be revoked because of an opinion they hold on a geopolitical situation occurring far away from this country.
What then happens as opinions become increasingly criminalized? If people’s decision to say something about what they think is right or wrong is no longer allowed in the land of the free and the home of the brave… If this beautiful, broken dream of a country is wrought into dirt… If every last word is scrubbed from our lady liberty, whose promise to all the peoples of the world has been melted to slag and turned to soda cans to sustain the life force of an old, frail man to whom we entrusted the duty of the American presidency… Then, what?
While I respect the office of the president and the decorum that surrounds such a holy position in this country, I cannot say the same of the man who sits upon his self-made throne. The Oval Office, a place of humility and grace for our leader, has been gilded with riches and the power of wealth. The power of wealth in its personified form has taken hold of our nation, and with it comes the promise of a better future in exchange for the now that we have. So many willingly give up the now, kill it themselves even, for a glimpse of the promised Eden which awaits once the benevolent dictator asserts his just power.
Our democratic republic, this institution upon which hundreds of years of injustices and the pursuit of justice have been etched into stone, is becoming lessened. As our arms of government weaken and bow to the rising tower of riches beyond compare, I fear for what is yet to come far more than I have feared what has passed. I fear for silenced voices crying in the night for someone to hear their strife, for a nation screaming out for mercy from the overreach of the administration. Over the span of three months, terror has ensued. Three months. What did I do in three months? Got through a good portion of my classes and read a couple of books. You may argue that an administration moving at breakneck speed is indeed good, but I say nay.
Each time something major happens, it’s immediately followed by several other massive bombshells. I know not what awaits, but maintaining an interest in the political goings-on of this country is a recipe for depression and waxing poetic. Seeing as I’ve already done the latter, I’m positive you can guess as to where I stand with the former. The barrage is meant to be overwhelming and impossible, such that we cannot stomach the grossness of our nation’s ideals being perverted and snubbed.
If we cannot speak, scream or make ourselves heard in the high heavens above, then we no longer have a voice in this nation of ours. I propose these final questions for you: does a government that suppresses the voices of anyone in its country for their opinion of a far-off land and that takes people from the streets and sends them to a foreign prison under a dictatorial power, truly have the consent of its governed? And if a government loses the consent of those it governs, should it be allowed to stand?