So, yeah, this is a discussion of the Columbia protests again. Apparently protesters started occupying buildings, and the protesters were given fair warning to leave. They didn't, so police forcefully removed them from the premises. And of course, leftists are going nuts over this.
But look, colleges like this arent public property. They're private, and while often open to the public if you're causing trouble, you can end up getting removed and banned from the premises, or even arrested. These protesters, again, their whole goal is to be annoying. They think that by occupying the buildings and denying people their right to use the buildings for their intended purpose, that they're putting pressure on the college to boycott, divest, and sanction israel, but you know what? They can just get the police in there instead to forcibly remove people. To which the protesters, who seem to lack ANY self awareness at all whatsoever, are like, omg, how can you do this? We live in a police state, this is horrible!
No, this is the consequences of your own actions. If you wanna larp like a revolutionary, you can get treated like one. Really. I mean, I'm sorry, I have no sympathy for these people at this point. They wanna make a ruckus, and obstruct people, and annoy people, and stop people from going about their daily lives, and we're just supposed to let them. Forever, until their point is heard and their demands are met. Anything less is just evil to them. But, people have things to do, and places to be, and they're getting in the way, so they're being removed. And they're acting like omg this is so awful, no, you were warned. You were told to get out, and go home. You didn't. And now you guys are getting arrested. I'm not sure what else you expected. You screwed around, and now you're finding out.
And before people tell me I'm not pro free speech enough, I'm going to just link this straight from the ACLU, you know, the civil liberties people.
To quote relevant sections:
Your rights are strongest in what are known as “traditional public forums,” such as streets, sidewalks, and parks. You also likely have the right to speak out on other public property, like plazas in front of government buildings, as long as you are not blocking access to the government building or interfering with other purposes the property was designed for.
So, public property, and as long as you're not blocking people. These guys are on private property and seem to have a philosophy that protests have to be intentionally obstructive.
Private property owners can set rules for speech on their property. The government may not restrict your speech if it is taking place on your own property or with the consent of the property owner.
And that's the thing, Columbia, and presumably other colleges, are private property, and they've made decisions that they want these people to leave. It is their right to do so.
So yeah, you're obstructing people, on private property. Your rights are not protected. You do not have a right to occupy private property for an infinite amount of time and obstruct people for using it because you have a point to make. And no, the cops and the state aren't bad guys for enforcing the rules. YOU'RE the bad guys for breaking the law and rejecting lawful orders to clear out.
Sorry, not sorry. Fricking follow the law next time. We have rules for a reason. These rules aren't arbitrary, and while yes many rules tend to unfairly favor some groups of society, I have to believe, considering the different sides, that the status quo is the most reasonable outcome here. These protesters just wanna go around doing whatever they want, and being immune from the consequences, because they have a point to make, and they basically want to make us a captive audience for their BS. Sorry, the world doesn't work that way. People have things to do, places to be, so either freaking MOVE, or be arrested, plain and simple.
Seriously, leftist protest culture has to change, and has to change fast. They're a joke, and they're ruining whatever credibility and goodwill their movement currently has. And maybe people will think I'm evil or some sort of sell out for saying this, but yeah, I don't feel sympathy here. You guys gotta learn to follow just rules.
I'm not saying all civil disobedience is bad. But even then, when I learned about civil disobedience in grad school, even they were like "yeah if you do this, you should basically accept the consequences of doing so". Basically, you should only engage in these kinds of protests if you're serious enough about the cause you believe in to risk life and limb. As such, acts of genuine civil disobedience should be rare and done as a last resort. These guys wanna do this as a first resort, and expect no consequences. They just expect the world to revolve around them, and sorry, it doesn't.
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