When, over the course of three hours, you hear some forty repetitions of “we will stop this,” “we will never allow it,” “we will not tolerate it,” you eventually begin to think of Stalin’s famous remark about the Pope: “How many divisions does he have?” In politics, the question is always the same. What real power do those people actually command?
Demonstrations matter when they genuinely bring you closer to achieving a concrete political objective. That includes four distinct situations.
First. The opposing side is so timid that the presence of several thousand — or even several hundred thousand — dissatisfied people frightens it into conceding your political demands.
Second. The demonstrations escalate into occupations or at least blockades of government buildings and major media institutions, and you possess enough influence within the police that they choose not to intervene.
Third. The people attending the demonstration are already engaged in sustained political work, and the gathering serves to strengthen their resolve and perseverance.
Fourth. You need to rally your supporters for an exceptional effort in the immediate future. That applies, for example, to demonstrations held a week before an election.
If none of these conditions is met, the exercise amounts to a waste of time and energy. In that case, it would be more honest to admit that the event is primarily social — a chance for old acquaintances to meet again — and that the same purpose might be served in a less demanding way.
That, by way of explanation, is why I so rarely attend demonstrations.