I was on my way to another day at Capitol Hill. On any given day, I can expect to see a few protesters on the street, telling anyone who will listen about the need to stop the War in Iraq or revoke Roe vs. Wade. But on April 10, I came across a protest that really caught my attention.
I mean, it is hard to miss a line of 100 dump trucks circling the U.S. Capitol honking their horns as obnoxiously as possible. The trucks held up traffic and exposed hundreds of tourists to excessive noise pollution. The truckers were protesting the raising costs of diesel fuel. They are upset because they are given a fixed amount from their respective companies to spend on gas, so when the prices keep rising, they have to make up for it out of their pockets.
I might just be bitter because the protest made it difficult to cross Constitution Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, and my ears are still ringing from all that honking. But I do not think this was the most effective example of nonviolent protest. I hate to think about all the gas the truck drivers wasted by circling the U.S. Capitol a number of times. I think it went against their argument that they were really concerned about the price of gas.
I think a better form of protest for their cause would have been to organize all the truckers to stop driving for a day, like they did in Syracuse. This would show that they were serious about their cause, and it would make more sense in terms of proving that conserving gas is important to them.
I mean, it is hard to miss a line of 100 dump trucks circling the U.S. Capitol honking their horns as obnoxiously as possible. The trucks held up traffic and exposed hundreds of tourists to excessive noise pollution. The truckers were protesting the raising costs of diesel fuel. They are upset because they are given a fixed amount from their respective companies to spend on gas, so when the prices keep rising, they have to make up for it out of their pockets.
I might just be bitter because the protest made it difficult to cross Constitution Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, and my ears are still ringing from all that honking. But I do not think this was the most effective example of nonviolent protest. I hate to think about all the gas the truck drivers wasted by circling the U.S. Capitol a number of times. I think it went against their argument that they were really concerned about the price of gas.
I think a better form of protest for their cause would have been to organize all the truckers to stop driving for a day, like they did in Syracuse. This would show that they were serious about their cause, and it would make more sense in terms of proving that conserving gas is important to them.
