Resistance is Fertile?

They're rioting in Athens. Still.

The protestors are calling for Europe-wide protests, and 'resistance' (in four languages - although from the picture at right it appears they misspelled the German). Cool. But protests against what? Resistance to what? Prime Minister Karamanlis conceded in parliament that "long-unresolved problems, such as the lack of meritocracy, corruption in everyday life and a sense of social injustice disappoint young people." Well of course. Twas ever thus. And if they keep it up, the demonstrators might just get Karamanlis out of office, without otherwise making much difference on those issues.

But the call for a broader European resistance shows that they realize that the forces that are 'disappointing' them are much wider, much more diffuse. Transnational. Abstract concepts that nevertheless have real, local, socially difficult consequences, like globalization. Well - how do you 'resist' the times we live in? What happens as a result of protesting against them? Time to get real, people. Time to start planning for, and building, the different society you want. Protests won't build it. Resistance won't build it.

On the other hand, protests and resistance can build community, and communities can build it. So, protest away. But after the protests, take that momentum and the new connections you have forged and build something new.