On Picketing
Picketing has become a common form of protest.The organizers and participants claim that blocking streets is the only effective way to draw public attention to a cause while other people sustain it does nothing but undermine the constitutional right of free circulation.
Firstly, opponents of picketing usually argue that new ways of protest should be thought of. As they see it, the circulation of citizens is a right that must be granted at all costs. Consequently, demonstrations in stadiums or big open areas ought to be encouraged. Besides, the public force should not hesitate to use riot control measures so as to discourage the blocking of streets.
Secondly, the media strongly disagrees with picketing. Whenever a block on any street is broadcast, the focus is always set on the chaos the city’s traffic has been turned into rather than on the picketers’ demands. The reports usually include interviews with drivers who have been prevented from going through and are, thus, furious and cannot provide a balanced reflection.
In contrast, a part of society manages to understand that picketers represent the lower classes, unemployed or underpaid workers, young mothers, and such other people who tend to be ignored by most. As Eduardo Galeano (1) calls them, the “nobodies,...those who are not, even though they are, those who are not human beings but rather human resources.” Therefore, the best course of action they have found to be heard is annoying fellow citizens.
Furthermore, all citizens have rights and it is hard, if not impossible, to decide whether some outweigh others. The right to the circulation of people is an example, but so is the right to equal treatment. Nourishment and housing as well as a decent job are connected with survival. Although it is the State’s obligation to respect, protect and fulfil these rights’ essential features, not always do priorities benefit the weakest.
All things considered, it must be said that having a clear stand on picketing seems hard as far as its appropriateness and effectiveness are concerned. As I see it, the right to hold demonstrations must be treasured as much as any other. All citizens are equal and it is our duty not to let individualism prevail.
