Imagine what a dynamic power shift we would see if the people who kept the peace during demonstrations were volunteers. Perhaps Quakers and people with a real penchant for non-violence should be sought out and recruited.
And if we got used to the idea and started to like it, a few years down the road we might arrange a special stipend or awards for those special people who bother to get out into the streets, rain or shine, to demonstrate for peace and justice and the empowerment of the weak.
could also attract soldier of fortune reading wierdos, people who like to bully others, people who hate activists, people looking for an excuse to be violent etc...
might work, could be a disaster. worth looking at though.
or maybe part of the protest should volunteer, like marshals do but more of them, to be on watch should there be an out of control situation of some sort, instead of having an outside group come in a try to enforce things.
I like your idea of more parade marshals.
Money corrupts the whole situation. You can imagine the thousands of cops visiting us from near and far got a pretty good chunk of change for their travel allowance and hardship and overtime and all.
With the heads of the world's richest governments protected by well-paid gangs of darth vader look-alikes, we couldn't have expected much better than we got in Toronto during the G20. This kind of situation has to change if we are to progress.
As Frank Zappa once said, "Somebody has to do something and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us."
They tried that already. The "specials" hired to beat strikers in Winnipeg in 1919.
And the Black and Tans who were sent in to Ireland by the British in 1920-1921 specifically to terrorize the population.
