DO PUBLIC PROTESTS DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD?

In every democratic country, people have the right to protest. Protests can be described as a way of demonstrating against unpleasant situations. For example, when a government levies a tax on technological devices or fuel, people living in a country governed by democracy have the right to protest  the tax. However, some people think that holding  public protests is  harmful rather than beneficial since some extremists can usually high jack the protest whereas others assume that public protests don't do more harm than good because people show opposition or support for issues thanks to public protests.

   Firstly, proponents of public protests argue that public protests are more beneficial for people because of various important reasons. One of the vital reasons is that protests are a democratic right. For example, when there are unpleasant things that governments do, people can (express their displeasure thanks to public protests) show that they aren't satisfied thanks to public protests. Thus, they can take a step towards changing the condition. Moreover, another important reason is that public protests enable people to become aware of unpleasant issues. Even though many people living in a democratic country don't want to obey rules, laws, or regulations that their governments established, they cannot do anything to change them. Nevertheless, when public protests are organized, many people are able to pay attention to unpleasant issues and they can contribute to efforts to change the issues.One good example is the case of the yellow vest movement in Paris. These protests have caused President Macron to rethink certain steps he had taken.

   On the other hand, some claim that public protests shouldn't be organized because public protests aren't beneficial for people. There are many kinds of important reasons why people think public protests do more harm than good. One of the reasons is that people may damage  lives and property when they protest unwanted issues. Also, they argue that public protests lead to unnecessary social upheaval. However, when people give up protesting what they don't accept or want to conform to, they have to accept everything that their governments do. Therefore, people can protest peacefuly. Also, if people don't organize a protest about unwanted conditions, I think they may lose their democratic rights.

    To conclude, whether public protests are more harmful than beneficial or not is a controversial issue because of a variety of clashing views. Although there are many supporters of public protests being more harmful, in my opinion, staging public protests is a necessary right for people because we can express our thoughts thanks to public protests.

                                                                                             

Hilal Bayirli