2 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Protest? It's Strictly Business
Joseph Epstein rightly laments society's moral decline in 'Protest Isn't What It Used to Be' (op-ed, May 30). Yet he searches for the underlying cause in the wrong location, as hate and prejudice have always been an integral part of our condition. What has changed in recent years is threefold. First are the effects of social media, which through its anonymity has supercharged the viciousness of the town square. Second is the development of a permanent cadre of disaffected people who look to inclusion in any cause that seeks to attack the system into which they so poorly fit. And third is myriad organizations and deep-pocketed activists who have harnessed the social unrest through financial support and incentives for the disaffected serial protester. In the end, protest isn't personal anymore; it's strictly business.
Pete Gurney
