Tax Day Becomes Protest Day - How the tea parties could change American politics


From the Wall Street Journal:

Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies -- dubbed "tea parties" -- to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. There is no political party behind these rallies, no grand right-wing conspiracy, not even a 501(c) group like MoveOn.org.

A rally and march in protest of higher taxes in Santa Barbara, Calif., April 4.


So who's behind the Tax Day tea parties? Ordinary folks who are using the power of the Internet to organize. For a number of years, techno-geeks have been organizing "flash crowds" -- groups of people, coordinated by text or cellphone, who converge on a particular location and then do something silly, like the pillow fights that popped up in 50 cities earlier this month. This is part of a general phenomenon dubbed "Smart Mobs" by Howard Rheingold, author of a book by the same title, in which modern communications and social-networking technologies allow quick coordination among large numbers of people who don't know each other.


Best believe I will be at my local protest this afternoon in Salt Lake City. I'm sure turn out will be great, based on how many people have been searching for it on google alone. There have also been plenty of people on my previous post mocking the tea parties. It won't be long until they are forced to pay attention to the people of this great country who don't agree with this reckless government spending. With over 300 protests planned, we are sure to get noticed.

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