What was the Purpose of the Womens March on Washington?

On Facebook, someone asked what the Womens March on Washington was for. Here’s my take.

Respect Women

Different people were there for different reasons. The core message that I received was: Respect Women. Mainly, end the adolescent disrespect that Trump displayed in his life and words in his life and in his campaign.

There was a lot of anti-Trump sentiment- but I don’t know if it was 20% or 99%. Another core message was feminism- that all people are equal and should be respected. There were also many messages of solidarity, support for between all minorities, including Muslims and immigrants.

A huge number of people, a small percentage

It was only a few million people (one estimate was about 4 million worldwide). The sizes of the crowds were staggering, filling maybe 10 football stadiums in Washington and 4-5 in L.A. plus many, many other places!

On the other hand, there were 60 million who voted for HRC, so the U.S. crowds could have been populated by about a 20th of Democrat voters. There are 240 or so million adults in the US, so it was maybe 1% of citizens. It could be dismissed as merely another out-of-touch liberal action.

Was there no goal?

Like Occupy, I heard and saw no sign of a designed goal. Trump and his friends can easily ignore it.

The upside: It gives progressives positive energy, camaraderie and vents frustration.

The downside: It took energy and it might lull the people who marched into thinking they made a powerful statement, so they need not be too wary.

What could the Womens March have accomplished?

If I had designed the march, I would have focused it on a particular goal. A great one would be passing the ERA. Apparently over 90% of Americans think we need something like it. And I would have made a way for non-demonstrators to participate. It could have united most of the country, but it didn’t.

Of course, the ideal way to unite the country would be to fund PeopleCount.org. If the participants of today’s march had each contributed $1…

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About Rand Strauss

Rand Strauss is the Founder of PeopleCount.org, a nonpartisan plan to enable the public to communicate constructively with each other and government by taking stands on crucial political issues. It will enable us to hold government accountable and have it be an expression of our will. Connect with Rand and PeopleCount.org on Facebook. Or leave a comment on an article (they won't display until approved.)

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