Bruce Weinstein sends along his latest column in Business Week, "The Ethics of Protesting."

A Code of Ethics for Protesting

Yes, we have a responsibility to speak up when we are upset by what's going on in the world, but there are better and worse ways to do it, from both ethical and practical perspectives. The goal of any protest is a moral one: to make things better (BusinessWeek.com, 1/18/07). However, this concern must be balanced against the ethical obligations to do no harm (BusinessWeek.com, 1/11/07), respect others (BusinessWeek.com, 1/31/07), and be fair (BusinessWeek.com, 2/15/07). With these concerns in mind, I propose the following code of ethics for those on either side of the forthcoming protests:

1. Obey the law, or be willing to accept the consequences. ...

2. Be tolerant. ...

3. Being respectful increases the chances that you'll get you what you want. ...

4. Accept that fairness is a bedrock of democracy. ...

5. Recognize that our eyes are on the same prize. ...

6. Spend your money. ...

I love Bruce. His faith in humanity is almost palpable! Is he wrong to think he is talking to people who have some quantum of moral judgment, perspective, or common sense, as opposed to people like this?:

Well, it's not really all that bad. In fact, there's plenty of evidence that, the contemptible creeps at this link notwithstanding, a sunny afternoon spent at impotent, self-gratifying political "protests" is considered a healthy, affordable and fun family outing among certain cadres of suburban Stalinists as well as those geriatric hippies for whom it is always 1968 both in their hearts and their hampers.

Those toothless and tender types, I imagine, are Bruce's intended audience... reading Business Week both to identify the fat cat villains and also have nice block letters to cut out. Man the barricades for good manners and just plain decency!

Hat tip to Pam for the links to the street scrapings.

Originally posted under protest on Ron Coleman's Likelihood of Success blog.