&gt; it can be frustrating for people who agree with the underlying principles behind protests but think the execution is disheartening and misguided<p>I agree, but I also know that Martin Luther King got the same response; he was unpopular at the time; see his Letter From a Birmingham Jail [1] for his excellent description of his point of view. [EDIT: Covered in much more detail in my other post [2]] From the perspective of the challangers, our status quo beliefs and approach aren&#x27;t delivering. From the perspective of many social theorists, nothing really changes until you up end the current order. As long as the status quo can sit comfortably at their desks and on their sofas, they won&#x27;t be motivated to change. I haven&#x27;t studied the question, but that seems plausible to me.<p>I don&#x27;t know enough about these protests and their issues to form an opinion yet; I&#x27;m just not going to reject them because they are disruptive to my ideas. In fact, no matter what I end up thinking about them, it&#x27;s a good opportunity for me to re-examine my own beliefs.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.africa.upenn.edu&#x2F;Articles_Gen&#x2F;Letter_Birmingham.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.africa.upenn.edu&#x2F;Articles_Gen&#x2F;Letter_Birmingham.h...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10571341" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10571341</a>