Mobilizing people for mass actions require specialized skills in organization, crowd control, safety and security, effective propaganda and resource management. But before this could even be done, the people participating, whether volunteers or otherwise, must be convinced of the objectives of such mass actions and their role in effecting change, reforms or even the status quo.
While mass actions are effective means of propaganda, the messages conveyed through the streamers, placards, T-shirts and voices of participants must be read and looked into. They represent the sentiments of the group regardless of the true intention of the organizer.
It is clear that whenever there are mass actions, we should beyond the propaganda. We must also look into the underlying motives behind such mass actions. They may be for a legitimate cause, visibility for a group, political propaganda or simply an exercise of one's freedom of expression.
By doing our homework, we will be empowered as citizens by there mass actions. A good example in history was the People Power of 1986. Many mass actions were staged until the final salvo was realized by mere coincidence when a revolt initiated by a group of young and idealistic military officers was supported by leaders of the establishment and the Catholic Church. Of course, this was fortified by foreign intervention with the eventual diplomatic recognition of the revolutionary government by the international community of nations.
The rest is history.
Sent from my BlackBerry®
