As expected, protests at the G20 have gotten violent. Tonight it is being reported by several news sources that a man is dead as a result of the protests. I haven’t been able to find out yet if it was accidental, police induced, or stupid protestor induced–usually when there is little or no information, it is accidental (as in had a heart attack or got too dehydrated or something). But we’ll have to wait and see, I guess.

Here is what MSNBC is saying about the protests:

I tend to be very conflicted by protests. On the one had, I am your basic scary frightening anti-capitalist and support the right of any human being (including conservatives!) to protest the government that they live under. On the other hand, I’ve tended to notice through the years of going to protests and/or documenting them, that a very large portion of the violence starts with young men. Which, to me, speaks volumes about how protests become gendered and disconnected from anti-violence movements.

What do these protests hope to achieve (outside of the death of capitalism?)? And has a protest ever led to the down fall of a structure of living? Or has building a new structure to replace the old had to happen first?

Although I am critical–I hope that everybody is ok–and that the man who is dead was not murdered. I also hope that somewhere there is a world leader that is paying attention to what *the people* are saying is important to them.