system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I believe that non-violent protests are pointless. CMV.

I feel like non-violent protests don't accomplish much besides wasting the time of protesters and their resources. Governments and corporations are marginally affected and as soon as people and the media lose interest they will continue about their business.

For example, In Bulgaria, there have been protests against government corruption for over 3 months, but the government refuses to aknowledge them.

In Romania, there have been anti-corporation protests for almost 2 months with not much success, the government actually protecting the interests of corporations.

I could also mention the Occupy movement that hasn't had much success up until now.

I think they should push harder for what they want and at least intimidate the entity they are protesting against. I'm not an advocate of violence but protesters should use at least a modicum of force when they have a clear, defined goal in mind.
gpt
It's almost never about getting the actual opponent to change their views.  The KKK did not look at MLK's marches and think, "You know what, he might be right!"  The purpose of non-violent protests is for moderates.  If you read MLK's letter from the Birmingham Jail, he explains this in detail.  When an extreme and erroneous view is the status quo, this will generally remain that way long after it's time has passed, unless there is something that forces people to confront this injustice.  White moderates, a large part of the population, were content to let the status quo of racism to continue simply by virtue of it being the path of least resistance.  MLK and others forced them to contend with the injustice their inaction propagated, and this created the necessary change.

In Bulgaria, they aren't trying to convince the government of jack shit.  They're trying to get so much public support from their fellow citizens that it's simply impossible for the government to continue their practices.

The Occupy movement, while not particularly effective, got the discussion going on a massive scale.  Almost every person in the US now knows about class warfare, about corporate money in politics, and things of that nature.  Things like the Glass-Steagall Act and Citizens United are very well known.  This influences the electorate, and thus influences the direction of our country.  The government and corporations don't have to recognize OWS, the public does.