We have discussed this before. Reggie is quite right to point out that you can get sidelined at festivals and in other situations if you are not amplified. My problem with the "Go back and get a bigger stick" philosophy is that it will inevitably result in busking being banned in more places. In the meantime, only one sort of busker will be able to survive - namely the loud one. I do not want to join in. If this trend prevails, busking will not produce any new Pete Morton, Kieren Goss, Don Partridge or Phil Free. At the end of the day, a lot of "Street Performer Festivals" are nothing of the sort. They feature loudly amplified acts which would be forbidden (understandably so) in most places at most times.
I do not want to be bigoted about this. I can see the point of using very low level amplification for a harp or a classical guitar - with the proviso that the volume level is there to make music audible rather than to hog space. Unless we buskers know where to draw the line here, others will do it for us.
You sound like an interesting bloke Reggie. Maybe we should PM and swap notes?