I'm really pleased someone started this thread. Not only has it been thought provoking, but it has been strangely comforting to find there are others with the same concerns as myself.
Looking back I don't think that the songs themselves actually changed anything. They were allied with, and used by, National Movements for political and social change that today would seem impossible. The songs were a way of making people aware of what was going on, and often (perhaps still are) a way of conveying what a singer or song writer felt about something. When a listener is able to identify with and feel empathy for this feeling, then the song becomes an extremely powerful means of communication.
There have been several references to Michael Moore. Moore has obviously tapped into a huge well-spring of disquiet over what is happening. not only in the US but world wide. On this basis alone it seems to me that there is already a world wide 'protest movement' that might at any moment be galvanised over an issue, particularly as today we also have the Internet. By this means a good song could reach a worldwide audience almost immediately, and be picked up by a huge number of individual singers. It just needs that catalyst.
Perhaps too we should expect methods of protest to change. Tucked away on the BBC website is a story that "Boycotts by ethical shoppers cost big brands at least £2.6bn" I find this interesting particularly as I was not aware of anybody co-ordinating such a campaign for ethical shopping
Naturally as a 'late boomer' and veteran of various sit-ins and marches, the thought immediately struck me that if this were extended to any multi-national corporation that was seen to be supporting a particular politician or party then they could be vulnerable across the world. Much in the way that South African goods were boycotted during the Apartheid Era.
Tell me the name of a company that supports Bush or funds his party, and I will be delighted to boycott their products on this side of the pond. I'll also be happy to write to the shop and tell them why I won't be shopping at their premises any more. Anyone care to join me? Turn that £2.6bn into £260bn and the buggers will soon start to sweat.
Kendall, in answer to your question I think there's still plenty to protest about, and from the responses you've prompted here, there seem to be a fair few of us that are prepared to protest more than we do. Maybe we just need to update the ways we do it! Maybe the songs too have a diffrerent role