Junior Tommy Fieser postponed his Facebook event for a “Pointless Protest,” in reaction to the responses and controversy it has generated.
The protest was supposed to take place Sept. 30 on The Quad, but in response to the criticism, Fieser changed the name to Project Positive Propagation, which is a new event.
Fieser says he now is rethinking the project entirely but he still wants to get students to critically reflect on their lives.
Fieser says he decided to change the name because while it originally was called Pointless Protest, it did have a point, so the name did not fit the project.
“I’m trying to break people out of their everyday, monotonous routine, to think outside the box,” Fieser said.
Fieser says some people reacted negatively to his use of the phrases, “Everything is arbitrary — do whatever you care about,” and, “Nothing really matters,” in relation to the project. However, Fieser says what he meant by these phrases is people should spend time doing what they want as opposed to doing things that do not matter to them.
Fieser say she finds it interesting that some of the most liberal students at Truman were the people most opposed to the Pointless Protest. He says even though the event did not happen, he is glad it generated so much conversation.
“I’m glad that it sparked controversy.I think that’s why we are here on Earth, to experiment with social boundaries and to question every day what it means to live life.”
– Tommy Fieser, creator of Project Positive Propagation
Fieser says he got the idea for the project at a Burning Man event called Interfuse last May. He says his friend, who also was at Interfuse, was walking around with signs that says things like, “Nothing matters,” and, “Why am I here?”
Fieser says this was his vision for the Pointless Protest, but after receiving negative feedback, he is rethinking what he wants to do with Project Positive Propagation. He says the Pointless Protest has evolved into this new project, and he is not sure how it will all turn out. He says he hopes to host an event during the next two or three weeks.