Our democracy, like any other human endeavor, is imperfect.
Supposedly democracy allows for the grievances of people to be heard. It allows for the pain of the majority to be addressed. It allows us to elect/appoint representatives to act on the people's behalf.
But sometimes things break down. The system doesn't work as intended.
Sometimes the democratic system is overtaken by a very powerful & wealthy minority. They change the rules of the game so that the wishes of the people are not transformed into policy.
You can vote till your feet are tired and your index finger falls off. Sometimes democracy means more than voting. Sometimes it means more than walking precincts. Or contributing several percentages of your income to candidates opposed by big money.
Sometimes you have to change the system because the system has been rigged to make you lose.
The rules say you need to have a list of demands.
The pundit class, liberal and otherwise, scoffs "they aren't organized enough to have a list of demands."
The experienced politicians try to explain away the reasons.
These rallies weren't organized.
They are an expression of a deeply felt emotion. By you. By me. By liberals. By Conservatives even: THE RULES DO NOT WORK!
We may be against the Afghan war...our longest war...but do our politicians hear us? We could replace every democrat and republican in the legislative branch, it would continue. WHY?
We could replace everyone in the white house and supreme court, but that will not get us closer to limiting the wealthy/the corporations from controlling the agenda.
We have more aircraft carriers than the rest of the world combined. Yet we are building new ones..... While our leaders on both sides whine about not wanting/being able to spend money on our seniors' Medicare.
We need the rules to be rewritten. That is why we protest.