Strikes and Demonstrations are a daily feature of life in Buenos Aires. This small but astonishingly loud one is being kept in bounds by a dozen cops. It's noisy but peaceful, if that makes sense.

The demonstrators today happen to be a group called El Brote (link in Spanish) that, near as I can figure out, is a group of actors who are also mental patients. I never managed to get exactly why they were demonstrating. Something about community trauma and mental health.

A favorite tactic is to hold demonstrations in arterial streets during rush hour, slowing traffic and increasing congestion. I rode with normally cheerful taxi drivers, whose demeanor went completely to hell whenever they ran into one of these messes. Here at El Brote's demonstration, a policeman directs traffic into the two remaining lanes of a four-lane street. Look at all those cabs! They are not happy.

Police don't harass or break up such events. They seek cooperation or at least truce with demonstrators. This is a matter of policy. The State has lost all credibility ever since the Dirty War, and the people simply won't tolerate strong arm tactics by police or military. Authorities look back nervously at the riots during the collapse of the peso and tell the cops to back off.

Some demonstrations have a sinister feel. Late one night I rode in a taxi past the Plaza de la República where scores of muscular young men stood shoulder-to-shoulder in black tee shirts and jeans, wearing black hoods over their heads, holding three-foot crowbars at port arms. Hundreds of police stood across the street, keeping their distance. The taxista wouldn't stop for me to photograph.

A demonstration in front of Casa Rosada, the Argentinean White House, has been running for weeks. Casino workers are on strike. Demonstrators live in tents on the plaza.

A couple of scout troops visited the demonstration. A troop leader told me they were learning about how social and political change is made in their country.

Sounds ominous, but like kids everywhere, they could care less about politics. They're on an outing, having a good time, and mugging for the gringo shooting pictures.

Peace, man.

Labor unrest in Argentina is serious. The failings of the economic system are serious. People are angry. Engage a Porteño in conversation, and the topic will always be politics. One told me the national sport was not polo, it was complaining.

The protesters are or were recently employed for the most part. Another group has not had jobs nor will they anytime soon.

They gather in groups on street corners, but they are not demonstrating. They don't have the resources to do that. They wait for businesses to put out the garbage. They paw through sacks, looking for anything recyclable. They eke out a living, hope gone. Heaven help Argentina if someone comes along to lead them.