I have to say I don't support the protest because it's unnecessary. There are plenty of people urging an end to fossil fuel extraction so the message is well and truly out there without the need for such vandalism.
Extinction Rebellion maintain that nobody is taking the accelerating climate breakdown seriously enough and they're making these dramatic protests to bring some urgency to the situation.
They've also thrown paint at valuable paintings, halted traffic on the M25 motorway, halted public transport, blocked oil facilities and glued themselves to buildings and roads.
It all generates eye-catching media headlines, but what has it actually achieved? Fossil fuel extraction is still going on at the same rate, or even increasing according to some reports.
Some of the protests have caused serious problems for those caught up in them. During the motorway protests people were unable to get to work, unable to keep hospital appointments or have operations, and unable to reach dying relatives. Not surprisingly, a majority of the public disapprove of these protests.
I'm not dogmatically against political protests. In the right circumstances and carried out in the right way, they can be very effective. I remember taking part in the poll tax protests in London in 1990, which ended in a riot and helped bring about the cancellation of the new tax.
But disrupting people's everyday lives to make an already well-publicised point is never going to be popular.
Pic: Barclays Bank, Belfast city centre
Have the protesters thought of the resources that are being wasted to clean up their messes? Besides the gas wasted by those having to sit in traffic, etc.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Indeed, the amount of petrol wasted sitting in traffic jams must be huge. And the motorway protests don't focus on the politicians and corporations who can actually do something substantial.
DeleteThe only effective protest is one that targets the actual people responsible and puts the fear of God into them. But this involves real confrontation and private security will not be as 'understanding' as the police and as on private property the Supreme Court's ruling re protest will not apply.
ReplyDeleteFly: Yes, I haven't seen any protesters in parliament or outside government offices. That would be more to the point.
DeleteIt's very, very difficult with the planet in its extinction phase and absolutely nothing being done to curb population explosions and unending fossil fuel consumption. What is a good method of attention getting to call attention to an absolute death spiral?
ReplyDeleteXO
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www: It's a big dilemma. I'm sure millions of people want corporations and politicians to do much more than they're doing at present, but how do we send a rocket up their arses?
DeleteI don't think they are trying to be popular. Neither are they simply protesting. They are trying to provoke the riot that brings about change. Sadly, governments (and people) don't change quickly based on facts. Change is moving too slow, people are reluctant to allow the needed changes. Young people have no patience for foot dragging. I'm not saying I agree with what they are doing, it seems extreme. But I do understand their sense of frustration. Sadly, quiet protests don't always get the media attention.
ReplyDeleteColette: Unfortunately the British aren't keen on rioting, but yes, the glacial progress of climate measures is deeply frustrating to many people. Politicians are terrified of doing anything that might alienate the voters.
DeleteColette is right. They don't want to be popular, they want to disrupt the way things are done because the way things are done is going to destroy us. There is no time left.
DeleteIt's not even young hooligans in XR, many of the arrested people are grandmothers.
I am not actively involved but I am a member of XR and I understand the desperation
Kylie: Oh, I understand the desperation too, but I don't see how throwing paint at a bank is going to galvanise the politicians and corporations. And yes, a lot of grandmothers are worried enough to join in.
DeleteI can't put into words what I would do to those people. I would like to ask them how they travelled to the places to cause disruption, how they aquired the clothes they were wearing, how they obtained the food they would eat during the day. In an ideal world we wouldn't be using fossil fuels, but we are far from an ideal world, and with the world population recently reaching 10 million we never will get there.
ReplyDeletePolly: Exactly, oil is essential to so many things - public transport, synthetic clothing, everything that includes plastic - there's no way you can just stop using oil tomorrow. They're just hopeless idealists.
DeleteThey are Nick. I got the population wrong, it's ten billion !!
DeletePolly: Yes, I noticed that. A global population of a mere ten million would totally avoid climate breakdown!
DeleteIt's 8 billion, not 10, but it's still growing. Some predictions say it will level off at some point, say ten billion, then decrease. But a lot of damage will be done by then.
DeleteJean: If the global population was at its 1900 level (2 billion), climate breakdown would be unheard of.
DeleteAll that effort going the wrong places does more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteLinda Sand
Linda: Well said. They could put their energies to much better use.
DeleteThat was pretty dumb of them.
ReplyDeleteMary: It was. They really haven't thought through what they're doing.
DeleteI don't think their method of protest works, it might even produce the opposite effect in the public. I think that by now we are all aware of the problem, and we should now make better individual choices when we can.
ReplyDeleteThe Government should force house builders to install solar panels, and oil giants should be forced to pay more tax - they shouldn't be allowed to make huge profits because of the Ukraine war - it's sick.
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Ms Scarlet: Solar panels on all new houses is a great idea. Likewise a substantial windfall tax on Big Oil. But this government doesn't like to interfere too much with company profits.
DeleteSome people just enjoy being assholes, destroying things, and harassing people. If they can glom onto some "cause" which makes them feel virtuous while doing so, then so much the better. If it hadn't been climate change, they might have joined a neo-Nazi group or a religious-fanatic group or whatever presented itself.
ReplyDeleteThe authorities do need to be far more aggressive in keeping the roads clear. Letting these assholes harass the public like this is intolerable.
Infidel: I agree, I think some people are just looking for a cause that justifies their hooliganism. And yes, they shouldn't be allowed to block major roads with all the anti-social consequences.
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