ACAB at XR protest

[DrGreggles]

mildly inconvenient

There it is again.

[Buelligan]

Why should they have to? The reason they would take that route in the first place is that it's the quickest and most direct way to the hospital.
Also longer journeys use more fuel. Why would they want all those vehicles to use more fuel?

But they didn't - it's in the article, and they absolved themselves of any responsibility.
Plus no consideration was given to doctors, patients, medical staff or anyone else.

So, as I asked before, how does blocking roads and vandalism help save the planet?
Almost as if they're only interested in disruption and vandalism...

Yes.  That's it.  Bang on.  Disruption and vandalism are the only things that interest us.

It is pretty bad, mind, last April (during lockdown whilst Cummings was testing his eyes) they used chalk spray on the BP Institute to mark 10 years since the Deepwater Horizon spill.


<sub>Vandalism


Capitalism</sub>

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/extinction-rebellion-protest-coronavirus-bp-18124471
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill

[bgmnts]

There it is again.

Well yeah they're the two words which perfectly sum up peoples' problem with protesting and activism aren't they?

[BlodwynPig]

Why should they have to? The reason they would take that route in the first place is that it's the quickest and most direct way to the hospital.
Also longer journeys use more fuel. Why would they want all those vehicles to use more fuel?

But they didn't - it's in the article, and they absolved themselves of any responsibility.
Plus no consideration was given to doctors, patients, medical staff or anyone else.

So, as I asked before, how does blocking roads and vandalism help save the planet?
Almost as if they're only interested in disruption and vandalism...

What if the ambulance was carrying baby hitler to ICU?

[Flouncer]

Why should they have to? The reason they would take that route in the first place is that it's the quickest and most direct way to the hospital.

I used to live near a hospital and once a year, the main road that ambulances use all the time would be shut for the Great North Run. These things happen, all the time, and for much less important reasons. I'm not doubting your personal experience; you mentioned earlier an XR protest causing chaos at your hospital, and all main roads leading to a particular hospital being blocked by a protest. That's extremely poor planning on the part of the organisers and it could surely have been done in a different way that caused less disruption to ambulances.

So, as I asked before, how does blocking roads and vandalism help save the planet?
Almost as if they're only interested in disruption and vandalism...

Well it's a means to an end, isn't it? We live in a society that is hurtling towards its own destruction and nobody seems to give a fuck; the government just pay lip service to environmentalism whilst doing nothing to stop climate change. These people are obviously frustrated and upset that our capitalist system doesn't give a fuck about their concerns or even the long-term survival of the human race. They're running out of options because nothing seems to make a difference, so they've (quite understandably in my view) decided that their only recourse is to cause a fuss and hope that people take notice.

[DrGreggles]

Yes.  That's it.  Bang on.  Disruption and vandalism are the only things that interest us.

What good is it doing? How is it helping?

[Sin Agog]

What good is it doing? How is it helping?

People have been talking about climate emergencies way more since XR reared its head.  That's largely to do with how impossible extreme weather patterns have made it to ignore, but I genuinely think they also brought the issue to the lips of people who'd otherwise never discuss the matter.  Whether in a flash-in-the-pan internet zeitgeisty way or more substantially we are yet to see.

[Buelligan]

That's undoubtedly true.  And what else can we do?  Britain is just beginning to be affected by the problems associated with the death of our planet.  There are lots of places far more seriously affected.  What should people do, wait until we're all dying before asking if the government is doing anything about PPE?

[DrGreggles]

People have been talking about climate emergencies way more since XR reared its head.  That's largely to do with how impossible extreme weather patterns have made it to ignore, but I genuinely think they also brought the issue to the lips of people who'd otherwise never discuss the matter.  Whether in a flash-in-the-pan internet zeitgeisty way or more substantially we are yet to see.

Really? I think most of the discussion has been over how they protest rather than why they're protesting.
I'd say that the vast majority of the people they disrupt are aware of climate change and the need to save the planet, but surely the ones they need to target are the government or banks or oil companies.

I fail to see how blocking the road to a hospital or vandalising an old university building will help anything.

[Buelligan]

OK, what would help?  What do you believe is the way forward?

[idunnosomename]

There was one video of tom harwood the little lickspittle bollocks at horseferry rd waving his arms about about XE where the ambulance is clearly blocked from getting to St Thomas' by the police vans blocking the bridge

[Buelligan]

Frankly, I can't wait for the apocalypse.  I'll be there, with my sweatband, combats, bow and arrow, creeping barefooted on my horny feet through the rubble, when I find Tom Harwood, prostrate, trembling and tear stained in the ruins of Hackett.  I'll sling him over my shoulder and swing away into the dead power cables to offer him to the Thing.

[DrGreggles]

OK, what would help?  What do you believe is the way forward?

the ones they need to target are the government or banks or oil companies

[Buelligan]

Yes, but how.  How do you suggest they go about that?

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Surely we need some balance and perspective about this - otherwise, why not just ban all traffic from any road that might impede an ambulance.  We don't do that because we recognise that there is not ever just one priority.

This is beautifully put, by the way.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Distancing themselves from being socialist (they never ruled out being capitalist) seems like a huge misstep, given the power of unions in both fighting climate change and working at societal fairness (admittedly not their core aim). But I guess you only need to look at their plastic bag dance to see they are mostly a band of white liberals.

[solidified gruel merchant]

but surely the ones they need to target are the government or banks or oil companies.

I bet they haven't even considered that, the scruffy herberts. You should write to their head office..

[Buelligan]

Distancing themselves from being socialist (they never ruled out being capitalist) seems like a huge misstep, given the power of unions in both fighting climate change and working at societal fairness (admittedly not their core aim). But I guess you only need to look at their plastic bag dance to see they are mostly a band of white liberals.

I agree.  If you've not watched Novara's take, it's worth your while.  I think Aaron Bastani makes some good points (as ever). 

This is beautifully put, by the way.

*blushes*

[DrGreggles]

Yes, but how.  How do you suggest they go about that?

Why don't they block the roads leading to their offices?
Or vandalise their buildings?

[Buelligan]

Well, I think they do.  And whilst we're on this - this vandalism - it was chalk spray, as I've already mentioned several times.  Chalk spray against 11 established deaths and an environmental disaster that's ongoing after a decade and affected huge swathes of the planet as well as destroying enormous numbers of creatures, hundreds if not thousands of peoples' livelihoods and dangerously polluting the ocean.

But please, be more specific about what you think people should do about this because it affects you and your family.  It's as important as anything ever gets and we need to find a way forward that works.

[Icehaven]

As some of you know I work in the energy industry on the public sector consumer side, so I know just how fucked the planet is and how little we're all doing to try and save it (I've also been banging on for literally years on here about the main elephant in the room - population - which will potentially do us in long before climate change will) so I'm all for these protests, but blocking emergency services is not okay in my book.  In one of the threads last year I mentioned a local story where a child died in an ambulance that was being blocked by protesters who laid down on the ground all around it, and they also prevented extra paramedic help from getting to that ambulance.  I can't remember exactly what the ailment was, but it was something that the child would probably have survived if they made it to the hospital.

"LOL, dead child, one less person to destroy the planet" were some of the obvious responses, and I acknowledge that it contradicts my own general view about the earth's population being out of control, but whatever - LOL, dead child, one less, etc.

Whether it actually happened or not, anyone applauding this incident as it resulted in there being one less person to destroy the planet should really be saying the ambulance should have run over the protestors, as then there'd be several less people to destroy the planet rather than just one. I mean ideally by their logic the kid would still have died too, but at least if some other planet destroyers had been squashed under an ambulance then it would more than make up for it if the child survived

[solidified gruel merchant]

Whether it actually happened or not, anyone applauding this incident as it resulted in there being one less person to destroy the planet should really be saying the ambulance should have run over the protestors, as then there'd be several less people to destroy the planet rather than just one. I mean ideally by their logic the kid would still have died too, but at least if some other planet destroyers had been squashed under an ambulance then it would more than make up for it if the child survived

I mean it's just classic dehumanising tactics isn't it.
People who give up their free time to protest about the destruction of the planet tend by their very nature to be caring empathic people. Does even the most fervent anti protester really think that the reaction of these protesters to their actions directly causing the death of a child would be "hahaha good!"
I mean it's playground level slurs that don't hold up to the most basic application of logic.
Not that any of it happened anyway..

[DrGreggles]

Chalk spray against 11 established deaths and an environmental disaster that's ongoing after a decade and affected huge swathes of the planet as well as destroying enormous numbers of creatures, peoples' livelihoods and dangerously polluting the ocean.

Some chalk spray pictured earlier...


The university caused 11 established deaths and an environmental disaster? The bastards!

That you're still talking about why they're protesting rather than how the're protesting suggests that, either deliberately or otherwise, you're failing to take on board what I've been saying.

[Dex Sawash]

Nothing wrong with destroying TERFs


edit- some twat's used an inappropriate shovel though. Glad poor mook is probably not able to see that (from prison)

[solidified gruel merchant]

Making the grass a bit muddy at one of our finest universities is definitely not how to get The Great British Public onside.

[solidified gruel merchant]

Nobody show him the picture of winston Churchill with a cone on his head, for gawds sake!!!

[DrGreggles]

Making the grass a bit muddy at one of our finest universities is definitely not how to get The Great British Public onside.

Just an example of some non-chalk spray vandalism.
Google will gladly provide you other images for you to wank over.

[solidified gruel merchant]

Just an example of some non-chalk spray vandalism.
Google will gladly provide you other images for you to wank over.

But it's the message that turns me on..

[Fambo Number Mive]

Yes, but how.  How do you suggest they go about that?

I think the Sun disruption works a lot better as it inconveniences the Establishment, who don't care if roads are blocked in Bristol or Cambridge. Anyone who isn't a Sun or Telegraph reader will probably be behind that kind of action. Whereas alienating ordinary people by blocking roads doesn't really help much. If the printing presses for the Sun, Times and Telegraph were blocked once a week it might make Murdoch and his friends in the government reconsider their support for actions that speed up climate change.

Slightly off topic - one of the issues caused by the pandemic is more people using cars and less people using public transport. An increase in car use, as well as increasing pollution, also makes it less safe for cyclists. Once we have a vaccine, I hope XR will strongly oppose any public transport cuts. That would also get a lot of ordinary people behind them.

[Poisson Du Jour]

the government or banks or oil companies.

If the bankers the bonuses the bankers the bonuses it's disgusting, and if the tories are serious about it then they'd tax the bankers the bonuses to 90%.