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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 9, 2019 11:13:13 GMT
Place du Châtelet in the exact centre of Paris has been occupied by Extinction Rebellion for the last three days. Buses and cars are out of luck, and even pedestrians who would like to cross the Pont au Change to Ile de la Cité. The demonstrators have blocked it completely. In case you haven't heard about this movement yet, it is basically a radical ecologist movement which got tired of the wimpy polite Green movements, and they say it is time to act now. We have been passively watching the gigantic plastic island in the ocean, the fish with their stomachs full of plastic, shit pouring into the rivers, pesticides covering everything, chemical accidents, etc. And so far the reaction of the world governments has been "oh well, maybe we should reduce carbon emissions a little bit, say in 5 or 10 years."
This new group says that the planet is dying now, very quickly, that younger generations are going to be totally poisoned, that the Amazonian and AFrican forests are disappearing while the world is still run by old bastards who got everything they wanted by raping the planet and it's not really their problem. That is the abridged version of their views.
Obviously, I needed to go and see it for myself. It's nice when streets are closed to traffic. Step one in reducing pollution!
i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/manif/Extinction%20012.jpg
i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/manif/Extinction%20014.jpg
The symbol of the movement is a stylised hourglass.
i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/manif/Extinction%20013.jpg
i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/manif/Extinction%20015.jpg
The militants are not very numerous but they are very well organised.
i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/manif/Extinction%20016.jpg
Even with the world ending, creative design is very important.
i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/manif/Extinction%20017.jpg
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 9, 2019 11:22:04 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 9, 2019 11:38:42 GMT
Extinction Rebellion has been extremely criticised by the yellow vest movement, which is quite normal since that movement started in opposition to an ecological tax. And that tax was of course promptly cancelled by the government since not only are we addicted to fossil fuel, we want it as cheap as possible. Right wing circles are claiming that the movement is financed by billionaires, because a foundation operated by the Kennedy family made a contribution to the American and British branches. The movement was founded in the UK and is big enough to have more than one hundred salaried employees. I suppose that is necessary because it is not possible to be a full time militant and hold a normal job at the same time. However, Extinction Rebellion France says that they have received no outside funding, have no employees, and that this operation only costs a few thousand euros. If the movement grows, that will certainly change. The yellow vests are also furious about the positive media attention while their movement is now being totally ignored as it dies out. They think it is completely unfair that no heads are being bashed in when they had their own heads bashed in. Gee, I wonder why. |
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Post by mossie on Oct 9, 2019 15:22:50 GMT
They are causing havoc in London.
I would like to see what sort of reception they would get in Moscow and Washington
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 9, 2019 15:37:58 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 9, 2019 17:43:25 GMT
A Guatemalan militant was giving a speech on the bridge. She spoke in her native language and was translated into Spanish by a Colombian and then into French by a 3rd person. That's great and gives a good idea of the universality of this movement. ... not only are we addicted to fossil fuel, we want it as cheap as possible. Of course this sort of movement and demonstrations to force the public to acknowledge the severe threats to the environment are extremely important. However, beyond knowing that cars pollute, mass fishing is killing the oceans, etc., and that some countries are promising to clean up their acts, real dialogue and conferences are crucial to figuring out a way to change course. Even if we all abandoned cars and intra-city public transportation for bicycles tomorrow, that does nothing to address our global dependence on products made from fossil fuels. And of course it's not only the products themselves, but the vast jobs economy dependent on them. Are the countries which give at least lip service to doing better actually doing anything to figure out a way how? Re: The Guardian article ~ “heaving hemp bivouacs” made my day! |
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Post by fumobici on Oct 9, 2019 19:38:31 GMT
I like it. The crisis merits their energies. I wish them every success.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 9, 2019 22:04:53 GMT
the newspaper [The Guardian] is run by Bolcheviks. Hee hee. But not so amusing is this horror list they published a few hours ago: Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions From the article: Michael Mann, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, said the findings shone a light on the role of fossil fuel companies and called on politicians at the forthcoming climate talks in Chile in December to take urgent measures to rein in their activities.
“The great tragedy of the climate crisis is that seven and a half billion people must pay the price – in the form of a degraded planet – so that a couple of dozen polluting interests can continue to make record profits. It is a great moral failing of our political system that we have allowed this to happen.”Let's hope the high visibility of the Extinction Rebellion demonstrators nudges people to pay attention and to nudge their politicians in the right direction. |
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Post by bjd on Oct 10, 2019 5:42:28 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 10, 2019 6:17:11 GMT
That is a prime example of the wishy washy attitudes all over the world. I support the environment, but I want to keep all of the advantages of the economy. Having cake and eating it.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 10, 2019 11:24:58 GMT
Yes, we had two Extinction Rebellion events here the day before yesterday - militants scaling the Jacques-Cartier bridge, bringing traffic from the South Shore (Rive-Sud) suburbs into Montréal to a halt (though the métro was operatings smoothly), and fuelling up beaufish sentiments in the gutter press. Then a demonstration in the city centre that became a sit-down strike. I took part in "die-ins" staged by Le Monde à bicyclette ... 40 years ago, though there have been anniversary die-ins more recently, but this is a more general phenomenon.
Fortunately our métro is powered by hydroelectric energy, but most of the buses are still petroleum; some are hybrid and a few are fully electric. Yes, the mess is huge and even if all transport became non-petroleum or "active" (walking, cycling, adapted modes for disabled people etc) there is a whole underbelly of wasteful postwar sprawl, in many places.
The bridge protesters were arrested, but they expected to be. An aspect of the movement I like is that so far it has been utterly peaceful. The problem as everywhere is that some elements not committed to such a strategy (black blocs, yellow vests etc) might come along.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 11, 2019 18:08:48 GMT
There was a demonstration in London and our princess xxxxx (forgot her name - youngest daughter of Léopold 3) was arrested.
How dare they ! I hope Brexit will change all that and reverting towards the lost empire will bring back respect for monarchies 😂
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 11, 2019 18:17:29 GMT
She is clearly a renegade and should be kept in chains in the Tower.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 11, 2019 18:21:33 GMT
Fortunately our métro is powered by hydroelectric energy, but most of the buses are still petroleum; some are hybrid and a few are fully electric. Yes, the mess is huge and even if all transport became non-petroleum or "active" (walking, cycling, adapted modes for disabled people etc) there is a whole underbelly of wasteful postwar sprawl, in many places. There's the rub -- people have to get to work. I understand the yellow vests' outrage over fuel tax, even if it was rolled into a host of poorly understood other issues. Many people who own the houses they can afford out in depressed suburbs or outlying towns would probably be delighted to give up their gas guzzlers if their areas had essential shopping within range coupled with extensive non-polluting public transit. That is probably way more common in Europe than in North America, but probably not common enough. That's how you wind up with this: jalopnik.com/heres-how-much-vehicle-emissions-have-increased-in-your-1838945874 |
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 11, 2019 18:38:29 GMT
Even in France, people are buying more and more SUVs. I hope they are banned soon.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 12, 2019 14:44:12 GMT
There was a demonstration in London and our princess xxxxx (forgot her name - youngest daughter of Léopold 3) was arrested. How dare they ! I hope Brexit will change all that and reverting towards the lost empire will bring back respect for monarchies 😂 I don't think the Belgiums would quite count for this purpose. Besides, the whole point of XR's tactics is to maximise the number or arrests. |
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 12, 2019 19:27:49 GMT
Well, they are out of luck in Paris, because the police have not approached them and have allowed them to live their militant lives as they create traffic chaos. I was driving tonight and it took me an hour and a half to cross the city from the Left Bank. Not that I am complaining -- it was interesting to watch how people dealt with the situation. Since the mayor of Paris supports XR, the police will only intervene if she requests it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 17, 2022 15:06:44 GMT
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