Agree completely. The three that come to mind most for me, aside from yesterday’s performative nonsense, are the stoppage of a Broadway show, the glued hands at last year’s US Open so the people yelling could not be removed, and the blockage of train terminals during the commute. They all occurred in the NYC area so got the most coverage in my world. My first thought in every case was “that’s not helping. It’s turning people off. The protesters look like immature attention seekers.”
I must say I also disagree re damages. People who paid Broadway ticket prices to see a show lost the value of those tickets. Yes, the show went on but not in the same way. The flow was ruined, as was the mood and the atmosphere. People save for a while to afford the price of those tickets. Commuters who couldn’t get to work or school or wherever else important they may have been going were stranded and who knows if anyone missed an important meeting that could have impacted jobs or missed an exam important to their schooling? Frankly I’m surprised there wasn’t violence with that one. Gotta say the US Open one didn’t bother me as much because I think sports where you have to be quiet while someone serves are the antithesis of sports! 😁But again, it interrupted the pace and flow of play which impacts people’s careers. And yesterday’s stunt interrupted play in a close match which ended up going into a playoff and they had to move the hole on the green because of damage. Again, people’s careers and earnings were potentially impacted.
Those real life implications for people actually bother me more than if thousand year old stones or important paintings get damaged. The selfishness inherent in the actions as well as the condescending attitude of so many climate activists is what turns people off to them and, unfortunately, to their message. People aren’t impressed by these types of actions, especially in the me-centered culture we’ve devolved into in the 21st century. We’ve seen a similar situation with Gaza protests in NYC holding up traffic and commuters. Interfering with travel is a sure way to turn people off to your message around here.
Sadly, climate change is caught up in our new distrust of science thanks to the last administration and right wing politicians who want to serve their corporate masters. We also have no good alternatives that do not significantly interrupt life as we know it. And again, me-centered culture. “Why should I be inconvenienced now for something that’s a down the road problem, probably after I’m dead?” is a theme I hear a lot. Solar panels are great (we got them last year) but they’re expensive. Electric cars might be great but we don’t have the infrastructure to support millions of people driving them. We are a large, car dependent country. Until people can easily access a charging station that fills their car in not much longer than it takes to currently fill it with gas we won’t see large scale conversion.
I don’t know the solution but performative nonsense doesn’t help and it likely hurts.
Please don't overlook the possibility that these "protesters" are not bona fide climate activists but paid actors to make the bona fide climate activists unpopular. It's the kind of infiltration that paid actors are so easy to move the needle: like Lauren Bobert, MTG and George Santos are actor-wannabes that so easily make Congress look ridiculous, as to diminish the real work of government. It's a HIGH probability bad actors in the fossil fuel realm are funding this public destruction.
Agree wholeheartedly with the basic premise... the flashy stunts do not tend to foster understanding or action. One caveat, however, is that Stonehenge was "decorated" with orange cornstarch, not actual "paint," thus not marring it with any permanent damage. Still not an act guaranteed to garner any accolades from any corner of the legitimate climate activism sphere. The more disrupting and potentially permanently marring actions are even more to be denounced and deplored. Education is, and should always be, front and center in efforts to "win hearts and minds."
Agree completely. The three that come to mind most for me, aside from yesterday’s performative nonsense, are the stoppage of a Broadway show, the glued hands at last year’s US Open so the people yelling could not be removed, and the blockage of train terminals during the commute. They all occurred in the NYC area so got the most coverage in my world. My first thought in every case was “that’s not helping. It’s turning people off. The protesters look like immature attention seekers.”
I must say I also disagree re damages. People who paid Broadway ticket prices to see a show lost the value of those tickets. Yes, the show went on but not in the same way. The flow was ruined, as was the mood and the atmosphere. People save for a while to afford the price of those tickets. Commuters who couldn’t get to work or school or wherever else important they may have been going were stranded and who knows if anyone missed an important meeting that could have impacted jobs or missed an exam important to their schooling? Frankly I’m surprised there wasn’t violence with that one. Gotta say the US Open one didn’t bother me as much because I think sports where you have to be quiet while someone serves are the antithesis of sports! 😁But again, it interrupted the pace and flow of play which impacts people’s careers. And yesterday’s stunt interrupted play in a close match which ended up going into a playoff and they had to move the hole on the green because of damage. Again, people’s careers and earnings were potentially impacted.
Those real life implications for people actually bother me more than if thousand year old stones or important paintings get damaged. The selfishness inherent in the actions as well as the condescending attitude of so many climate activists is what turns people off to them and, unfortunately, to their message. People aren’t impressed by these types of actions, especially in the me-centered culture we’ve devolved into in the 21st century. We’ve seen a similar situation with Gaza protests in NYC holding up traffic and commuters. Interfering with travel is a sure way to turn people off to your message around here.
Sadly, climate change is caught up in our new distrust of science thanks to the last administration and right wing politicians who want to serve their corporate masters. We also have no good alternatives that do not significantly interrupt life as we know it. And again, me-centered culture. “Why should I be inconvenienced now for something that’s a down the road problem, probably after I’m dead?” is a theme I hear a lot. Solar panels are great (we got them last year) but they’re expensive. Electric cars might be great but we don’t have the infrastructure to support millions of people driving them. We are a large, car dependent country. Until people can easily access a charging station that fills their car in not much longer than it takes to currently fill it with gas we won’t see large scale conversion.
I don’t know the solution but performative nonsense doesn’t help and it likely hurts.
Please don't overlook the possibility that these "protesters" are not bona fide climate activists but paid actors to make the bona fide climate activists unpopular. It's the kind of infiltration that paid actors are so easy to move the needle: like Lauren Bobert, MTG and George Santos are actor-wannabes that so easily make Congress look ridiculous, as to diminish the real work of government. It's a HIGH probability bad actors in the fossil fuel realm are funding this public destruction.
Right on 🎯 as usual!
Agree wholeheartedly with the basic premise... the flashy stunts do not tend to foster understanding or action. One caveat, however, is that Stonehenge was "decorated" with orange cornstarch, not actual "paint," thus not marring it with any permanent damage. Still not an act guaranteed to garner any accolades from any corner of the legitimate climate activism sphere. The more disrupting and potentially permanently marring actions are even more to be denounced and deplored. Education is, and should always be, front and center in efforts to "win hearts and minds."
Bravo. Thanks for writing this.
As always, this was an eloquent and thoughtful piece, all of which I heartily agree with. Happy to be a paid subscriber.
Yes. This.