Extinction Rebellion
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ALB wrote; “Their political consciousness has not evolved beyond the view of those who vote for parties to form a government to do something for them.”
I think this highlights the contradictory nature of much “direct action” activism neatly. They make a fetish out of not pursuing parliamentary political action, yet their tactics are only concerned with influencing parliament. Reformism by the extra-parliamentary route.
XR vandalise Murdoch media building
Caspar Hughes, one of the Extinction Rebellion protesters, blamed the power of a small group of rightwing newspaper owners over British climate policy: “The biggest issue stopping government, business and civil society from responding sensibly to the climate and ecological crises is the billionaire owned media. If Murdoch, Rothermere and Dacre supported net zero Policy the rest of us would follow suit.
“Currently they are key destroyers of what little hope we have left to secure a safe, secure future for ourselves and our children. It is long past time for them to bring their power to bear as we try to stop our civilisation from collapsing in the coming decades.”
Rather than a new thread….this
The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change
There’s also a rather very good series from Radio 4 about this; how oil companies used the same techniques and PR firms as those used by the tobacco industry to spread doubt about the realities of man-made climate change.
Chris Hedges
“…The global ruling class has forfeited its legitimacy and credibility. It must be replaced. This will require sustained mass civil disobedience, such as those mounted by Extinction Rebellion, to drive the global rulers from power. Once the rulers see us as a real threat they will become vicious, even barbaric, in their efforts to cling to their positions of privilege and power. We may not succeed in halting the death march, but let those who come after us, especially our children, say we tried…”
Easier said that done. As long as the ruling class control political power no amount of minority civil disobedience will be able to drive them out. They have the upper hand because they control the coercive power that is the state.
On the other hand, if a majority want this the easiest way to do it is to use the ballot box, where available, to win political control, accompanied of course by mass organisation outside parliament ready to take over control of productive resources and, if need be, back up the result of the ballot.
Climate activists in southern France have filled golf course holes with cement to protest against the exemption of golf greens from water bans amid the country’s severe drought.
The group targeted sites near the city of Toulouse, calling golf the “leisure industry of the most privileged”. The activists said the exemption showed that “economic madness takes precedence over ecological reason”.
Thought I would check and in the UK too golf courses (and bowling greens) are exempt from hose-pipe bans — by law, on health and safety grounds (not sure what the danger to health and safety would be)
Where are the hosepipe bans and how do they affect golf irrigation?
Lucky that pétanque isn’t played on grass, otherwise the French eco-warriors would have to take on the working class as well as the “most privileged”.
Regardless of whether it is from an ecological perspective or not, any organisation that targets bloody golf will get my blessing. Fucking clowns, dressing themselves up like fools and talking shite in the club house, cannot stand them!
I know there are some golf clubs that are for only the elite who can afford the membership and course fees but I think in Scotland there is much more of a working-class element who play golf. After football, it was the next most popular pastime for my ex-postal worker colleagues. They regularly organised boozy golf outings and were quite strict on standards of behaviour.
Scotland has numerous reasonably priced council-owned golf courses and the home of golf, St Andrews, the Old Course, was declared the common-owned property of the citizens of St Andrew by Parliamentary Act
Those French ecowarriors are behind the times if they want to get at “the leisure industry of the most privileged”. It’s no longer golf but cycling:
https://www.businessinsider.com/cycling-is-the-new-golf-2015-2?amp
That’s where, apparently, the contacts and deals are made these days. Wheeling and dealing as it were (apologies).
Seen this*
*Just saw this also on SOYMB? Only another news (DW) website.
Saudi oil giant Aramco has broken its own record with a $48.4bn (£40bn) profit for the second quarter of 2022.
Saudi Aramco: Oil giant tops own record with $48.4bn quarterly profit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62539480
Enfield, North London, has 13 golf courses!
Enfield council was recently criticised for the paltry fee, it charges in rents, around £2,000 pa, from one golf Club!
Not much sign of any eco warriors?
‘Scientists should commit acts of civil disobedience to show the public how seriously they regard the threat posed by the climate crisis, a group of leading scientists has argued.
“Civil disobedience by scientists has the potential to cut through the myriad complexities and confusion surrounding the climate crisis,” the researchers wrote…’
XR’s latest protest. They want policies to be decided by citizen’s assemblies rather than Parliament. But if people see no alternative to capitalism, how could citizens assemblies come up with policies that were radically different from those proposed by a government with a parliamentary majority?
It would be nice if they would come up with the conclusion that socialism (common ownership, democratic, production solely for use not profit) was the way-out. But if a majority wanted that they could also use parliament.
In other words, the problem is not the decision-making process but the fact that the decision-makers don’t want socialism. Our task as socialists to do all we can to help people come to this conclusion. If and when they do, they can use any decision-making process, as long as it gives control of the executive, to introduce socialism.
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