To preface, I don’t necessarily disagree with what they’re doing, at least with Stop Oil. People care more about enjoying their treats instead of preserving the planet to continue enjoying those treats, so doing dumb shit like covering paintings and buildings in paint is pretty funny. But that’s pretty much it, it’s funny. I get the message but, like… what am I supposed to get out of that materially?

And more confusingly are the protests that just stop traffic and whatnot. I’ve been getting a bunch of reactionary videos recommended about drivers assaulting the peaceful protestors. These people obviously wish their already mythical fantasies of Tiananmen Square Massacres against protestors were happening in their suburbs, but I just don’t understand what the protestors are trying to achieve here and risking their lives for.

Unlike something like police brutality uprisings, these so called protests are just like 5 guys on a random street in a small corner of a city or suburb. It doesn’t really shut down anything except for annoying like 7 drivers. Is it just brainwormed capitalist “personal responsibility” ideology plaguing the protestors? Like, I agree that individuals aren’t exempt from sinning even if “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism,” but are these people even protesting that?

I find the whole deflating SUV movement a bit silly, but at least it’s targeting people who are rich (in countries where SUVs are a luxury), but these random street blocking protests seem completely random and directionless.