Extinction Rebellion

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PsychoSerenity
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by PsychoSerenity » Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:48 pm

It is a difficult balancing act, that XR take very seriously, to engage in actions that are sufficiently high-profile and disruptive whilst also being peaceful and reasonably targeted, to raise awareness with the wider public and try to compel the government to respond. I support XR and take part where I can because they are doing far better at it then any other environmental pressure group I've seen. They have a very ground up democratic structure and multiple layers of support e.g. legal, training, well-being, etc. because fundamentally it is about building an ever growing community and trying to get everyone on board with the rebellion before it's too late.
[Disclaimer - if this is comes across like I think I know what I'm talking about, I want to make it clear that I don't. I'm just trying to get my thoughts down]

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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by Sean Hayden » Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:10 pm

Signed up for Houston meeting. I'm not glueing my ass to anything though.

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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by JimC » Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:12 pm

Brian Peacock wrote:

It's no different than grandad and grandma striking between the wars for better working conditions, wages, housing or healthcare. I'm sure people said the same thing during the general strike, "I think the miners might have a reasonable point, but I'm not sure deliberately disrupting ordinary people's ability to heat their homes is the most productive way of going about it."

Who are these 'ordinary people'?

XR are 'ordinary people' too Jim, they just live in extraordinary times. XR's protests are not aggressive, they are forms of deliberately non-violent direct action. For example, before a large action XR informs the police about what they going to do beforehand - they acknowledge that they're going to be breaking the law and that the police have to do their jobs, and while they might not tell the police exactly which part of town they're going to congregate on they assure the police that they're not going to act unpredictably or resist arrest. XRs protests are a form of civil disobedience but they are not an unpredictable unruly 'aggressive' mob looking for a physical confrontation with authority that involves deploying the riot squad, the mounted division, or trying to scrape grannies off the road with a water cannon. I would suggest that you've picked up this kind of language, and with the language the concerns, from the right-leaning media, who so far have focused on dividing the members of XR from 'ordinary working people' and framed their action within the context of a mob and extreme left politics.
I'm certainly aware of XR's non-violent theme, and thoroughly approve. I'm also totally happy with strike action (like next Friday), and protests which might blockade the offices of coal companies or troglodyte politicians. I'm simply unsure as to whether the cost in annoyed citizens in long blockades of city streets is worth the publicity garnered...

And I haven't picked up the mind set from right wing media; it's simply a matter of a cool take on cost-benefit analysis. It's true that mainstream media will report on the events, and that they will hammer the line of disruption and annoyance to the populace. But that simply underlines my point - people casually watching a TV report will be left with a mixed message - sure, they will be exposed to the idea of climate change, and that there is great concern about it, but they'll also absorb an impression of protestors being annoying ratbags. Given that we want a mass swelling of people wanting change (not being radicalised, perhaps, but concerned enough to affect their voting patterns), mass protests which only temporarily and unintentionally block streets (rather than that being the clear aim) seem a safer bet...

Anyway, I went to my first meeting, and mainly stayed quiet and listened. Nice people, very, very determined. Of the 14 there, only 2 blokes! (C'mon, apathetic Aussie males...). Lots of other actions planned - I got leaflets to put in mailboxes about next week's climate strike, there's plans to have a session making posters and banners, all of which I can get behind. They will also probably do a "die-in" at a local shopping centre - not really disruptive, so I'd be in that...
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by JimC » Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:15 pm

Sean Hayden wrote:
Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:10 pm
Signed up for Houston meeting. I'm not glueing my ass to anything though.
They are very organised about that here. If you want to be one of the "arrestables", who sit and refuse to move, you have to do a training session on non-violent protests. Not for me, but I may end up being one of the people on the sidelines holding banners and adding to the numbers...
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by JimC » Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:17 pm

PsychoSerenity wrote:
Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:48 pm
It is a difficult balancing act, that XR take very seriously, to engage in actions that are sufficiently high-profile and disruptive whilst also being peaceful and reasonably targeted, to raise awareness with the wider public and try to compel the government to respond. I support XR and take part where I can because they are doing far better at it then any other environmental pressure group I've seen. They have a very ground up democratic structure and multiple layers of support e.g. legal, training, well-being, etc. because fundamentally it is about building an ever growing community and trying to get everyone on board with the rebellion before it's too late.
That's certainly my impression as well, and I support them in general, just with some doubts about the cost/benefit of certain specific tactics, as I've already mentioned...
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by JimC » Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:20 pm

pErvinalia wrote:
Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:41 am
I wouldn't be so sure. Labor seems to have gone back to being spineless after getting spanked in the last election. They are apparently already thinking of winding back their 45% renewables target. Coalition will continue to do nothing.
Perhaps a combination of Greens and independents might be enough to apply political pressure. And I agree with you about Labour, but if more and more of the membership want change, they may end up growing a pair...
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by pErvinalia » Fri Sep 13, 2019 12:23 am

Sean Hayden wrote:
Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:10 pm
Signed up for Houston meeting. I'm not glueing my ass to anything though.
:lol:
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by Brian Peacock » Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:10 am

Sean Hayden wrote:
Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:10 pm
Signed up for Houston meeting. I'm not glueing my ass to anything though.
:tup: I'm sure your scientific leanings and educational bent will be a positive boon to your local group. :tup:
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by pErvinalia » Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:35 am

Reading some of their (Australian XR) pronouncements on facebook, they appear to be a bit SJWish. Would be better if they just stuck to climate change. It looks a little like the Occupy Movement but labelled as a climate change action group. I wonder when I go to the protest whether the same old Socialist Alliance activists will be at the centre of it all.
Last edited by pErvinalia on Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by JimC » Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:35 am

Did my pamphlet drop of the neighbourhood. Sometime of the weekend I'll make a small banner for Bron and I. She wants "Stop Adani" on one side, I'll have simply "Sun and Wind" on t'other...
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by JimC » Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:39 am

pErvinalia wrote:
Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:35 am
Reading some of their (Australian XR) pronouncements on facebook, they appear to be a bit SJWish. Would be better if they just stuck to climate change. It looks a little like the Occupy Movement but labelled as a climate change action group. I wonder when I go to the protest whether the same old Socialist Alliance activists will be at the centre of it all.
A bit less dogmatic about socialism, perhaps; it's understandable that there would be a considerable overlap in membership from her protest movements, past or present. The group I met were an older, middle-class demographic (although I was possibly the oldest by a few years...) They do seem committed to non-violence, although plenty of civil disobedience...
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by pErvinalia » Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:41 am

What was the dredlock/purple-hair quotient?
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by Brian Peacock » Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:41 am

The Edinburgh meets have a goodly proportion of grey but the main drivers are university students and those who've recently completed their studies. XR Edinburgh has only been around for a year and seems to have grown out of existing networks of activists. The meets usually take place in university rooms and socials are usually in studenty pubs and cafes. The whole thing has a very studenty vibe, with meetings being facilitated rather than chaired, and hand signals for interjections and notices about triggering etc - but they do rattle through the items on the agenda and arrive at solid decisions - and one feature I do like is going round the room at the end and everybody briefly affirming what they've taken from the meeting and confirming what they're going to be doing personally before the next one.
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by JimC » Sat Sep 14, 2019 9:58 am

There was a bridge blockade in Melbourne today, 36 arrested, including a couple of faces I recognised from last weeks meeting...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-14/ ... d/11513764
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Re: Extinction Rebellion

Post by Brian Peacock » Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:22 am

Gosh you Aussie's are keen. :D
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"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice.
There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia."

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"This is how humanity ends; bickering over the irrelevant."
Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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