Climate protesters arrested after painting Stonehenge monument orange

ThatRobGuy · Jun 19, 2024

Protesters arrested after painting Stonehenge monument orange

The incident came just a day before thousands were expected to gather at the 4,500-year-old stone circle to celebrate the summer solstice.

www.nbcnews.com

The latest act by Just Stop Oil was quickly condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “disgraceful act of vandalism.”

Wiltshire Police said the pair were arrested on suspicion of damaging one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments.

Stonehenge was built on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain in stages starting 5,000 years ago, with the unique stone circle erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C. Some of the stones, the so-called bluestones, are known to have come from southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles away, but the origins of others remain a mystery.

Just Stop Oil is one of many groups around Europe that have gained attention — and received a lot of blowback — for disrupting sporting events, splashing paint and food on famous works of art and interrupting traffic to draw attention to global warming.

This part:
The group said it acted in response to the Labour Party’s recent election manifesto. Labour has said if it wins the election on July 4, it would not issue further licenses for oil and gas exploration. Just Stop Oil backs the moratorium but said it wasn’t enough.

In a statement, the group said Labour, which is leading in polls and widely expected by pundits and politicians to lead the next government, needs to go further.

...so when the Labour party (who already said they wouldn't issue further oil and gas licenses) isn't quite "progressive enough" (but let's be honest, no matter what the Labour Party committed to, these doofuses would've found a reason why it's not enough in order to have a reason to do something like this, (being radical protestors is 90% of their personality after all...without that, they'd literally have nothing interesting to say about themselves), it's time to start vandalizing to virtue signal how radical they are. Because as we all know, there's a direct correlation between how orange you're wiling to stain something completely unrelated to the environment, and how much you care about the environment. It makes perfect sense!. They do need to raise awareness after all. Because nobody had ever heard of the issue of climate change until they started spaypainting and throwing soup at random things.

Bradskii · Jun 19, 2024

ThatRobGuy said:
Because as we all know, there's a direct correlation between how orange you're wiling to stain something completely unrelated to the environment, and how much you care about the environment. It makes perfect sense!. They do need to raise awareness after all. Because nobody had ever heard of the issue of climate change until they started spaypainting and throwing soup at random things.

It beats me as well. Spraying Stonehenge or throwing soup at the Mona Lisa is not going to get people to suddenly say 'Gee, we ought to do better'. And we don't need to raise awareness. We all know what the problem is and what we need to do about it (or most of us do anyway).

And if somebody wants to deny there's a problem, then a can of orange paint isn't going to change their mind. But what it will do is give those ****** who say it's not a problem a chance to suggest that it's all hyped up by some ideological idiots.

ThatRobGuy · Jun 19, 2024

Bradskii said:
It beats me as well. Spraying Stonehenge or throwing soup at the Mona Lisa is not going to get people to suddenly say 'Gee, we ought to do better'. And we don't need to raise awareness. We all know what the problem is and what we need to do about it (or most of us do anyway).

And if somebody wants to deny there's a problem, then a can of orange paint isn't going to change their mind. But what it will do is give those ****** who say it's not a problem a chance to suggest that it's all hyped up by some ideological idiots.

People (in a snarky fashion) will often say things like "tHey'RE prOtEstInG wRonG" in response to when I rail on these Just Stop Oil guys...I've vented about them once or twice before

But there is a right and wrong way to protest in terms of the risk of alienating the people who would normally be on one's own side of a cause.

Like when these guys were going in to art museums and vandalizing things. The "art museum crowd" is already a friendly audience for their cause. It's a progressive group of people for the most part. In all the times I've been to an art museum, I've yet to see one red hat. They're basically ticking off people who would otherwise be their ally and quite receptive to their message.

If I were to take up the cause of ending child hunger through increased taxation on the ultra wealthy, that would be a "liberal cause" that most liberals would be on board with and already be very well-aware of. I wouldn't do myself any favors by vandalizing a George Floyd mural or Pride themed crosswalk while wearing a "Just stop Child hunger" t-shirt. They would just think I was a jackass and it would alienate more people than it would win over.

Picking "random targets" instead of specific ones seems to be a failed strategy. If they did some form of disobedience directed at the office building of an oil company, it would at least make sense logically speaking. Stonehenge, snooker tournaments, and art museums have absolutely nothing to do with climate issues.

Bradskii · Jun 19, 2024

ThatRobGuy said:
People (in a snarky fashion) will often say things like "tHey'RE prOtEstInG wRonG" in response to when I rail on these Just Stop Oil guys...I've vented about them once or twice before

But there is a right and wrong way to protest in terms of the risk of alienating the people who would normally be on one's own side of a cause.

I can understand bringing attention to an existing problem that nobody seems to be interested in. If you spray paint the Opera House or block traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge trying to get some action to help the humanitarian problems in the Central African Republic for example (pause while some people check out where it actually is), then I can see some logical reason for doing so. You'll annoy a lot of San Fran motorists, but a few million might ask 'The CAR? Where is it and what's the problem there?' Then may ask why nobody is doing anything.

AlexB23 · Jun 19, 2024

ThatRobGuy said:
Protesters arrested after painting Stonehenge monument orange

The incident came just a day before thousands were expected to gather at the 4,500-year-old stone circle to celebrate the summer solstice.

www.nbcnews.com

The latest act by Just Stop Oil was quickly condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “disgraceful act of vandalism.”

Wiltshire Police said the pair were arrested on suspicion of damaging one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments.

Stonehenge was built on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain in stages starting 5,000 years ago, with the unique stone circle erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C. Some of the stones, the so-called bluestones, are known to have come from southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles away, but the origins of others remain a mystery.

Just Stop Oil is one of many groups around Europe that have gained attention — and received a lot of blowback — for disrupting sporting events, splashing paint and food on famous works of art and interrupting traffic to draw attention to global warming.

This part:
The group said it acted in response to the Labour Party’s recent election manifesto. Labour has said if it wins the election on July 4, it would not issue further licenses for oil and gas exploration. Just Stop Oil backs the moratorium but said it wasn’t enough.

In a statement, the group said Labour, which is leading in polls and widely expected by pundits and politicians to lead the next government, needs to go further.

...so when the Labour party (who already said they wouldn't issue further oil and gas licenses) isn't quite "progressive enough" (but let's be honest, no matter what the Labour Party committed to, these doofuses would've found a reason why it's not enough in order to have a reason to do something like this, (being radical protestors is 90% of their personality after all...without that, they'd literally have nothing interesting to say about themselves), it's time to start vandalizing to virtue signal how radical they are. Because as we all know, there's a direct correlation between how orange you're wiling to stain something completely unrelated to the environment, and how much you care about the environment. It makes perfect sense!. They do need to raise awareness after all. Because nobody had ever heard of the issue of climate change until they started spaypainting and throwing soup at random things.

We should totally protect the climate, but painting a 5000 year old monument, potentially damaging a historical landmark is not gonna solve anything, and in fact, the energy required to make the orange paint and drive/travel to the Stonehenge will add more CO2 to the atmosphere.

In other words, vandalism is not the answer. Yes, Big Oil is bad, but what did the Stonehenge ever do to the Earth? Nothing. The Stonehenge was built almost 50 centuries before oil was discovered. So, therefore, this Just Stop Oil movement is a little illogical when it comes to their approach.

Pommer · Jun 19, 2024

You can almost hear the managers at Google Earth will for there to be satellite images of this horrible vandalism to be down/uploaded ASAP.

ozso · Jun 20, 2024

There are many who think climate activists are crazy. Needless to say such behavior adds greatly to that.

Pommer · Jun 20, 2024

Ceallaigh said:
There are many who think climate activists are crazy.
Needless to say such behavior adds greatly to that.

Activism sometimes requires odd behavior, that’s how one can affect change, (sometimes).
It’s perfectly natural to judge and look down on people engaged in behavior that is mystifying to one’s own person, but that doesn’t make either wrong nor right.

FireDragon76 · Jun 20, 2024

Aside from the effectiveness of this particular act, there is growing consensus among climate scientists and activists that civil disobedience will probably be necessary in order to raise peoples consciousness about the threat from Climate Change. Just as civil disobedience was necessary to draw attention to the evil of slavery, militarism, and Jim Crow over half a century ago.

FireDragon76 · Jun 20, 2024

Pommer said:
Activism sometimes requires odd behavior, that’s how one can affect change, (sometimes).
It’s perfectly natural to judge and look down on people engaged in behavior that is mystifying to one’s own person, but that doesn’t make either wrong nor right.

Over a century and a half ago, the vast majority of people, even fellow Abolitionists, thought John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry to lead a slave rebellion was a reprehensible act. I doubt many people feel the same way about it now days.

Pommer · Jun 20, 2024

FireDragon76 said:
Over a century and a half ago, the vast majority of people, even fellow Abolitionists, thought John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry to lead a slave rebellion was a reprehensible act. I doubt many people feel the same way about it now days.

But a fair number of people try to contend that the Founders were staunch Conservative statesmen, when the facts are that no “conservative“ begins revolutions.

ozso · Jun 20, 2024

FireDragon76 said:
Aside from the effectiveness of this particular act, there is growing consensus among climate scientists and activists that civil disobedience will probably be necessary in order to raise peoples consciousness about the threat from Climate Change. Just as civil disobedience was necessary to draw attention to the evil of slavery, militarism, and Jim Crow over half a century ago.

What types of acts of civil disobedience took place regarding those issues?

Bradskii · Jun 20, 2024

FireDragon76 said:
Aside from the effectiveness of this particular act, there is growing consensus among climate scientists and activists that civil disobedience will probably be necessary in order to raise peoples consciousness about the threat from Climate Change.

You don't think people aren't already aware? I just checked my local paper (Sydney Morning Herald). The headlines in the online edition are about arguments for and against nuclear power versus renewables (incidentally, nuclear is taking a hammering). Australian Breaking News Headlines & World News Online | SMH.com.au

FireDragon76 · Jun 20, 2024

Pommer said:
But a fair number of people try to contend that the Founders were staunch Conservative statesmen, when the facts are that no “conservative“ begins revolutions.

Most people are unaware that about 2/3 of the colonists in the US were not supporters of revolution (about 1/3 were actually ambivalent or undecided, and another 1/3 were loyalists).

That just shows that a small number of determined individuals can change the course of history.

ozso · Jun 20, 2024

FireDragon76 said:
Over a century and a half ago, the vast majority of people, even fellow Abolitionists, thought John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry to lead a slave rebellion was a reprehensible act. I doubt many people feel the same way about it now days.

How does that compare to what are basically childish acts of vandalism? Spray painting objects, throwing food at objects, people gluing themselves to objects. It's all juvenile mischief.

FireDragon76 · Jun 20, 2024

Bradskii said:
You don't think people aren't already aware? I just checked my local paper (Sydney Morning Herald). The headlines in the online edition are about arguments for and against nuclear power versus renewables (incidentally, nuclear is taking a hammering). Australian Breaking News Headlines & World News Online | SMH.com.au

In the US, awareness hasn't reached a critical mass

Internationally, even people that are aware, aren't necessarily engaged in the necessary process of transformation of their personal lives and society. The European Union's agricultural policies aren't really serious in addressing climate change, for instance, for "political" reasons (the power of the agriculture industry in politics is quite real even in Europe). And Australia is still very much committed to the beef and coal industries, both of which are highly problematic when it comes to addressing Climate Change.

ozso · Jun 20, 2024

Pommer said:
Activism sometimes requires odd behavior, that’s how one can affect change, (sometimes).
It’s perfectly natural to judge and look down on people engaged in behavior that is mystifying to one’s own person, but that doesn’t make either wrong nor right.

In this case the opposition is due to a perceived lack of credibility because of the perceived hysteria fueling the climate change panic. What appears to many as Chicken Little the sky is falling, the world is coming to an end histrionics. In this case odd and downright childish demonstrations basically puts out the message of "you're right, we are idiots" to those who don't take them seriously.

FireDragon76 · Jun 20, 2024

Ceallaigh said:
In this case the opposition is due to a perceived lack of credibility because of the perceived hysteria fueling the climate change panic. What appears to many as Chicken Little the sky is falling, the world is coming to an end histrionics. In this case odd and downright childish demonstrations basically puts out the message of "you're right, we are idiots" to those who don't take them seriously.

For the majority of people it is just a question of mindshare, getting people to realize that Climate Change is more salient than whatever they get scrolling through social media. If sensational tactics lead to a topic being more salient and not overlooked, vs. just focusing on trivial matters, then it's justifiable.

Climate activists are not being unduely alarmist. Anti-alarmism is simply the latest denial tactic than is being funded by wealthy but exploitative interests, like petrochemical companies and agricultural interests.

Maps · Probable Futures

Probable Futures offers interactive maps, science, historical context, and stories to help us all envision a range of climate futures.

probablefutures.org

Pommer · Jun 20, 2024

Ceallaigh said:
How does that compare to what are basically childish acts of vandalism? Spray painting objects, throwing food at objects, people gluing themselves to objects. It's all juvenile mischief.

They protesting wrong!
They’ve taken a stand and are willing to do silly things to get people talking about why they’re doing silly things which is the whole point to doing silly things, in the first place.

ozso · Jun 20, 2024

FireDragon76 said:
For the majority of people it is just a question of mindshare, getting people to realize that Climate Change is more salient than whatever they get scrolling through social media. If sensational tactics lead to a topic being more salient and not overlooked, vs. just focusing on trivial matters, then it's justifiable.

Climate activists are not being unduely alarmist. Anti-alarmism is simply the latest denial tactic than is being funded by wealthy but exploitative interests, like petrochemical companies and agricultural interests.

Maps · Probable Futures

Probable Futures offers interactive maps, science, historical context, and stories to help us all envision a range of climate futures.

probablefutures.org

Perhaps more charts and less juvenile behavior is the answer.

Climate protesters arrested after painting Stonehenge monument orange

Part of the IT crowd

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Part of the IT crowd

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Christian

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CoPacEtiC SkEpTic

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Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

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