Extinction rebellion protester, ask me anything

[Market1]

I support extinction rebellion protests, ask me anything you like - ( I have a very thick skin, nothing you say will upset me)

I'm sick to death of being lectured to by people who quite frankly lead privileged lives, yes, I am looking at you, St Greta. People who don't want the little people, I'm one, to ever go on holiday by air, or heat their homes, or have any luxury at all. In the meantime, they travel by air, have gap years caring for orphan elephants[ has it occurred to them that the orphans might have been made that way for tourists], proudly boast that they borrow clothes from friends, well those friends have bought those clothes haven't they? And added to landfill.
And on and on.
If you cared that much you would protest in China and India which cause far more pollution, but that isn't going to happen, is it?

flights in my life....

Flew to Canada as 5 year old with family, flew back aged 10

Flew to Italy and back once ( family holiday as teen) and to Spain and back once (family holiday as teen)

Frequently spend summer teaching in a school in an African country as a volunteer
( Say every other year for the last 10 years - so 5x flight to this specific African country, teach for 6 weeks, fly home)

What difference do you think XR protests will make? As in what policies do you think governments will change as a result? And do you think globally governments and businesses will change or is it too late?
Also, I'm grateful to you for protesting.

3000 people died in the uk as a result of last years heatwave which wouldnt have happened without climate change

children die every year from asthma attacks which are triggered by cat fumes

Why do these deaths not count ?

@Market1

Many thanks for the clarification.

And you have just proved my point! You volunteer in Africa! Why not volunteer for the summer in the UK ? Why not help disadvantaged children here? Why not teach EFL in the UK? I suspect because it's virtue signalling at its highest, to say you have helped in Africa.

Thank you

We do know we make a difference to company policies, as we have people on the boards, so for example, an attack on a bank a few years ago lead to several other banks changing their environmental policies to get themselves back down the list of worst environmental offenders, and try to avoid ER attention. This sort of response to our actions is quite common.

Insulate Britain certainly have had huge success, in taking an issue that was unheard of a few years ago and bringing it to the active political agenda.

I think globally governments will change, yes, and I don't know whether it will be too late or not - obviously I have hope that it won't be too late!

I do volunteer for disadvantaged children here, I do teach ESL here, I do take refugees into my house, I do volunteer every week for several charities!

I teach in Africa because I was asked to.

Some sweeping generalisations happening here.

So, what would you do instead?

No questions but just wanted to say thank you for what you do. Things are going to get very bad climate wise and we need to try and fight the worst of it, for both humanity and the natural world. I don't agree with all the tactics used by XR but also remember the suffragettes also used controversial tactics. You are on the right side of history I have no doubt.

I don't do anything!!! Because as I said, I am sick to death of virtue signalling . And i think many of us are fed up with it too.

You cant have it both ways!😂

Am I dodging the question to keep volunteer work private, or am I answering the question to "virtue signal"??

😂

Thank you xx

May I ask a threefold question?

1. What is your goal with the protests?
2. Describe the practical reaction you would like from me should I be convinced by your actions.
3. How will those practical reactions lead to the goal you want?

Because every other year you get a 6 week jolly in Africa and can pat yourself on the back, which is exactly what happens with most of the protesters .

And what do you think is going to happen if we do nothing about Climate Change because you're fed up of 'virtue signalling?'

Hi OP, I’ve jumped on to offer my support to you. I can’t protest because I have health issues and small child so it’s too risky but I am forever defending you against criticism. The fact is, there should be no need to protest. The world shouldn’t be functioning the way it is with a capitalist agenda, lack of freedom, hardships for most and luxury for a few. We’ve lost sight of what life should be about. I write and produce media about climate issues and the underlying causes, global attitudes, the alignment and intrinsic links between our miserable lives and violence to ecosystems. People see the planets Health and human happiness as dichotomies and believe that they really need their cars, really need to fly, really need fast fashion and big houses. I come from a relatively wealthy background, all my siblings and my parents under-occupy massive homes, holiday abroad many times a year, drive sports cars and Range rovers and so on. I’ve not flown abroad since I left home at 16, I live in a tiny home, I grow a good percentage of my own food and eat nothing with international food miles on it and I’ve never driven a car. I live so cheaply that I only need to work 20 hrs a week and I spend alot of my time gardening and working on creative stuff. I’m much much much happier than my siblings who are success driven and materialistic. More and more people are beginning to realise that they need less and need to do less to be happy. We are hugely outnumbered though by those who dance to the tune of greedy fatcats in corporations and governments and see ‘stuff’ as a measure of success.

Exactly. At least 65 000 were killed by climate change in Europe last year, these were the individuals identified as being killed directly by the heat wave, and is probably less than half of the real number

This year will be worse

Thank you so much xxx

I'm not impressed or shocked by statements like you've been arrested three times. That kind of boasting is immature.
What is yours and your family's carbon footprint? I'm interested to know if you drive/fly/what your diet consists of etc
Also the companies your fellow members work for in various professions - are those companies environmentally friendly or are your colleagues hypocrites?
I support the cause but not the tactocs because ordinary working people are being prevented from getting to hospital appointments, taking kids to school, visiting elderly and sick relatives, getting to their own jobs.

Nothing will happen at all. Because China and India and all the other countries that pollute far more than the UK will just carry on.

OP, you wrote that you took 5x flights in 10 years. You mean 10 flights if you count all those return miles too. So that's 10 flights in 10 years of great distances. Hypocritical.

The goal is a more sustainable life style, and a stabilisation of the global climate

Obviously, I would love it if as many individuals as possible made this their personal goal, and lived it as far as they could.

However, the main target is policies from governments and companies, and this is what we mostly achieve

So the main responses I would like to see from individuals is a change to less environmentally damaging habits, such as rejecting private car ownership, eating vegetarian, and only using renewable electricity - of course if committing to public transport is too hard, then committing to less driving is a step in the right direction! And similarly cutting down on meat or switching from beef to pork, is all a step in the right direction, and individual steps DO mean something, and DO add up to making a difference.

But more than that, consumer and political pressure from individuals really makes a difference - voting for the party with the "greenest " policies - letting your MP know that is your intention, boycotting companies with poor environmental records, and letting them know you are doing so, and why,

These are the responses that are helpful, and will contribute towards us achieving our goal of a safe and stable planet.

China won't carry on especially if people stopped buying stuff

China will probably change easier than anywhere else because they don't rely on popular votes

Not if we stop buying shit from them they won’t. Asia has some of the highest levels of poverty, child labour and exploitation so we’re just feeding a wealthy few when we trade with them and funding abuse of people and the environment. Stop it and they’ll be forced to live more symbiotically, they’ll go back to growing food for local populations and managing their natural resources properly like the whole planet should.