To ask: what could Extinction Rebellion do to convince you?

[WallyWallyWally]

So another series of XR stunts unfolded today: a tree surgeon climbs Big Ben and unfurls a banner. Some other activists have chained themselves to the door of the Kenyan embassy. A big wooden tipi has been constructed to block Oxford Circus. In the crowds, people have been painting their hands red and are leaving handprints on pavements to symbolise... something.

They’ve camped out in public places. Climbed on top of trains and planes Performed various theatrical performances. They’ve marched and glued themselves to buildings. Held up traffic, waved banners, got kids to stay off school.

What XR want Is: for governments to declare a climate emergency, for actions to be taken to address this and for citizens assemblies to be set up to decide what these actions should be.

I’m not arguing about the science of climate heating (I’m convinced). I’m not asking them not to be hypocrites (it’s impossible to live a truly green lifestyle within our society as it is).

So: what could XR do to convince you of the right-ness of their cause? What action should they take? What campaigns / stunts / awareness raising can they do that would convince you that the house is on fire? To the extent that you would lobby your MP / campaign / join them?

I rather listen to friends of the earth or someother legit company. I don,t see what there doing is positive. How are they suggesting we use less plastic? How are they suggesting we limit air travel? We neeed concrete ideas and praccal things to work on.

they need to stop acting like heroes and saviours - they are largely a bunch of middle class trustafarian kids with face paint and whistles who's only hardship has been to stage some kind of free festival in London inconveniencing ordinary people going about their daily life.

They actually make me want to burn plastic! - I KNOW climate change is an issue - I'd rather they spent their time productively

My sister joins in when she can (lives in London) and she is an old school 'lived on a bus, battle of the beanfiled, let me educate you for 5785785758 hours about being a free man, dance for 6 days on a gob full of E's' crusty - much as I love her - she hasn't really done anything remotely activist or political for 20 years but give her some face paint and a glow stick and she's off!

Why did they target the Kenyan embassy? Why not the USA or Chinese embassies?

why a tipi? Is it symbolic of something? [confusion]

Isn't it cultural appropriation?

What's the message?

At least they've stopped getting naked. Small mercies.

Stop the stunts - they’re a dick move which obscure the message.

Citizen’s assemblies are a great idea. They’ve worked in Ireland on social and political matters I believe? But what would XR do if those assemblies don’t come up with the ideas/solutions they want to see?

I suspect most of us are well aware of the problems of climate change but while using reusable cups and recycling may be a good thing our impact is trivial in comparison to the other parts of the world. What can XR do? Perhaps move their protests to China/India/Pakistan/Brazil etc where they can stop their industrialization. Help reduce the worlds population. Wind back the clock to sailing ships rather than have big deisel powered ships sailing the oceans.
Most alternative energies come with their own problems. It may be a big global problem but for most paying the mortgage and looking after the family is the immediate issue.

We're doomed, doomed ah tell ye! And the current leaders have as little clue as that Captain Mainwaring.

@Oliversmumsarmy

No, not at all! I’m not even in the UK. But my academic background is environmental science and although I don’t work in that field, I did for a long time. I believe the climate scientists but they are woefully bad at getting their message across. XR seem to have appointed themselves as spokespersons for the movement - yet they seem to turn as many people off as they inspire.

I guess I wonder: what would it take to make me / you / us take action if we truly believed the house was on fire? What should XR be doing?

Stop pissing off the public, the same public you want help from.

I realise we all need to do our part but making people late for work is not the best way to do it. Not all of us can afford to miss even one day.

They seem to be clueless people from comfortable middle class backgrounds.

Was funny to see the guy get pulled off the train yesterday. All the XR people there where white, while the crowd that just wanted to get to get to work were ethnically mixed.

These people are clueless, they are totally separated from modern day Britain.

Nothing

I don't need a pressure group like XR to persuade or convince me about society changing its wholesale ways to protect the planet.

I grew up with fabric shopping bags, vegetables grown in the back garden or purchased from the green grocer in the quantity needed and wrapped in newspaper or a brown paper bag. We had layers of clothes not central heating and were always been told to turn off and turn down. Porridge was our bodily insulation Transport, including for the odd holiday was by bus, coach or train.

None of that is to be smug, it's just the way it was. It wasn't called recycling, repurposing or shabby chic, there were handmedowns and second hand and no one thought anything about it. Old habits die hard and I've kept most of them, but I know I could do more.

For me to support XR they'd have to totally rebrand and sort their ideas out. Stop the disruption to ordinary people and the whole Rebellion rubbish and start harnessing that anger and spending their energy to do positive things for the environment. Lead by example and be a force for good.

Stop targeting public transport.

Stop the pantomime and if they really want to enact change then they should become a political party

They wouldn’t get anywhere near the USA embassy! It’s a fortress! China! Too difficult. Kenya? Easy. Let’s target a poor African country that relies on tourism and sending us Kenya beans, flowers (and athletes) to feed their people.

My DD commented that the Trafalgar Square demonstrators were unwaged and unwashed! A great many blue haired grannies towing children after them. Just old hippies out for the week!

Also use their fucking brains a bit more. Protesting and disrupting trains will mean more people driving In to work (or losing a days pay) because most cant afford to just go home and try tomorrow.

All they've managed to do is paint a picture in lots of peoples mind when they hear climate change protest etc - pain in the arses that glued themselves to trains and wouldn't answer on air if they owned a TV or not...

Stop doing things that inconvenience and possibly harm ordinary members of the public. Delaying trains mean people miss work, hospital appointments, school drop offs, important meetings etc.

We all have to get on with our lives regardless of whether we agree with their demands or not.

Nothing.

They're fixated obsessives and frankly many of them come off as quite mentally ill.

The police need to stop humouring them now, it's no longer lawful protest, it's a collective tantrum.

They come across as just a bunch of middle class white folk with a lot of spare time on their hands and too few brain cells to be useful - I mean, targeting an electric means of public transport to protest at when that’s exactly the thing they should be encouraging people to do.

The only way anyone is going to peak my interest is to come up with valid solutions. Just talking in the office this week about it we came up with two easy wins that would help make a start -

1. Every new build house in the UK must have solar panels installed;
2. Every new car park built should have a number of electric car charging points - say 5 points for every 100 spaces.

I’m looking to change my car next year (it’s 12 years old and having had it for 10 years it’s becoming impractical for us). I would happily get an electric car but one thing that is putting me off is the fact that within a 15 mile radius of my home and work there are just 2 public charging points. Until the Government introduce legislation to force developers etc to develop the infrastructure required they simply won’t do it.

I would listen to them if they made any attempts to Achieve something of value. Like plant a load of trees, clear up some polluting eyesore, create a lot of plastic free wind or water turbines.

All they do is create co2 and raise awareness about themselves.

All the XR people there where white, while the crowd that just wanted to get to get to work were ethnically mixed.
Yep

Be less tone deaf when dealing with marginalised groups - working-class people and POC for starters.

Their main goal appears to be get borris Johnson to fix it. They appear to have no intention of doing anything to actually help.

ER are a large group of people ... If it is an emergency stop demanding other people fix the problems and pitch in in a practical way

Choose specific measures and campaign for those. Break down the causes and make the change required for each clear.
For example:
Stop deforestation in xx. Social media campaigns, change org petitions, boycott the companies who are benefiting from cleared areas.
Lobby to stop large global events, such as trade shows where 8,000 people fly in to a city for 3 days to do business. Business they could do on Skype.
Cut CO2 emissions by doing x, y and z.
Boycott all trade with x,y,z countries who won't sign the emission pledge.

To disrupt. That's what their aim seems to be. To cause inconvenience to workers.

Perhaps if they barricaded landfill sites and forced return of landfill waste to a city centre to make people see the waste that could have been reused and recycled and repurposed it might have an impact.

Nothing unfortunately. I agree something needs to be done about climate change. But inconveniencing ordinary people trying to get to work, trying to earn money to feed their families and hold down a job? Or disrupting public transport, which surely they should be in favour of instead of people using their own cars? Means is never support them.

I'm going on holiday in a few weeks and am worried they are going to distrupt the airport on the day I'm supposed to fly. I've worked and save so hard to afford a trip away and I'm worried they are basically going to steal it from me. Even if I and everyone I know give up flying it's not going to counteract the pollution from China/India ect.