To think this is awful? (Just Stop Oil protesters throwing soup over Van Gogh painting)

[TheCatsPyjamas1]

Just read that some Just Stop Oil protesters have thrown soup over a Van Gogh painting in the National Gallery in London. AIBU to think this is unacceptable?

I fully support the message of the group (investing in environmentally responsible energy rather than fossil fuels, and helping to make society more equal for everyone), but I find their protest methods are awful and risk alienating people who would otherwise support them.

They keep on doing crazy things, and seem to be escalating their action each time they protest. I don’t really know when or how it’ll end.

Can someone please tell me why some of the people who glued themselves to a road in central London yesterday were wearing plastic hi-viz jackets?
does that not undermine their argument?

You can't call them hypocrites of course. Reminds me of the rabble at Glastonbury, who leave a load of rubbish behind, while moaning about the environment.

Fine. But don't pretend your opponents have a monopoly on abusive behaviour. They don't.

You've been far from decent on this thread @stars71.

We're all hypocrites.

It seems to be a common theme today that anyone with opposing views to you, particularly if they are on the left, must be ideologically pure in every aspect of their lives in order to hold that opposing view.

Utter bollocks, of course.

I agree air pollution is a real problem (and one that’s actually really possible to solve!) but it’s separate to carbon emissions. We shouldn’t conflate the two

Different sides of the same coin. Air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels.

What I want from these organisations is a positive vision of what a low carbon world which has stopped cilmate change will look like

Totally agree. I think the Green Party need to take this on actually.

I think we can all do what we can to help a little. Don’t make unnecessary car journeys. Cut back on energy appliances around the hike where we can.
Obviously if you ask anyone if their car journeys are all really necessary they would mostly say yes..

Not when it's on the subject of keeping the environment clean. So not utter bollocks, at all.

Really? Well I don't believed I've used a litany of name calling. Do gooder, maybe, but I can live with it.

I do too. My sympathy might grow if these people could articulate what they want to achieve and how soup slinging, milk pouring and bridge annexation supports those aims.

Blossomtoes They have articulated what they want to achieve by this, there are videos online

Why should the rest of us want to view those videos, when we just want to go about our daily business? Many of us have principles and strong beliefs, but we don't have to stamp our feet to get noticed. Behaving like spoilt kids is getting them nowhere.

Videos online don’t cut it unfortunately. They need clear written statements which they provide to the mainstream media and post on Twitter, Insta, etc. If their comms is shit, how do they expect anything apart from negative press.

Oh give over. They have all that! Reams and reams.

Anyone wanting to join and tell them how to do it, please do so. But I suggest you have a look to see what there is already out there. Fed up of critics suggesting stuff that's been done to death.

Yeah well, the few people who will do their bit like that will have us knee deep in floods and food scarcity and deadly heatwaves in the near future.

We need systemic change and to transition extremely quickly from burning fossil fuels. Doing a bit of recycling and a few walks instead of drives will do sweet FA. Even if it makes you feel like you've done your bit. It won't make any difference.

Listen to what the scientists are saying in every way they can. See what is happening around the world. Listen to what the experts, the ones who gain nothing from it say we need to do.

No it fucking doesn't. Because if activists didn't use the available stuff to live (because systemic change hasn't happened yet) then we would get nowhere. That is why individuals changing their own habits isn't the way forward. It is systemic change.

So for example, taxation on polluting products would make manufacturers look at producing and selling products that are less polluting. At the moment they don't, so they carry on making hi viz jackets made from plastic.

Investing in green forms of transport would make it possible for people to get to where they want to get in a more environmentally friendly way. And taxing polluting forms of transport.

At the moment, the UK for example subsidised the fossil fuel industry which is already obscenely profitable when they could be investing a fraction of that in renewable energy. Which would also bring down the cost of power for us.

They have all that! Reams and reams.

How come it’s never used by the mainstream media then? And why have I seen nothing on Twitter? It should be part of the story every time they carry out these stunts. It never is.

Because the media isn't interested. Because the media is controlled by a few companies whose interest doesn't lie in telling people the truth because they profit from keeping people in the dark.

There are petitions, press releases, scientist reports, reports, posts, photos, interviews, absolutely everything and it doesn't make the news. Which is why activists try all sorts of different ways to get a little attention to be able to speak about the climate and what the governments are doing.

I know a lot of activists and they are all busy professionals, many have families and still make time to help in different ways. We would all prefer to spend our time doing other stuff.

I also had no idea about the real situation until the last few years and only thought about the changes that I could make myself. And yes, I have changed my lifestyle to be more environmentally friendly but know that what we need is systemic change. And for that we need a certain percentage of the population (3.5%) to be on board.

Whether it will happen in time, I don't know, but not trying isn't an option because there is also degrees of 'badness'.

Our lives will change dramatically in the next few years regardless. The sooner we make the changes, the better all our lives will be.

If the media wasn’t interested it wouldn’t report the attention seeking stunts of these people.

Ok, you believe this is a scam, I believe the scientists and the evidence.

So do I. I don’t think these idiots are doing anything other than damage the cause, though.

We can't undo those historic emissions, we can only change things going forward.

The PP is right that as the UK's emissions represent just over 1% of the global total, we could vanish tomorrow with no effect on global emissions. Therefore this relies on everyone pulling together. Fat chance when Russia is currently engaged in one of the most polluting activities known to man - warfare.

But the point is often missed that if you factor in goods we consume that are manufactured in other countries, our footprint is much more than 1%. I'm sure you recognise this but many don't.