To wonder if a lot of the Just Stop Oil protesters are not very nice people on a personal level

[HazelSchmazel]

There are a few Just Stop Oil threads around and I've noticed that a couple of posters have stated that the protesters are not very nice people.

Which got me thinking .....

A few years ago, I was in a horrible relationship with a rather unpleasant guy - a selfish, alcoholic, abusive cheater, who treated me like dirt and ended up stealing a considerable amount of money from me. Despite being a daily meat eater, regularly flying, driving a gas guzzler, having children etc. he would regularly pontificate on saving the environment (and would castigate me on environmental grounds for having a cat - even though I'm a childless vegetarian, who never flies!). Needless to say, the whole experience made me very unhappy.

Fast forward to the present, and I gather that he is now a very active Just Stop Oil protester.

Now, I'm bracing myself to be shot down in flames, as I appreciate that of course, it's unreasonable to judge an entire movement based on one bad apple.

But could it be the case, that there is something about JSO that attracts these nasty characters? Just wondering ......

Sorry - 'badly'!

I agree with this. Most activists I have known I find hard to be around. Some have been friends I have had for a while and they’ve followed a path and it is impossible to have a conversation with them about anything without it being politicised.
I always try to remain interested and want to hear what they have to say about the topics they are passionate about but then when you try and talk about literally anything else, you’ll get castigated for it.
For example, try and talk about a nice family holiday you have been on and they will have a go at the carbon footprint. Try talking about a book that you are reading with your child and they have a go about the author (JK Rowling in that example) it’s exhausting.

I think direct action movements will tend to attract people who are into adrenaline and confrontation and have an absolute sense of their own rightness and a contemptuous disregard for those who disagree with them. Not all will be like that, but people like that will be attracted so exist there in a higher concentration that in the general population.

I agree with this.

I remember googling 'am I dating a psychopath?' as the guy in question was so convinced of his own rightness and so lacking in any compassion or empathy

They do appear to care that their actions have now affected themselves though by facing jail. Aw diddums.

Sounds like you have a contemptuous disregard for those who disagree with you

Just Stop Oil involves a lot of just disrupting stuff / causing problems / generally being an arsehole "in a good cause."

It's understandable if movements like this attract a fair number of participants who enjoy being arseholes and like the opportunity of doing so with a moral excuse.

I think you may have a point. They are at the extreme end of the environmental movement, and generally extreme over zealous people are not particularly pleasant to be around.

Yeah like those arsey suffragettes

I'd rather have a pint with a JSO activist than some of the nutters on here these days 😆

My DD is quite an activist and says JSO is a horrible, cult-like organisation who want its members to devote they’r entire lives to the cause.

@Polominty I don't think that you have quite grasped the point that I was trying to make, in which case I apologise for not being clearer.

My views on JSO aren't the issue here. I was simply wondering why someone of poor character would find it so appealing.

You refer to people who care enough to be a 'bit uncomfortable'. I can assure you that being on the receiving end of narcissistic and sexual abuse is more than a 'bit uncomfortable'.

I hope that you never find yourself in such a situation.

@HazelSchmazel I think you misunderstood me I used the word uncomfortable directly related to protesting, you obviously believe your ex is doing it to be self serving rather than out of any real conviction. I never down played the effect on the victims of such an abusive person and never suggested that you should only feel uncomfortable. In my mind they are completely separate issues. Thanks for the hope for me, but short of sharing my life history you have no idea what kind of situations I might have found myself in.

Sounds like you just want to feel better about your self by demonising your ex and then stereotyping all the protesters based on your ex. Get over yourself!

Also there is absolutely nothing hypocritical about your ex giving out about the environmental impact of cats while also flying and having children himself. Those are completely different environmental issues. Lots of people oppose cats being left outside and the planting of non native species because of the consequences for local flora and fauna. Whether or not those same people think it's right to fly, drive big cars, or have big families to reduce carbon footprint is a different issue.

There are some very narrow and simplistic world views on here

I certainly have come across people as you've described.

I'm a teacher, and most teachers are committed to improving the lives and prospects of young people, but a small minority seem to be in it as some sort of power trip, and/or a level of status (within a very small community!) Seems to be something of a similar dynamic maybe?

Errrrr - I've neither sterotyped 'all' the protesters, not demonised my ex (in the case of the latter, I've simply set out the facts).

And where has the reference to the planting of non native species come from??????

I've never heard of the concept of having big families to reduce carbon footprint before. That's an interesting take @RubyRoss

Brave, the woman who suffered devastating effects from a stroke that could have been reversed/limited if she had got to hospital in time has had to be fucking brave! They were asked to let the ambulance through and fucking refused. If their actions cause someone to die I want to see each one of them up on manslaughter charges!

That's what I meant really.

JSO believe that only highly disruptive acts of protest are likely to succeed in mobilising the political will to end our reliance on the fossil fuel industries within a timeframe that isn't completely pointless. They're probably right about that. Whether or not you believe that the casualties of their actions are acceptable collateral damage in pursuit of that goal is obviously more up for debate.

I'm not making the argument either way, but I do know that I would not personally put myself in a position where I could potentially be in the dock on a manslaughter charge - or anything like it - even if I believed passionately that these protests were absolutely the only way to go. That's not because of any principled stance, it's because I'd be scared of the consequences for me. Anyone who sets those considerations aside for something they believe in is brave imo. You don't have to agree with them to appreciate that.

It's a bit like the German guy who climbed bridge (I think it was the severn) got jailed and a deportation order, his girlfriend of a few months was doing sob story interviews saying what a wonderful stepdaughter he was and how devastated her dc would be if he was deported and how unfair it was. It didn't work thankfully 😀

I haven’t met any JSO activists but I have encountered similar people before. They tend to be from privileged backgrounds which means they have zero understanding of how millions of ordinary working people who don’t live in big cities rely on their cars to get to work & take their kids to school.

Those who do work overwhelmingly do so in the public sector, which means they have zero understanding of how businesses function, need to compete for customers & make sustainable profits to survive.

They also tend to be intolerably self-righteous & sanctimonious. Ghastly individuals.

Is Glue not made using oil?

Combination of moral licensing and narcissism. I tend not to be much of an activist because I’m never sure if I’m right or not. I think most people aren’t because they would feel a bit silly calling themselves an activist.

I think there has to be a high degree of narcissism to be so self righteous to damage historical monuments/ hold up ambulances etc in furtherance of your “cause” whatever it might be. And many of the JSO people do seem to be very privileged and narcissistic. That’s not to say anything about climate change, but them and their movement

You get nice and not-so-nice people in every sphere of life pretty much.
I don't think I've met any JSO protesters; but I know several XR (Extinction Rebellion) activists, and have to say they've all been lovely!
Brave too. Most have been arrested and spent a night or two in a police cell. But, I don't know any who've been to prison.
I knew some people who went to prison for breaking an injunction at anti-road building protests. Civil offences rather than criminal offences, and they were only in jail for about a month. They were all lovely, with one exception, an older bloke who sounds slightly similar to your ex. He was a misogynist, and very narcissistic, and just not very pleasant. But, he was the exception.
I was involved with Greenpeace a few years ago. My local group. I'm terrified of jail! So I always stuck to the legal gentle stuff - making vegan cakes for fundraisers, helping out with educational events, giving out leaflets etc. I always admired those willing to sacrifice their freedom for the greater good.
Funnily enough, one of my XR friends knows Cressida, one of the JSO five. She said she's an extremely dedicated and compassionate young woman. Who genuinely does just want to try to save humanity and other species from climate catastrophe.
I don't agree with the tactics of JSO at all. But, as individuals, they've been very unfairly represented on Mumsnet and elsewhere in recent days. I strongly oppose the jail sentences.
Re privilege - my XR friends come from various backgrounds actually, so I'm not sure. Though most seem to be educated to at least degree level.
People are people I guess 🤷‍♀️