It's day three of Extinction Rebellion shutting down parts of London and other cities in the U.K. and 24 other countries. Waves of people blocking bridges and squares have been arrested, but others have replaced them.
Oxford Circus, closed down by people in the street. Plus a pink boat.
Shell headquarters with new signage reading "Shell knew" and "Climate criminals."
Waterloo Bridge, also closed by protesters.
Just before XR started this week, George Monbiot had a piece in the Guardian called Only rebellion will prevent an ecological apocalypse. As someone who tries to talk about the climate crisis every day to people (whether I know them or not... fun!), I really identified with this quote from Monbiot about how protesters are dismissed:
“I bet those protesters have phones/go on holiday/wear leather shoes.” In other words, we won’t listen to anyone who is not living naked in a barrel, subsisting only on murky water. Of course, if you are living naked in a barrel we will dismiss you too, because you’re a hippie weirdo. Every messenger, and every message they bear, is disqualified on the grounds of either impurity or purity.Monbiot also discusses nonlinear transformation, as we saw when the Soviet Union fell:
...systems look immutable until they suddenly disintegrate. As soon as they do, the disintegration retrospectively looks inevitable. Our system – characterised by perpetual economic growth on a planet that is not growing – will inevitably implode. The only question is whether the transformation is planned or unplanned. Our task is to ensure it is planned, and fast. We need to conceive and build a new system based on the principle that every generation, everywhere has an equal right to enjoy natural wealth.Meanwhile, in the U.S., we have to point out that up is not down, yes is not no, and hate is not love.
But I hold close the knowledge that research has shown peaceful mass movements succeed when just 3.5 percent of the population mobilizes. We can do this. We can rebel for life.
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Updates from the current XR campaign sites, with lots of photos:
- The rebellion begins, April 16
- International rebellion update #2, April 17
- International rebellion update #3, the Empire strikes back, April 18
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