This exactly. Protests happen more often than people think. It’s just easy to bury it.

Morally, perhaps not. But legally yes, justified crimes are still crimes.

Mmmm, yes, we are

I hear that, really I do. But here’s the thing - if you don’t have faith in humanity then we’re all screwed anyway. And nihilism is not the answer. Never is.

And why is that? At least partially because a) like it or not, oil barons have a lot of influence and b) people are whinging about it, which makes judges think that they’re doing the will of the people.

Perhaps you are. I would assume you’re already probably at least somewhat on board with environmental causes.

How do you think a person who lives in the middle of nowhere, doesn’t have much of an education or anything, would react if they saw someone doing this? Probably that they must care a lot to get arrested for doing something intentionally. What makes it worth it? What are they about? Oh, something called Just Stop Oil… oh, an environmental group. Something called climate change? If it’s actually happening, I guess we should be doing something about that.

Uh… do you know what their punishment is for this? They usually get carted to the local jail, held for between a few hours and a few days, then released once the media have gone away. The offense is so minor that the punishment is the equivalent of getting lost in a corn maze. Usually, the JSO people are older people who don’t have much going on and so it’s literally no skin off their back if they have to sit in the local jail for a few days. (Also, UK jails are much more humane than US jails, so they don’t really suffer)

See, I don’t think you do. I’m not trying to No True Scotsman you, but if you agree that protests inherently have to upset people a little bit, you can’t then turn around and say “but don’t upset us like this!”. You don’t get to pick and choose what protests are morally correct or even worth it - that’s the protestor’s job, not yours!

I mean if that’s your opinion, I’m right there with you. It’s a drastic solution, but it might work! Problem is, who are you going to get who’s okay with a serious crime and a prison sentence on their record? It doesn’t matter what action they actually do as long as people talk about it. If the news got all up in arms about them putting up posters on their local community board, then I’d suggest that they do that.

I’m going to keep saying “what doesn’t make sense about this to you?” because I feel you’re being wilfully obtuse.

Yesterday you were not talking about climate change. Today you are. Because someone threw soup at a painting and sat down, waiting to be arrested. Had they not done so, you likely would not be talking about climate change.

I don’t know how many times I need to say this. THAT IS ASSAULT. In most countries that is years of prison. Soup on a Plexiglas barrier is, at most, a few days for disturbing the peace and vandalizing protective equipment. What doesn’t make sense about this to you?

You’re really close to getting it. Just a few more steps.

You are either extremely deluded or a little deluded and almost intentionally misunderstanding their aims.

Climate activists have been chaining themselves to oil infrastructure for decades. How many times can you honestly say you’ve heard of it? I’ve heard of maybe one instance, and it got very little news coverage.

JSO has recently pivoted to this strategy of (temporarily) vandalizing monuments and works of art. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME it happens, it’s all over the news and spawns endless discussion. Almost like IT’S FUCKING WORKING.

I award to you the Useful Idiot Ribbon.

Congratulations, I award to you the Useful Idiot Ribbon. Wear it proudly as your world burns.

So… you’d be okay with this action if she were the one throwing the soup? I’m super lost.

Slapping a CEO in the face is assault. That’s a serious offense in most countries, and it would be extremely easy to get sent to jail for years.

Throwing soup at a painting that’s behind Plexiglas is, at most, disturbing the peace and vandalizing a museum’s floor.

This right here. For shame on anyone who genuinely thinks they’re on the right side of history, whining about soup on a Plexiglas barrier.

So… that’s straight up assaut. There’s a good reason why they changed tactics, and it’s mostly because throwing soup at a Plexiglas barrier is 100x less destructive to property than covering valuable furs with blood.

I find it absolutely mind-boggling that you all are acknowledging that protests that make people uncomfortable are what works, then coming to the conclusion “but not like this, you can’t protest like this, that’s ridiculous!”

Amazing how many people want to ignore this crucial point - EVERY VALUABLE PAINTING IN A MUSEUM IS BEHIND INCH-THICK PLEXIGLAS. YOU COULD NOT POSSIBLY DAMAGE IT WITH TOMATO SOUP UNLESS YOU BROUGHT A FUCKING THERMAL DRILL.

Interesting that you think this is stupid, yet you acknowledge that protests are inherently uncomfortable.

People are talking about Just Stop Oil every time they pull one of these stunts. Sounds like they’re accomplishing their goals will bells on.

Ah, I missed the “full” part. Yes, that would be great, but I don’t doubt that they’d still be treated as second-class citizens.