Put down the rage and open the mind

by Mike

I’m all for protest, I think it’s important to stand up for what you believe in as there are far too many atrocities in the world and unfortunately there will continue to be, until those who believe they are God like learn to show some humility and some signs of human decency.

With that in mind, what we all witnessed in news pictures from London on Sunday brought disturbing images of a the idea of a peaceful protest gone very, very badly.

The Olympics are in Beijing this year and the hosting of it has brought about widespread controversial reaction from the famous and general members of the public. Yes China has Human Rights problems and yes the good work of those in Tibet is constantly under threat because of that.

However someone please tell me how stopping an athlete carrying an Olympic torch on its intended journey is going to change the course of China’s politics and tactics? Someone please tell me why trying to physically cause disruption with a fire extinguisher will bring about world sympathy for the cause you are trying to promote?

Overall will someone please tell me why a showpiece in the name of all that can be good about sport was ruined by athletes being flanked by security and police, as the throngs of people in the crowd struggled to get a view of what they originally came to witness…for some a once in a lifetime experience?

There are good people willing to take a stand for what is right, they work long and hard for the cause and are a credit for trying to obtain justice, where there doesn’t appear to be any available. Unfortunately the neutral and therefore the general consensus would have looked upon Sunday’s madness and thought that it was a bunch of thugs that had organised all of this chaos.

Look around the streets of Dublin and on lampposts and some billboards you will find protest leaflets and stickers for rallies and gatherings determined to bring down the capitalist society. By all means protest it, but your cause becomes secondary and mass hysteria primary if we have scenes like the May Day riots and like last Sunday.

It is possible to get what you want, but don’t just lash out when you don’t believe people are listening, because all that came from Sunday was prevention. The physical protestors were preventing an event taking place, where preventing a way of life from being completed by their actions to clamp down on the proceedings as quickly and brutally as possible.

Does that sound familiar?

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.