WATERLOO BRIDGE – ACT NOW!
It is quite incredible to walk down Waterloo Bridge in the middle of the day with no traffic. You can actually breathe the air and not feel like you are choking so the occupation of this major thoroughfare (same for oxford street) demonstrates perfectly how chronically bad the air pollution is in this city and how we urgently need to remove fossil fuel vehicle fumes from our lives. It is even more amazing to see this bridge adorned with trees and pot plants. The Green rebelution is truly under way…
The occupation of Waterloo Bridge by The Extinction Rebellion has survived another night despite a lot more arrests. Me and Mrs Romero were there last night and the police were swooping in on random individuals amongst the crowd and telling them they have to leave within 2 minutes or they will be taken away. We were approached by policemen and told exactly that. Under Article 14, we have the right to remove you…blah, blah, blah…we chose not to get arrested and had to leave the bridge. For me, I didn’t want to be taken away because it would mean I wouldn’t be able to document anymore and I think I can make a much greater contribution to this cause doing that than by being in jail.
For those that refused to move, they were carted off and put in the waiting police vans as the crowd cheered and chanted “We love you! We love you!” to each and every person that was arrested and carried off. I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for every single individual that has and is willing to be arrested by the police for this cause. It is the most selfless act anyone could do.
You might have been reading about this in the news and you think you might not agree with these methods but this is all we are left with as all other alternatives have failed. These people do not want to be arrested. They are just willing to do what is necessary to try and illicit the change in our society that is needed for society to continue. If you live in London and have been affected but the disruption you must realise that not a single person involved wants to be doing this. And as soon as the government starts to implement measures to combat the devastating consequences of climate change this all ends. The XR are not a thing in itself, they are just a means to an end.
The right wing press have brandished this a far left movement but it is way beyond politics. These are just humans screaming out for the establishment to actually deal with the situation with the seriousness and severity required. What I think this movement represents is a need for us no longer to think of our own personal concerns, desires and ambitions. To survive we have to kill the cult of the individual that has separated us all and made a lot of people miserable in the process. We are pitted against each other in an endless battle of status competition focussed on how well we are doing in society rather than how society is doing as a whole. To have a chance in hell we must now all work for the greater good, to go fowards as a community and change what needs to be changed, to fix what we have broken and to pave a path for future generations rather than taking them down an ecological dead end to disaster.
Waterloo bridge has been occupied under the banner “Act Now” and is probably the most pertinent statement of all. As I keep saying the time for ignoring this is over. We cannot carry on as we have been. Delay has cost us dearly already. We cannot shunt this anymore. We have to put everything else on the back burner. But this is not about individual acts of conservation. Our own personal choices will not make a difference. This has to be implemented from the top down. The leaders of the world must step up and do what is necessary and do what is right and we will comply. There is no other way.
Hi Janice, I couldn’t agree more. The Rebellion’s blocades not only showed how there is strength in numbers and in unity and that we can replace anxiety with action but it also gave a glimpse into what a city without the pollution of fossil fuel vehicles could be like. At some juncture they proposed the pedestrianisation of oxford street but taxi drivers protested the government and they backed down. Our leaders have to stop caving in to lobbying from parties who wish the situation to remain the same for their own benefit & profit at the expense of everyone else (including them) who will ulitmately suffer. The Rebellion has given me hope that there is a new world coming…we just have to get the blockades of progress out of the way…cheers bcr
I really feel emotional seeing these people coming together, not in great numbers, but proving that when humans work together the strength they have. Yes, selfless, how many of us would want to live on Waterloo bridge for nearly a week?
I watched tonight, Saturday, as the police moved in, in large numbers, I realise they have a job to do and it must be difficult for them too, but sadly had to leave before it came to a close. I felt sad to know that the serenity of the bridge over the last week would be occupied again tomorrow by fume filled air, and as I looked to the sky I actually noticed twinkling stars, as if even the night sky above Waterloo had been given the chance to breath ad clear!
London has survived, there are other options and wouldn’t it be great to look at pedestrianising larger parts of the city permanently ?
Well done Extinction Rebellion, I salute them all and want them back!