We live in an era of protest. An age defined by dissent. The world is filled with frustrated angry people rallying against their establishments for a multitude of outrages that bear little in common other than they are serious enough to get people to take to the streets. It appeared that Corona would kill off protests but in the end it just became another thing to protest about. There are currently so many groups fighting for so many different causes it is difficult to keep up and yet the one thing all these disparate cries of injustice are all united in, is that they are mostly defined by what they are against not what they are for.
Having a common enemy has bonded together many different groups of people at a time when there is mostly ever-increasing fragmentation and division. The internet has united people all over the world in a single cause but it has also ensured that we will never be able to get the majority to agree on anything ever again as the says of singular & factual source information are well and truly behind us.
Last week saw the return of the Extinction Rebellion and it is sadly apparent that their momentum has waned, their support diminished and the world has kinda moved on. And yet as it clearly slides from the forefront of people’s consciousness climate change is accelerating rapidly and its effects are ravaging the planet, hurtling us towards a future where life will not be sustainable for humans.
And just because we have stopped thinking about it doesn’t mean it has stopped happening. It is all there to see, we are just choosing to look in the other direction. And am not in any way undermining the validity or necessity of any of the protest movements in action around the globe at this moment in time but it has occurred to me that all these other protests around the world are maybe an intended distraction because we can’t face the reality of the environmental collapse we are facing.
The U.K government has now branded the XR as a criminal organisation who are threatening our way of life whilst the media and much of the population view them as troublemakers, privileged middle class or crusty hippies. These labels have been designed to deliberately undermine the movement and reduce their support but it still does not change the fact that their message is true and correct. It is happening and nothing is being done about it.
And the consequences of our inaction will have catastrophic results for all living creatures on this planet. Today I read that animal populations have decreased by 68% since 1970. At what point do we try to stop this mass extinction which we are responsible for and we will ultimately be a part of? at 80%? 90%? 100%? Oops too late.