Why Extinction Rebellion is Dividing Opinions in London
It’s more complicated than you might think.
I’ve been living in London for the past several months, and working near Oxford Circus — it has been impossible not to notice the recent spike in protests. What has been equally difficult not to notice has been the stark contrast between protestors and commuters — typically working or middle-class Londoners — who encounter demonstrations and protestors on their way to work.
The vast majority of these commuters do not stop to look. They do not read the signs telling them that we must “Act Now” — or our world will become irreparable before our very eyes. They are simply angered by the short-term inconvenience — that, on this one day of the year, they are a few minutes later to work than they should have been. There is no doubt that some other commuters — those travelling by car or by bus, for example — were delayed by much longer, sometimes several hours — but this is besides the point. The largest contrast here is between short-term and long-term perspectives.
The commuters are worried about a few minutes or an hour — whereas the protestors are literally sacrificing their freedom for the future of the planet. They are risking being arrested just to try and wake up more individuals to their cause — protecting our collective ecological future. They are willing to undergo short-term penalties to achieve their long-term goals — whereas the commuters are typically too blind and lost in their own worlds to let the message of the demonstrations truly sink in.
At one particular protest, which held a major junction at Oxford Circus at a stand-still for a few hours, I overheard an interaction between an angry commuter in an expensive suit, and an elderly protestor. The man in the suit screamed in the protestor’s face, shouting: “Why are you doing this? This won’t achieve anything! This is pointless!” — and the protesting grandfather replied calmly: “For your children. I’m doing this for my grandchildren and for yours. I’m not here for myself — I’ll be gone in a few years time. I’m here for the future of humanity”.
I urge you not to dismiss the old man’s statement as a grandiose feeling of importance — he was being honest, and he was correct. He was not protesting to protect his own values or his status quo — he was risking everything for the future of those he cares about. And the man in the suit was obviously only looking out for himself — too imbued in his own short-term needs to realise the gravity of the situation, and to even consider the long-term needs of everyone.
But, this is not a simple issue. The commuters who weren’t angry — and didn’t mind to use the protests as an excuse for being a few minutes late to work — stayed and watched for some time. Some seemed interested in the goals of the movement, others surprised at the courage of the protestors. Maybe some of the commuters — like myself — even wished that they had the willingness and ability to join the protestors, and to fight for the future of the planet — but, fears — for losing our jobs, or even getting arrested — hold us back.
We are afraid — but only for the short-term consequences. The key difference here — and it is this stark contrast which divides most of the opinions on Extinction Rebellion — is that the protestors are afraid — terrified, even — of the long-term consequences of their actions, of humanity’s actions. The difference in scope is tremendous: between worrying about the short-term consequences of your own actions, to worrying about the long-term consequences of all of humanity’s actions. The difference is comparable to one player in a chess match contemplating his first move, whilst the other player contemplates the entirety of the game.
For most of us, our daily lives and jobs feel too busy to worry about our own long-term future — let alone the future of the entire planet. It isn’t easy to ignore short-term distractions and forgo short-term rewards — to take action on the environment, and hold world governments and companies to account for their ongoing ecological destruction — especially when you won’t get paid to, and you’re unlikely to see any results for some time. Often the sacrifices needed to organise and sustain these environment movements are left invisible, under-appreciated and overlooked — marred by the short-term inconveniences that they inevitably create.
Extinction Rebellion is making people uncomfortable and angry — but, most importantly, it is making Londoners — and other citizens from cities across the globe — see the direct consequences of their own actions. And, it is showing them that another way of life is possible — and that some brave others are even willing to sacrifice their own lives to achieve it. Commuters have no choice but to watch and think: “What am I doing to protect the future of the planet? Are my actions part of the problem, or part of the solution?”.
