“THE RISE OF THE IDIOTS”: HIPSTER POLITICS ON THE STREETS OF BRISTOL

Climate change activists in Bristol took aim at GLOBAL CAPITAL yesterday and then shot themselves in the foot …

Bristol_People_Climate_March_2

Photo courtesy of Bristol 24/7

3,000 ‘climate change activists’ marched through the city yesterday as part of some sort of global day of climate change action.

Only to wind up at College Green listening to a keynote speech from George Ferguson in NEW YORK CITY where he had just arrived on a planet-wrecking, carbon-rich long haul flight to join world leaders and corporations for a United Nations-sponsored climate change CONFERENCE-ABOUT-A-CONFERENCE scheduled for 2015!

Perhaps this kind of HYPOCRISY is acceptable to the one per cent of Bristolians who bothered to turn up to this march? Maybe they support a wealthy, self-selecting GLOBAL ELITE jetsetting around the globe, getting their PALMS GREASED by high finance and living it up in the lap of luxury promoting policies – that conveniently don’t seem to apply to themselves – for the MASS IMPOVERISHMENT of the English working classes through increased taxation, increased food prices, increased energy costs, increased housing costs and restricting access to transport?

Ban Ki

UN boss, useless underachiever, “Wanky” Ban-Ki Moon, takes a short, well-deserved break from constant, utterly pointless globetrotting via long haul flights to lecture us on climate change while looking ridiculous.

However, we doubt that this transparent pile of bullshit appeals to the average Bristolian or to the majority of any of the other 99% of people who didn’t attend this march. Aren’t people more likely to say “FUCK THAT SHIT” and just carry on doing exactly the same like the bosses do?

That’s certainly what we think at The BRISTOLIAN. Any response to climate change requires a new mass social movement and the dismantling of existing elites and their interests, not some crude rearrangement betweeen these elites (who have already trashed the planet) backed up with a novelty global PR campaign aimed at GUILT TRIPPING US.

George - Winnie

Ferguson in NYC with Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, Oxfam International. He’s invited this overpaid, self-regarding nonentity and leading member of the wholly ineffectual and toothless international voluntary sector to take a long haul flight to Bristol to hector us about climate change!

If we want to protect humanity from climate change, we have to TAKE CONTROL of business and industry ourselves, not leave it to profit-hungry corporations or a bunch of rich hippy clowns. We don’t want a nicer shinier ‘green capitalism’, we want to DESTROY it, their class system and protect our future in one shot. You know it makes sense …

So come on idiots. Get yer heads out yer arses and give us some climate change politics we can all sign up to – not just a load of self-serving hypocritical PR twaddle from the people responsible for trashing the planet.

7 thoughts on ““THE RISE OF THE IDIOTS”: HIPSTER POLITICS ON THE STREETS OF BRISTOL

  1. Dave Yates

    As one of those 3 000 “idiots”,I was marching as much for system change as against climate change.I’m sure that goes for most of the people marching as well. “Green capitalism” isn’t going to save us.
    I certainly don’t think it’s necessarily hypocritical to fly to a climate change conference,although teleconferencing would be better.Having said that,if the result of that conference is a big reduction in CO2 emissions,then it would be worthwhile.We need action at a local level too.
    As climate change takes hold,everyone everyone will face ” increased food prices, increased energy costs, increased housing costs…..”,but this will disproportionately hit the poorer people of the planet. Already we’re seeing millions of climate refugees who have to flee their flooded or barren lands.
    It is this class /capitalist system that has brought about climate change. It has failed the people.
    We need system change,not climate change.

    Reply
    1. thebristolblogger Post author

      I certainly don’t think it’s necessarily hypocritical to fly to a climate change conference,

      The point of the article is that why you may not think it’s hypocritical, the majority of the population do. And why this elitist one-rule-for-us-and-another-rule-for-you shit goes on most people aren’t gonna give a fuck about climate change.

      We need to deal with the elites first and foremost, not go on marches organised by them.

      Reply
  2. Claire Milne

    Hello hello …

    I welcome your rage and fury at the immensity of what we are facing … and I share a lot of your concerns about the Global Climate March … as I suspect many people who were also on the march do too …

    However I feel like I need to name that it feels really unhelpful to project your rage at people who turned up to do what they could … yes it’s not perfect or gonna transform things over night … and no doubt many of the people there do a billion other things to help bring about the radical paradigm shift and transformation that is needed, but on that day, it was about demonstrating how many of us deeply care about the earth …

    For sure raise these important issues … but I reckon finding a way of expressing them that does not vilify those who deeply care would be much more likely to get us to listen and feel more deeply into the most useful and potent ways of addressing the crises we currently face …

    A friend shared this which sums it up quite well:

    When somebody joins over half a million other people on a day of unified global‎ Peoples Climate‬ action .. It does not necessarily mean that they are not concurrently wise to entrenched, insidious and cynical political hijacking and manipulation of the climate issue.

    The picture is a teeny weeny bit bigger than that.

    Again – thank you for your rage: we need it!

    LOVE
    Claire

    Reply
  3. Philip

    Ah, the sweet, sweet sounds of Leftier-than-thou sectarianism.

    ‘We need a broad coalition but only on the condition that everyone agrees with me, unconditionally.’
    ‘Anyone not insisting upon total and immediate worldwide revolution is an irredeemable shit who I wouldn’t share oxygen with, never mind a platform.’

    Am I paraphrasing unfairly?

    Nobody can claim that flamboyantly coloured brass bands will change the world but attacking anyone who doesn’t share your precise aims and objectives is hopelessly apolitical. There’s no politics without compromise, without accepting some degree of difference. If all you’ve got is righteous indignation it’s a sure sign that you’ve lost.

    I don’t fundamentally disagree with the core argument — that only massive changes in the structures of power and governance will permit the ecological transformations that are needed. However, this kind of resentment-fuelled nastiness isn’t helpful to anyone, revolutionaries or reformers.

    Reply
  4. thebristolblogger Post author

    Ah, the sweet, sweet sounds of Leftier-than-thou sectarianism.

    Not sure this is a disagreement on the left. Terms like ‘green’, ‘climate change’, ‘sustainability’ have no history or tradition on the left and can just be attached to any passing bandwagon. Similarly a red-trousered fiscal conservative who has enthusiastically signed-up to neo-liberal austerity agenda has nothing to do with the left. This is a more a disagreement between labour and capital, which is an odd form of sectarianism.

    There’s no politics without compromise

    There’s no politics with compromise with neo-liberalism, which is the compromise that’s always shoved down our throats as ‘pragmatic’, ‘contingent’ etc politics.

    Reply
  5. Dave

    Theres something incredibly vomit inducing about these millionaires, Sting, Ferguson, Emma Thomson,etc that feel the need to assuage their consciences by latching on to ‘greeny issues’. Its not even as if they actually believe in them either. Just another ego boost, and how they must smirk inside when the middle class disciples dress up as clowns, latching on to their ’cause’ which is basically a ‘notice me, I’m a nice person’ advert.

    Reply

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