Mastodawn

I'm fine with peaceful protests.

All the same, you probably don't want to be asking for something that is untargeted and risks contributing to energy shortages, inflation, and longer term long-term inequality that will make everyone worse off while at the same time you are blockading essential fuel depots and obstructing emergency vehicles.

There's very little left in cause or method for the public (or the public purse, which has to make spending choices) to get behind there...

#fuelprotest

Show thread

iBallesty 18h ago

@rlv Interesting funding model for a once legitimate protest that has been hijacked and divertered into an anti establishment protest by a disgruntled minority, too afraid to protest the American Embassy but happy to disrupt the ordinary working folk. Effective protest would be planned, regular and negotiated. https://www.thebriefing.ie/who-is-funding-the-fuel-protests-online-campaign/

Who is funding the fuel protest's online campaign?

Political mobilisation does not scale "spontaneously", and, once that fire is lit, there is no controlling what it burns.

The Briefing

Show thread

Rich Vance 12h ago

@iBallesty Not a new thing for anger or protests to be co-opted, and it seems to have happened to at least some degree in this instance. Reactionaries, their fellow travellers, and veriois interests have become very adept at leveraging human psychology and social dynamics. Both are adding layers of complexity, which we're not good at teasing apart or dealing with.