The recent protest this week at the Snooker World Championships offers yet another example of how protest by some has become dangerous to our society and exhibit all the hallmarks of psychopathy as opposed to public conscience.
I was brought up to be respectful and tolerant of others. To value a liberal democracy where the franchise has been extended to all citizens such that we all can have our say at the ballot box over who is elected to parliament, on what platform they choose and to pass laws in our name. To that end we can campaign and protest to demonstrate to those who seek office which issues are important to us.
This was traditionally undertaken through peaceful protest – organised marches or gatherings, representations in the media, petitions, awareness campaigns funded like commercial marketing and occupying the same spaces in the media and wearing of physical emblems publicly to show one’s allegiance to whatever cause. The ultimate goal been to influence the ballot box. To engineer popular support for change.
We do not seek to hold others to ransom and act like spoilt children. Stomping and screaming until we get what we want at the expense of others who may not think alike.
This is where Just Stop Oil, or the Animal Rights activists at Aintree have crossed a line. A line their issue, or frankly almost any other in normal life, doesn’t justify ever crossing.
It should come as no surprise to most who read this to recognise that we all face issues in our lives. The weight we place on them subjective. One person’s vital issue is another person’s non-story. That is our nature and crucially vital for our freedom.
There exists, as I have outlined above, a well-trodden and evidenced path to persuasion. Sitting at the front of the bus harmed no one or demanded someone else be subjected to harm. Yet for those at the Crucible this week seeking to enjoy their sport of choice, some decided it was within their rights as fellow citizens to deprive them of that right.
It has to end. If we all act to raise awareness of the issues most important to us by disregarding the well-being and rights of others, we’ll quickly end up with no society.
Daily fathers for justice will abseil from key buildings as just stop oil activists block roads and all to be left to their own devices by defund police protesters encamped outside police stations preventing anyone coming or going.
So going forward therefore, rather than judges expressing their sympathy for the cause of Just Stop Oil protesters and their actions, they should ask the protesters if they have a reason they think they have the right to inflict harm and suffering on others who have their own gripes in life but choose to seek change through tolerant and respectful ways?
Why do they think their pain or urgency of issue is superior to that of homeless people who have nowhere to sleep tonight but manage to not block ambulances or sporting events? Or the person struggling to care for a loved relative, feed their kids and keep a job at the same time. Perhaps they should ask how they’d feel if that person invaded their space in the name of their issue.
It strikes me that the only thing these groups seem to protest against is the very decency demanded of a functioning society.