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I was jailed for four years for a non-violent climate protest – this is my prison diary
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
477 points (100.0% liked)
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I'm glad you were put in prison. Go protest in front of where politicians live or in front of the parlament. Don't inconvenience normal people.
Best case scenario, you achieved to piss of a bunch of random people. Worst case you killed someone who was having a heart attack and being rushed to the hospital.
Go protest in front of a politicians house yourself!
I will if I feel like our politicians deserve it. I definitely won't hold people hostage to try and get them to sympathise with me..
One of these will make the news and one wouldn't. If the goal of a protest is to spread awareness and draw attention, going to where politicians live will probably get you a restraining order and a cozy ride in the back of a police vehicle and the protest will likely go unnoticed.
Not saying these types of protests are not necessary or unhelpful! I'm just saying that, in order to draw the most attention to your cause, you inconvenience daily lives. Those are the things that make headlines and viral posts, not a secluded protest on private property.
What does attention in this case help other than more people saying "look at those idiots blocking the road"..in my opinion it may even detract from the cause..
On the other hand, if the CEOs of the companies who are polluting our world and the politicians they're successfully lobbying have to live in fear in their own homes, shit starts to change quick.
Maybe peaceful protest is not what we should be aiming for..
Nonviolent protest should never be treated with prison.
Depends how you interpret violence. Blocking the freeway is essentially holding people hostage for as long as you're blocking it.
I think 5 years is extremely harsh but I do think a shorter prison sentence is a fair punishment.
You could be putting people's lives in danger by doing it and even if you aren't, you have no right to stop other people from going where they're going.
If someone stopped me on the streets and refused to let me walk down a public street, that to me would be trying to hold me hostage and I'd react accordingly.
I can see an argument there, only because people can't just pack up their cars and walk away. With your later example of walking down the street, that isn't the case. You can just walk away and are in no way being held hostage.
"No right" != violent
I have no right to tear down public advertisements that are polluting my view, but that doesn't make it violent.