take me, take me to the riot ..
2 days ago, a group of G20 "protestors" turned a peaceful protest into a riot when they wreaked havoc in downtown toronto. they broke anything that represented "capitalism", smashed windows of stores like starbucks and mcdonalds, drew anarchist graffiti on streetcars and set fire to a police car.
what was the meaning of this? "this is what democracy looks like," they said.
they said they have the right to do what they want with the police car because it was paid for by their tax dollars. okay, in theory, that is true. but what percentage of that cost, actually came out of their pockets? 0.000000000000000000001%? what about the rest of the taxpayers? they're not exactly representing what the rest of us want out of that police car.
but alright, so they paid for a (miniscule) portion of the police car. what about those store windows? they definitely did not pay for that. perhaps they did - by buying whatever those stores had to sell and adding to a corporation's profits. but when they are protesting against the chokehold of capitalism, that would be incredibly hypocritical, wouldn't it?
what they don't know, is that shattering the windows of one franchise of a corporate giant doesn't mean squat. all they are doing is creating trouble for the franchiser and fear in all the customers who were inside the store. can you imagine witnessing a riot take place while you were buying your coffee, and then watching as the rioters attempt to break the barriers that separate you from the chaos? it would be absolutely terrifying.
the rioters said that they only aim to damage property and that no humans or animals are harmed in the process. what kind of message does that give to the world? that violence is the only way to be heard? that going on wanton rampages is right? that they can commit these crimes and vandalize cities without being penalized?
the only way i would look upon their acts with anything other than loathing is if they take responsibility for their ridiculousness. going to smash some windows? sweep up the glass and pay for the repairs. going to set a police cruiser ablaze? keep the onlookers at a safe distance away and then buy the police force a new car. going to graffiti streetcars? wash it off and pay for the lost revenue from putting a streetcar out of service. is this not a lesson we all learn in kindergarten? take responsibility. if you make a mess, you are responsible for cleaning it up and making amends. apparently these rioters need to learn a lesson or two from barney and dora the explorer.
from my perspective, the rioters merely used protesting as a cover for their aggressive acts. they babbled out nonsense about capitalism, loving their planet and wasted tax dollars just to be able to sleep at night after convincing themselves that what they are doing is "right." to me, they were using the G20 summit as an excuse to be unnecessarily aggressive, troublesome, and destructive. they wanted to ruin the streets of toronto just for the sake of ruining our (relatively) peaceful, beloved city. they are not getting anything out of this, except bad publicity and being made public enemies to the entire metropolitan toronto. they say they don't want to be called anarchists, they claimed they were protesting with a reason and a cause. but in my opinion, their "reasoning" is completely illogical and - seeing as this is my blog - therefore invalid.
so again i ask,
what was the meaning of this? "this is what democracy looks like," they said.
no.
committing violent acts and instilling fear in citizens for no viable cause but to be violent and create fear is not democracy. it is terrorism.
disgusting.
what was the meaning of this? "this is what democracy looks like," they said.
they said they have the right to do what they want with the police car because it was paid for by their tax dollars. okay, in theory, that is true. but what percentage of that cost, actually came out of their pockets? 0.000000000000000000001%? what about the rest of the taxpayers? they're not exactly representing what the rest of us want out of that police car.
but alright, so they paid for a (miniscule) portion of the police car. what about those store windows? they definitely did not pay for that. perhaps they did - by buying whatever those stores had to sell and adding to a corporation's profits. but when they are protesting against the chokehold of capitalism, that would be incredibly hypocritical, wouldn't it?
what they don't know, is that shattering the windows of one franchise of a corporate giant doesn't mean squat. all they are doing is creating trouble for the franchiser and fear in all the customers who were inside the store. can you imagine witnessing a riot take place while you were buying your coffee, and then watching as the rioters attempt to break the barriers that separate you from the chaos? it would be absolutely terrifying.
the rioters said that they only aim to damage property and that no humans or animals are harmed in the process. what kind of message does that give to the world? that violence is the only way to be heard? that going on wanton rampages is right? that they can commit these crimes and vandalize cities without being penalized?
the only way i would look upon their acts with anything other than loathing is if they take responsibility for their ridiculousness. going to smash some windows? sweep up the glass and pay for the repairs. going to set a police cruiser ablaze? keep the onlookers at a safe distance away and then buy the police force a new car. going to graffiti streetcars? wash it off and pay for the lost revenue from putting a streetcar out of service. is this not a lesson we all learn in kindergarten? take responsibility. if you make a mess, you are responsible for cleaning it up and making amends. apparently these rioters need to learn a lesson or two from barney and dora the explorer.
from my perspective, the rioters merely used protesting as a cover for their aggressive acts. they babbled out nonsense about capitalism, loving their planet and wasted tax dollars just to be able to sleep at night after convincing themselves that what they are doing is "right." to me, they were using the G20 summit as an excuse to be unnecessarily aggressive, troublesome, and destructive. they wanted to ruin the streets of toronto just for the sake of ruining our (relatively) peaceful, beloved city. they are not getting anything out of this, except bad publicity and being made public enemies to the entire metropolitan toronto. they say they don't want to be called anarchists, they claimed they were protesting with a reason and a cause. but in my opinion, their "reasoning" is completely illogical and - seeing as this is my blog - therefore invalid.
so again i ask,
what was the meaning of this? "this is what democracy looks like," they said.
no.
committing violent acts and instilling fear in citizens for no viable cause but to be violent and create fear is not democracy. it is terrorism.
disgusting.