violence for violence sake
I knew what Battle In Seattle was about. I usually get why protesters protest, even when I disagree. And especially when I do agree. But I don't get yesterday's anarchism protest against the Vancouver Olympics
While the Olympics are political in nature, as Munich 1972, Moscow 1980, and LosAngelas 1984 made quite clear. But a kidnapping, assassination, or boycott is usually directed directly against one country that is seen to offend. The protest here was against the entirety of the games itself.
And I totally get that an Olympics has and gets infinitely more attention then a G-7, G-8, G-20, Bilderburg, NATO, etc meeting. But it would seem to me that an Olympic protest has inverse relevance. The Olympic committee is not making global policy decisions or economy, arms, agriculture or anything that matters.
There are a bunch of valid criticisms of VANOC. Maybe the VANOC shouldn't have torn down 1,100 units of welfare housing (even though they didn't meet fire, health and safety codes). Maybe they ruined the natural environment. Maybe native lands should have been given more compensation/ recognition then they have received.
Protest organizer Ms. Westergard-Thorpe informs that one of the protesters' goals is to “disrupt VANOC's image control.” With a billion people tuning into the games this disruption is certainly embarrassing. But why? To what end?
I can grasp their self-justification of vandalism being non-violent... er, that people themselves are not meant to be physically harmed. Still spray painting cars, smashing windows, and throwing stuff can hurt people, even if unintentionally. More so then say... hosting a sit-in demonstration, hunger strike, or letter writing campaign. The re-routing of the torch relay was controled gracefully by Olympic organizers and police.
Still I don't get the message. Violence for violence sake? Attention seeking whores do not earn respect, or tanish the IOC's image. They only degrade their own image. the ideas conveyed publicly in the paper don't justify the measures taken Cheer for a Rawanda upset if you want. I'll even join you on this. But please, use some common sense.