“Just Stop Oil” protesters vandalize Stonehenge

[Alben Barkley]

https://twitter.com/st0nehenge/status/1803394207622512748?s=46

I truly can’t think of a more effective way to rally people behind your cause. I’m sure this won’t backfire at all.

Seriously though this is part of a larger trend I’ve noticed among modern “progressive” activists for all sorts of causes who seem to think being as aggressive and hostile and obnoxious as possible to people unaware of or undecided about their cause is the best way to advance it. Do they not realize that violent and criminal “direct action” has rarely been successful in the past and more often actually enables the cause’s opponents as they exploit public outrage generated by their stunts?

And before someone says “But MLK!” let me just stop you right there.

1. The sit-ins and other acts of civil disobedience were directly violating the unjust laws they were protesting, and this was clearly demonstrated to a sympathetic public when they saw people arrested and beaten simply for trying to sit down and eat or take a bus or whatever. Stonehenge has nothing to do with Just Stop Oil’s cause. The only reason to do this is “any publicity is good publicity” which again is flawed thinking here.

2. The laws they were protesting were morally wrong and should never have been in place in the first place. The same cannot be said for laws against defacing historical monuments and artifacts.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

These people in some respects are hardly any better than Daesh. Jesus Christ.

[Horus]

Wtf is wrong with these people? If I were more conspiracy oriented I would think "Just Stop Oil" is a some kind of front for "Keep Oil Going."

How out of touch can you be?

[Zinneke]

Wtf is wrong with these people? If I were more conspiracy oriented I would think "Just Stop Oil" is a some kind of front for "Keep Oil Going."

How out of touch can you be?

There are credible rumours that these people are directly funded by the fossil fuel industry to discredit the movement

[Horus]

Wtf is wrong with these people? If I were more conspiracy oriented I would think "Just Stop Oil" is a some kind of front for "Keep Oil Going."

How out of touch can you be?

There are credible rumours that these people are directly funded by the fossil fuel industry to discredit the movement

And the UK election is in two weeks time.. I mean I wouldn't put it past such evil people.

[Silent Hunter]

At least in the past they've gone after stuff that's protected by glass. This place isn't. It's closed to the public most of the time anyway - you have to see it from a distance.

[wnwnwn]

They surely are also agaisnt nuclear energy.
Can someone follow the money?

[DaleCooper]

Wtf is wrong with these people? If I were more conspiracy oriented I would think "Just Stop Oil" is a some kind of front for "Keep Oil Going."

How out of touch can you be?

There are credible rumours that these people are directly funded by the fossil fuel industry to discredit the movement

I haven't heard those rumors, but I was about to say that I would bet a good 100 bucks that this is a false flag to make environmentalists look bad. I try not to underestimate the stupidity of protesters (for any cause) but this strikes me as deliberately engineered to turn people against environmentalism.

[dead0man]

I doubt it's a false flag.  These people 100% buy into the "any press is good press" line and are stupid.

[Ancestral Republican]

Looks like the paint was able to be removed with no damage.

Waste of time, energy, money - and didn't win a single ally. I don't think they're Big Oil plants, but you never know.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

I really don't understand why activists decide to vandalize art or great architectural builds by humans. It doesn't change anything. It doesn't help their cause. This isn't winning over a single ally, and it brings the entire climate activist movement to shame. I'm a climate activist, but this is not what I stand for and I strongly disapprove and reject this.

The irony is that Stonehenge is made and built by people who have a superior environmental footprint over the humans that decided to vandalize it.

[CumbrianLefty]

The performative dickheadery is the entire point, in this case.

[wnwnwn]

I really don't understand why activists decide to vandalize art or great architectural builds by humans. It doesn't change anything. It doesn't help their cause. This isn't winning over a single ally, and it brings the entire climate activist movement to shame. I'm a climate activist, but this is not what I stand for and I strongly disapprove and reject this.

The irony is that Stonehenge is made and built by people who have a superior environmental footprint over the humans that decided to vandalize it.

Maybe there are, in secret, a form of anti-european heritage 'activists'.

[Neo-Malthusian Misanthrope]

I'm glad there was no damage, but people really need to get over the "any publicity is good publicity" mindset. Maybe it's a consequence of how milkshaking somebody will catch you an assault charge, so instead of targeting a public figure who may actually be responsible for whatever it is you're protesting, they just go for whatever'll grab the most attention. Getting a group like this to agree on something must be like herding cats, but there has to be a better direction they can come up with.

[Meclazine for Israel]

In an even more cataclysmic move, Stop Oil protestors have sprayed Taylor Swift's private jet.

Taylor Swift Jet Stop Oil

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8cgJNItKYk/

That event is probably older though.

[Silent Hunter]

Looks like the paint was able to be removed with no damage.

Because it didn't rain first.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Wtf is wrong with these people? If I were more conspiracy oriented I would think "Just Stop Oil" is a some kind of front for "Keep Oil Going."

How out of touch can you be?

There are credible rumours that these people are directly funded by the fossil fuel industry to discredit the movement

Which credible "rumours"? Evidence for that claim? Feels like a conspiracy theory.

To be fair, it's much more believable that these people are just dumb as f***, excuse me for my words. Never underestimate how dumb a human or group of people can be.

[Zinneke]

Wtf is wrong with these people? If I were more conspiracy oriented I would think "Just Stop Oil" is a some kind of front for "Keep Oil Going."

How out of touch can you be?

There are credible rumours that these people are directly funded by the fossil fuel industry to discredit the movement

Which credible "rumours"? Evidence for that claim? Feels like a conspiracy theory.

To be fair, it's much more believable that these people are just dumb as f***, excuse me for my words. Never underestimate how dumb a human or group of people can be.

Yes they are dumb. They are also young, and easily manipulated.
We've had stories of internal security people infiltrating environmental activist groups and starting relationships, which caused a scandal. What was the other scandal though was that often these infiltrated people were the ones pushing for some of the more radical action

oil companies are easily capable of such operations with the billions of dollars at their disposal. You just need some trained manipulators.

[CumbrianLefty]

I am generally a conspiracy sceptic - most of the time there are much more mundane explanations for  things - but I can't totally dismiss it in this instance, for the reasons you state.

[John Dule]

Nothing will convince me that these people are not completely paid off, or at least secretly financed in part, by the fossil fuel industry.

[KaiserDave]

These people in some respects are hardly any better than Daesh. Jesus Christ.

Get a grip.

Nothing will convince me that these people are not completely paid off, or at least secretly financed in part, by the fossil fuel industry.

I agree with this.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

These people in some respects are hardly any better than Daesh. Jesus Christ.

Get a grip.

I had Palmyra on my mind when I posted that. I also used various moderating language.
The point regarding preservation of important sites was the main point and one I'm fairly positive you have misunderstood.

[KaiserDave]

These people in some respects are hardly any better than Daesh. Jesus Christ.

Get a grip.

I had Palmyra on my mind when I posted that. I also used various moderating language.
The point regarding preservation of important sites was the main point and one I'm fairly positive you have misunderstood.

I know what you meant, and the absurdity of the comparison is self-evident. There are better ways to make the point.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

These people in some respects are hardly any better than Daesh. Jesus Christ.

Get a grip.

I had Palmyra on my mind when I posted that. I also used various moderating language.
The point regarding preservation of important sites was the main point and one I'm fairly positive you have misunderstood.

I know what you meant, and the absurdity of the comparison is self-evident. There are better ways to make the point.

I'm sorry, but this pendantry is asinine. And groups doing such things like attacking Stonehenge of all things, in such a context, earn the right to get such measured criticism.

[TheTide]

I might have made this point before, but just about all protest movements, regardless of the cause, the ideology etc at stake, have a certain number of people who are doing it for nothing more than the basic fun of it. In this case it was a day out to Stonehenge.