What I’m about to say might offend some of you but it is something that definitely needs to be said. Do not protest haphazardly. This mainly includes committing crimes and disrupting the lives of people unrelated to the protest.
There was a very recent incident where two climate change protestors vandalised the yacht of Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie. First, let me emphasize that I am in no way defending her or any billionaire. But we need to understand that this only caused problems for the staff on the yacht as they need to be involved in the clean-up process, and there is absolutely no relation to climate change in the events that transpired. This not only undermines the climate change protest movement as a whole but also makes people think that some protestors will do absolutely anything while coming under the banner of climate change and using the movement as a shield. There have some instances in India where protestors block off entire highways with no prior permit, and this leads to a huge amount of traffic and disrupts the lives of completely unrelated people who just want to go their home, place of work, etc.
This only cements the fact that protestors need to do their research and consider all possible angles while planning these protests, such as the message they want to send, and how they’ll send it without disrupting people’s lives while also making a significant impact that will make people want to join in or contribute to the movement. A good example of this would be the SAG-AFTRA protests that are taking place where hollywood is currently on strike. These people are choosing to go on strike so that their jobs do not get taken from them in the future by AI. It sends a clear message, doesn’t disrupt unrelated people’s lives, has an impact, and makes people want to support it.
I hope this article can make at least a few people understand that protesting isn’t something to be done half-heartedly and needs to be planned properly in moderation without harming anyone.
–by Karan Balasubramanian
