In 1936 an American teacher named Dale Carnegie wrote How to win friends and influence people. It instantly became a bestseller and one of the most successful books in history. As the title suggests, the author offers hints on human interactions and how to get others to follow you or share your ideas. Not exactly rocket science but a useful guide I would suggest.
It looks like a quartet of protesters in the UK need a copy…
Four members of the group known as ‘Youth Demand’ were arrested on June 25 after having breached the residence of then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to protest a series of supposed ‘faults’, including: crumbling schools, feces in the rivers, a collapsing National Health Service, a nation with more food banks than McDonalds, 4.3 million UK children living in poverty, selling weapons to battle-test on toddlers in Gaza, and drilling for more oil as the world burns.
Wow, that is quite the list! And the protest action of choice? Defecating in a pond on the property. You read that correctly. One ‘activist’ wearing a shirt that read “EAT SHIT RISHI” took a dump in the water. Odd that someone complaining of ‘shit in the rivers’ would add more to the problem, no?
This choice of ‘action’ – dare I call it a ‘movement’? – is not a singular affair. We have seen a number of questionable acts of sabotage and desecration around the world, usually carried out by some group fairly described as leftist in nature. Here are some examples:
- On June 20 ‘Just Stop Oil’ sprayed orange powder paint on the iconic prehistoric stones at Stonehenge (it did not interfere with the solstice);
- On June 11 two activists from Animal Rising stuck a poster from the Wallace and Gromit animated series over the bright red painting of King Charles on display at the Philip Mould Gallery (yes, it is a terrible painting, but…);
- On April 24 dozens of climate activists from Letzte Generation (“Last Generation) glued themselves to roads across Berlin, blocking rush-hour traffic; police had to use drills to remove them (I suppose this would be termed a ‘hands-on’ protest);
- On January 29 two activists from the environmental group Riposte Alimentaire (“Food Response”) hurled soup at the Mona Lisa painting in Paris, which fortunately was protected by a barrier (just ????).
Detect a pattern here? Valid, serious causes, ranging from climate change to hunger to health care, are highlighted by stunts which have NOTHING to do with the underlying cause. It is almost comical that these actors have no idea that their silly protests, which in truth get some immediate media coverage before disappearing in the news cycle (as most things do), have little effect on what they are trying to achieve. One would think that a person desirous to draw attention to a cause and seek immediate steps to address it would not engage in counterproductive shenanigans which result in the complete opposite: derision, anger and dismissal.
Why these people do these things is anyone’s guess. Frustration at not being taken seriously? A sense of global urgency? An inability to do anything which would actually make a difference? A lack of imagination? A lack of power? Idiocy? I could go on…
For any readers who, like me, see these issues as critical please reconsider your decisions. If you truly want to gain support for important stuff don’t do stupid shit. And yes that means leaving your poop in the PM’s lake.
