There’s a great, laughable irony about a group that claims to want to save the planet, and is willing to resort to thuggery when anyone questions their methods. But the climate-panic group Extinction Rebellion (ER) is one such group. At a recent meeting in Hampton, United Kingdom, an event called “Climate Reality – What’s causing climate change and what can we do about it,” one attendee stood up and questioned not the ER message, but their methods.
What happened then? They silenced him, threw him out, and beat him up.
After the usual cycle of ‘doom, death’ and despair’ followed by the standard ‘if we just spend a lot of money on renewable energy, we’ll save the planet’ narrative the floor was opened for questions.
A few questions in, a gentleman stood up and said that while he agreed with the urgency of the message, the tactics of Extinction Rebellion alienate people rather than persuading them. The panel began interrupting him, urging him to “ask his question or stop” in a rather patronising tone. He calmly continued, explaining how such tactics damage public support. This clearly irritated one of the speakers, a schoolteacher-turned-activist who had moments earlier described how “exciting and fun” activism could be.