the kettling and relatively low levels of violence seem to be almost civilised
I'm not convinced that detaining teenagers for 6 hours in sub-zero temperatures is all that civilised (though they certainly knew what they were getting into after the last couple of protests, & had presumably decided it was a sacrifice worth making -- it certainly makes better news than a bit of peaceful placard-waving), but yes, given the numbers of people involved (and given that a handful of them -- on both sides -- almost certainly were looking for a fight), it could have been a hell of a lot worse.
But I'm certainly not saying that the headlines should have been "Evil fascist pigs stamp on the face of the future" or anything like that (and Anton Vowl (http://enemiesofreason.co.uk/2010/12/10/taking-sides-in-a-riot/) has a fairly reasoned argument for why the BBC reporting would inevitably seem biased). I'm just depressed that rather than giving us any kind of meaningful reporting of the political decision, let alone the protests surrounding it, the national news focused on two ageing celebrities in their big shiny car who were a bit put out by the whole thing.
of what am I a commitment?
Interesting question. I shall ponder it.
We do what we can; all is not lost.
I fear all is lost, long-term, but we only live in the medium-term at most -- which is part of the problem but it's also how we survive at all. And wishing it wasn't so doesn't seem to achieve very much.
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Date: 2010-12-10 12:08 pm (UTC)I'm not convinced that detaining teenagers for 6 hours in sub-zero temperatures is all that civilised (though they certainly knew what they were getting into after the last couple of protests, & had presumably decided it was a sacrifice worth making -- it certainly makes better news than a bit of peaceful placard-waving), but yes, given the numbers of people involved (and given that a handful of them -- on both sides -- almost certainly were looking for a fight), it could have been a hell of a lot worse.
But I'm certainly not saying that the headlines should have been "Evil fascist pigs stamp on the face of the future" or anything like that (and Anton Vowl (http://enemiesofreason.co.uk/2010/12/10/taking-sides-in-a-riot/) has a fairly reasoned argument for why the BBC reporting would inevitably seem biased). I'm just depressed that rather than giving us any kind of meaningful reporting of the political decision, let alone the protests surrounding it, the national news focused on two ageing celebrities in their big shiny car who were a bit put out by the whole thing.
of what am I a commitment?
Interesting question. I shall ponder it.
We do what we can; all is not lost.
I fear all is lost, long-term, but we only live in the medium-term at most -- which is part of the problem but it's also how we survive at all. And wishing it wasn't so doesn't seem to achieve very much.