Right then, unless you've been living under a rock today, then you probably know about the student protest in London. And can you guess the only thing people are talking about? Millbank.
Right then. So, some students have decided that the best way of convincing the government to do what we want them to do is by throwing stuff around, burning shit and causing lots of damage to a government headquarters. Riiiiiiight... Personally, I can see why people are protesting, I am a student myself and the education cuts are atrocious, what I don't understand is this idea that some people have that breaking stuff will cause a government to think again. Temper tantrums stopped working when we were 5 years old guys. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Also, I have a sneaky suspicion that perhaps the ring leaders of "the angry mob" may not have even been students... Don't know why. I just have a hunch about it.
Either that or the ring leaders were students. And in this case, they obviously lack the intelligence to be in university or college. OF COURSE BREAKING STUFF WILL GET ALL THE ATTENTION IN THE NEWS! News shows only show the "interesting" stuff. And right now, that "interesting" stuff is the fact that a load of students through a hissy fit in central London and not the fact that over 50,000 students turned up. Now that the vast majority of news stories tonight will be talking about "the terrible damage caused" or "the senseless vandalism", students, as a whole, will become hated. We will lose a lot of support from non-students as they will see us as "louts, thugs and vandals."
Yes, it's a protest, but there are better ways of getting your point across. Admittedly, telling Nick Clegg that he's a wanker doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but still! All you have managed to by making a mess is to take all of the good things about the protest, and blow them all up. Oh, and that's another thing you destroyed. Public opinion.
Anyway, I might not agree with the method of the violent protesters but I agree with their message to the government. Most students will not be able to afford £9,000 a year. I wouldn't. Even if we only have to pay it back when we earn over a certain amount. I kinda do want to think about a house. And a car.You know, the things you Tories take for granted...
We might be a declining age group (the baby-boomers are hitting retirement) but we are essential for the growth and stability of this country. We need our degrees Mr Cameron and his lapdog Clegg. So we can get to where you are and screw over a new bunch of students.
Peace out bubs.
Andrew out.
Actually i couldn't disagree more, peaceful protest gets you nowhere in this country; now while i disagree with with violence towards people, i see no problem in smashing the windows of party that wants to make it near impossible for the working classes to afford higher education. In fact i say good on them! And no, the bbc news didnt depict them as vandalists and in reality if you watch the clip the majority of students are purposly surging forward to break the windows, NOT the minority. If no such attack was made the protest could have been easily ignored by the government, we need to take a leaf out of France's book and remember that we rule the government not the government ruling us and how mainy peacefull protests in britain have been sucessful. I cant name any...but i can name that the angry protests over the poll tax in the 80's and even the womens rights protests all had an effect!
ReplyDeleteDoes that me too unintelligent for uni?
Erinean has a point man.
ReplyDeleteI mean the Suffrigists (peaceful)were great and everything but fuck all happened until the Suffragettes got together and started smashing windows,burning lawns and even attacking prominent males. So its kinda thanks to their violence that women are equal to men. If it can work for something as huge as that it can certainly help towards education cuts.
just want to point out- the group of students shown on the news that were ''purposefully surging'' were in no way a majority. I was there, and there was over 20,0000 students. The news describes hundreds of violent people which is certainly a minority of 20,000.
ReplyDelete@Erinean & Emma. - I do see where the two of you are coming from. Violent protests do work because it makes people afraid. I've already talked to Erinean about this, but I see that as terrorism. It's not as extreme as blowing planes up but they are still using terror to achieve their goals. I cannot, and will not, accept any type of terrorism as a viable means of changing the world. Also, peaceful protests are a decent way of showing how we feel. As most of us can vote, and the fact that Clegg only got in because of students, the government needs to keep us sweet. We choose who is in power. Not them.
ReplyDelete@Zoe. Good, I'm glad to see that most students have some sense.
@Emma, thank you!
ReplyDeletePeaceful protests dont work, they get ignored, and no matter what had happened the students still would have been tagged vandalists and by your own argument terrorits. 20,000 students in one square will intimidate and scare the people in the buidling and passers by. In that case the suffragets were terrorits, the protesters in china over human rights were terrorits, there is a difference between killing people over a cause and damaging property!
And for this clegg thing...NO ONE VOTED CLEGG IN, Clegg had the minority of all the votes and in addition he disgraced his party by going against the manifesto, his promises to the people who did vote that he wouldnt raise tuition fees. The government doesnt give a damn about keeping us sweet because the middle and upperclasses can afford to go to uni and it was mostly them that voted the conservatives in, they have five years before they have to beg for our votes again.
@Erinean Clegg and the liberal democrats have gained seats mainly in "student constituency's" Student's voted for the Lib dems because they told us they would oppose any and all increases in tuition fees. They wanted to scrap them within 6 years I think as well. The only reason the Tories are in charge is because Clegg doesn't have enough backbone to stand up for what he said he would.
ReplyDeleteIt probably will be 5 years. There is a small chance that the government might split if the Liberals and the Tories start arguing though. Also, if it is 5 years, I'm not going to forget about student fee's when I'm casting my vote. And I don't think other people will too. Even if they are all the same.
Peaceful protests do not get ignored. Peaceful protests do not cause damage to properties and businesses. Peaceful protests cause people to see that there are people who do not like what is going on with something. I don't need to hit someone or break something to make someone listen. Why should I need to if I'm protesting against something?