Today my son didn’t get an education because Just Stop Oil protestors closed the QE2 bridge and prevented him from getting to school. On the scale of harm, my son sits low down and there are undoubtedly ambulance services that can’t get sick and dying people to hospital. The government has been woeful at stopping protestors, so here is how to deal with Just Stop Oil.
Before we get into the bulk of the article I want to say, Freedom of Speech is the fundamental core to a civilised society. While I do not in any way advocate for these idiots to do what they do, I believe wholeheartedly that they should have the right to express themselves peacefully – at the moment they are not doing anything peacefully.
The Right to Protest – How to Deal with Just Stop Oil
Everyone has a right to protest anything if they want to, so long as it is conducted in a peaceful way.
The word peaceful is important, because the public tends to think that if a protestor isn’t overtly causing harm through their actions, then it is peaceful.
But this isn’t true, most protestors are not acting or congregating in a peaceful way. They are causing harm and hardship.
In any other aspect of life, if someone causes you harm, you would not describe them as peaceful. It is time we stopped extending this courtesy to protestors who seek to disrupt and cause chaos.
The Harm that Just Stop Oil Causes
Just Stop Oil aren’t the only militant extremist group that protests and causes chaos. But they are the group of the moment.
I suspect that many protestors just move from one group to another with the sole intention of sowing anarchy – but that is for another article perhaps.
The harms they cause (but not limited to) are:
- Preventing people getting to work and putting food on the table
- Draining taxpayer money as emergency services have additional workload
- Preventing the police from tackling crime
- Preventing children from getting education
- Preventing emergency services from getting sick or dying people to hospital.
The Hypocrisy of Just Stop Oil
I watched a clip on YouTube of protestors blocking a street in London and angry motorists and pedestrians trying to remove them from the road.
The thing that struck me about this wasn’t the inflammatory nature of it all – it was certainly not a peaceful situation. It was the clothes that the protestors were wearing.
Clothes made using the products they want to stop – namely oil.
How to Deal with Just Stop Oil Idiots
It is baffling that people can be so idiotic that they turn up to a protest wearing the very thing they claim to want to stop. It is like a fox hunting protestor rocking up to a hunt in a fox skin hat.
For educational purposes, in case any Just Stop Oil protestors stumble across this, crude oil is used for (among hundreds of other things):
- Clothing (both in production of and in the actual clothes)
- Household appliances such as TVs, kitchen appliances and utensils.
- Hygiene and cosmetic products
- Almost anything plastic
- Agriculture for fertilizers and pesticides
- Furniture, most home furniture is manufactured and made from crude oil
- Insulation – yes, the thing that Insulate Britain wants us to put in our houses is made from oil.
I can guarantee that Just Stop Oil protestors will use at least one thing on the list, and let’s be realistic, they use almost ALL things on the list.
What they are protesting for isn’t to stop oil, it is to exert control over other people.
How to Deal with Just Stop Oil and Protests Like Theirs
We have established the hypocrisy of the protests. Now let’s tackle the issue of this authoritarian militant group and them wanting to exert control over us.
Here is how to deal with Just Stop Oil.
Calculate the Cost of the Protest and Bill them Personally
If a protestor decides to cause millions of pounds worth of disruption, fine them that amount and a penalty.
For example, if they cause £1 million of disruption, fine them £3 million. Take their cosy middle-class houses and bankrupt them. They will soon understand what it feels like to be a victim.
Apply this to every protest that causes measurable disruption. Do you think a future protestor is going to cause disruption if you take their wealth from them?
If their Actions Cause People to Die, then Prosecute them for Manslaughter
In my opinion, anyone that kills someone should forfeit their own life – but that isn’t the society or the framework we currently live in.
Under the current legal system these protestors should face assault charges for anyone they obstruct getting medical treatment and manslaughter charges for anyone they kill because of their actions.
It is time we started holding people accountable for their actions. Make them take responsibility for the harm they cause.
It will restore justice to our system and deter future protests from occurring.
Protesting Should Be Peaceful in Every Way
If these idiots really want to protest oil in a legitimate way, then pick your banners up and stand peacefully in front of a government building.
Let people who don’t hold your views get on with their lives and make your voice heard. Militant protests should not be tolerated, and the government should implement penalties proportionate to the harm caused.
Not just arrest, slap on the wrist and then allow organisations like Just Stop Oil to hijack our lives a few days later.
For more thought-provoking political commentary – find out if I think the 45p tax rate is good or bad!