The other day we had to go to a town a bit far away because Purple had an appointment there. Littletree had a friend over, so while we were waiting I took them to play in the park. As it turned out, there was a rally that day to protest a Rally (car race) that will be held in the valley. Somehow the irony of holding a rally to protest a Rally was lost on the hippies.
It was an interesting spectacle to watch, and somehow the girls got sucked in to the parade.
I don't really have much opinion about the Rally itself. It seemed that the main arguments against it were:
-That roads will be closed for several hours on the day, meaning that people can't get in or out of their homes. yep. it's a sucky inconvenience, but hardly worthy of a massive protest, IMO.
-That lots of wildlife will be killed by the high-speed cars. True, but I'm not sure just how much wildlife will be killed, yes, the Rally cars will go faster than regular cars, but the number of cars on the road will be greatly reduced on the day. This one doesn't seem to be based in any solid evidence
-That the government is spending $6million of taxpayers money to host this event. Good argument, but otoh, the government claims that the Rally will bring $30million to the area. Again, solid evidence on either side is lacking.
For me, the one argument that makes real sense is the moral objection to motor sports in general, though no one at the rally brought that up. To quote Purple: Cars are polluting, but we drive them because we need to get places and for the most part there isn't much in the way of alternatives; it's driving for practical necessity. Car races are driving - and therefore polluting - for fun, and that is what I'm opposed to.
I did get the impression that a lot of the people there were just general "protest anything mainstream" bandwagoners (and heaven forfend any of the local crew should read this and find out I'm not a *real* anti-everything hippy LOL), but at least I snapped some nice photos of the event
(thanks to my stupid broken camera that I've discovered will sometimes work *if* you open the battery cover to push on the battery when you turn it on, while spinning three times widdershins and tapping your nose. But only if the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter's aligned with Mars)
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Maybe I should try that with my stoopid camera...do yo need to chant anything at the same time???
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteJust found your great blog via a link from a friends site.
I think you do get a lot of those types almost renta protesters, who just seem to enjoy going out on any demonstration regardless of what the reason is.
I wish we had more people round here who get fired up like that! Organising any such event round here is like squeezing water out of hard non-porous rocks.
ReplyDeleteAriad and Majikfaerie I hope you get your cameras fully operational soon!
Ariad I've found that chanting Hare Krshna or praying to the goddess Demelza helps too.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, these people aren't really renta protesters. they really believe in the cause... I just think a lot of them don't really know why.
around here anyone who comes up with something left-wing or environmental, everyone jumps on the bandwagon without questioning it.
it's pretty easy to get a good turn out for a protest or demonstration if you know the local alternative types (which is just about everyone ;) )
Oh well, regardless of whether or not they know why they are protesting, they look like they are having loads of fun! I have to admit I would not want screaming racing cars spoiling my peace in such a lovely place. I imagine, apart from the local wildlife there would be lots of cows, horses etc grazing around the area who might take offence to the noise too.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a lot of alternative types in my town unfortunately. There was a lot of petition signing when the government proposed building a titan prision in the town (would have been massive, housing thousands) and a few meetings but I don't think anyone protested and I can't see any sort of protest over environmental issues.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that people do feel passionate enough about an issue to get off their backsides though
and such hypocrites...they protest a car rally by jumping on a bandwagon!
ReplyDeletewhile it may seem that people were dressed up in costumes for the event, i found it amusing to note that those animal suits were in fact standard daily attire...
yes, motor sports are noisy, polluting, & use extraordinary amounts of very refined fuel. Whats worse, is they wholeheartedly aspects of culture all serving to reinforce reptilian instincts in the Pysche and further enslavery in the 'Babylon Matrix' (to borrow a term from writer Johnathon Zap. Counterevolutionary.