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The farmers have been anything but peaceful. They've destroyed public & private property, doused it in literal shit, started fires and threatened politicians. T
by beeboobaa 3y ago
The farmers have been anything but peaceful. They've destroyed public & private property, doused it in literal shit, started fires and threatened politicians. They've also blocked roads preventing emergency services from getting through.
- suoduandao3 3y agoI think the point is, Farmers as a group were peaceful until very recently. Law abiding citizens don't riot because Mars stationed direct. I like Bill Burr's quote here - "A dog should not bite a man. But if a dog does bite a man, it's fair to ask what he was doing when it bit him"
- beeboobaa 3y agoIn this case the unfortunate answer is that they were given cushy subsidies and preferential treatment for years and this is sadly no longer sustainable due to climate change. They are now entitled and angry. It's understandable they don't like it, but the reaction is ridiculously extreme.
- olliej 3y agoFarmers were peaceful because they were in a position of privilege over many other businesses. It was being subjected to the same pressure that everyone else was that caused issues. I get that that would be a hard transition, but you don’t get to say “they were peaceful before when others weren’t” when the lack of peacefulness from others was largely because they weren’t getting the same support and protection that these groups were getting, especially when they’re directly demonstrating in their responses now that they fundamentally agree with the issues that caused prior protests and riots, now that those issues also impact them.
- suoduandao3 3y agoFair... though I would point out there are reasons governments might want to support citizens who make food more than citizens who make widgets. It's funny - prior to this thread I didn't realize the protests were over subsidies. Definitely a case of seeing my own filter bubbles.
- beeboobaa 3y ago> though I would point out there are reasons governments might want to support citizens who make food more than citizens who make widgets. Keep in mind that these farmers mostly export their food for profit. It is not being used to feed our own population.
- suoduandao3 3y agoRight, but their own population isn't currently having trouble importing food (that I know of). Farm subsidies are essentially a form of insurance against famine.
- anigbrowl 3y agoI think these things are cyclical, I can think of many previous protest cycles with farmers being aggressive. Different countries have different protest cultures of course.
- coldtea 3y ago>The farmers have been anything but peaceful. They've destroyed public & private property, doused it in literal shit, started fires and threatened politicians. Yeah, so? That's how they like their protests in France (and how we like them in several parts of Europe too). The French state itself was established on a much more violent rebellion...
- hollerith 3y ago>The French state itself was established on a much more violent rebellion You say that like it is a good thing whereas one of my main wishes for my country is for it never to become like revolutionary France.
- coldtea 3y agoYou wouldn't want pre-revolutionary France, or pre-civil-war US, either.
- beeboobaa 3y agoIt's not how we like them in the Netherlands. I don't care at all what the French like.
- ametrau 3y agoOh no, not threatening politicians. Oh deary me.
- beeboobaa 3y agoLet me know how you like it when you have hundreds of loud, angry people hanging out in front of your house, lighting tires and pallets on fire and dousing your house with animal shit.