The Sunday Herald Sun doesn’t believe in the right to protest: “Protected by the blanket of democracy, these Extinction Rebellion protesters were simply able to do what they wanted … simply because they think it’s their right to protest. It’s not a right, it’s a privilege, and they abused that, day after day.” The police seem to agree — they have been inflicting extrajudicial punishment on protesters, holding them in custody for hours or days if they don’t sign up to harsh bail restrictions (later thrown out by courts). Scott Ludlam was banned by police from coming within 2.5km of the Sydney Town Hall or attending any XR events anywhere; similar conditions were imposed in Victoria. Every major social advance has been achieved by disruptive protest. Clive Hamilton explains: “XR is just the latest manifestation of the long history of the politics of impatience. It’s a politics that energizes and emboldens a movement’s moderate majority and expands the boundaries of what seems reasonable to demand. … Explaining the inflammatory logic of the Freedom Rides into the Deep South in 1961, Martin Luther King wrote that the aim was to generate ‘such creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.'” Protected by the blanket of democracy, MLK was simply able to do what he wanted…
15 October 2019
