931–940 of 1001 posts
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Protests are only legitimate if they have more than 10% percent of the population? So, for instance, no gay pride demonstration was ever a legitimate protest? Some revolutions were carried out by less than that percentage.
Just remember, a self-selected 10% of the population imposing unwanted hardship on the remaining 90% is less of a revolution and more of a tyranny.
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was it only the 10% fringe farmers protesting? or the 90% majority of farmers?
Majority of farmers. India’s govt has backed and supported small farmers for decades. Also agriculture is like 80% of jobs for ppl in India, unlike the US. Farmers protested for ~1 year and prime minister Modi heard their concerns and repealed the new laws. This vox report is a summary https://youtu.be/iHpZV7ro7lU
Statistically people from 1-3 states can't represent the majority of farmers.
>supported small farmers for decades
I guess they therefore can't ever stop subsidizing them, homerun for the economy.
>agriculture is like 80% of jobs for ppl in India
What? (Also, it produces almost no value in exchange for the subsidies, it's barely 15% of the GDP IIRC)
This summer will see protests from the other side in North America, and we will see more hypocrisy and what-about-isms cries. Especially when there will be more damage and death resulting from them, sadly. It will be interesting to count how many people who don't see any dual standard now, seeing it in 5 months or so.
The UK at least tries to stop all protests and not just let certain ones go unhinged and supported by opposition politicians. It boggles my mind how the trucker convoy lasted longer than a day, in the UK they would have been towed away and arrested very quickly. There's no need for a state of emergency or to freeze bank accounts. It's normal policing.
Canadas actions and lack of actions before are a kind of worrying symptom of dysfunction at best. Perhaps they are not used to protests? Perhaps they don't have basic common laws about protest, nuisance, decency? That would explain things.
(As an aside, it's a really bad idea to protest in the middle of winter in a freezing country. Thatcher managed to negotiate with coal miners to stop them protesting in the winter, but today's protests are not by critical power supply workers)
Headline on the front page of BBC News right now: "Trudeau vows to freeze anti-mandate protesters' bank accounts" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60383385 This feels downright dystopian, especially if the move away from cash and towards centrally-controlled electronic payment systems is anywhere near as widespread in Canada as elsewhere.
It seems like these protests ought to be solvable by the police, using normal police powers, without resorting to emergency measures or doing things like freezing accounts and suspending truckers' licenses. Why not do the obvious thing: send the police in to arrest people who won't leave. Tow their trucks. That worked at the border the other day -- why wouldn't it work in Ottawa too? It's not like the Canadian police…
Some of the reasons listed as to the reluctance of towing companies to participate: - the heavy truck towing companies get much of their business from the truck industry. If these towing companies were to tow away these heavy trucks, they may lose much of that business. - many of the towing companies support the freedom convoy and their participants - fear of violence against tow truck operators if they try to tow away these trucks
see https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-protest-truck-t...
the police and government had ample time to prepare for the protest.
They should have restricted vehicle access near Parliament Hill once they heard the protesters were heading to Ottawa.
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Yeeeeeah, I don't know about that. Anyone with their truck there risks forfeiting the asset that was used in commission of a crime. AKA their livelihood and likely most expensive asset. There is certainly not a bottomless pit of people wishing to do that.
Sounds a little silly to confiscate the assets of the people bringing the food to your table. That and the towies in the area are refusing to move any of the trucks. Trudeau just looks weak at this point, and for a prime minister that got in because of his good looks and his dad's popularity it's not a good omen.
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> It has terrorized women, queer people and people of color on the streets. Seriously? This smells like an attempt to paint the truckers as extreme right. Any quality sources for that claim?
The Nazi flags, the Gadsden flags, the Trump flags, the fact that they're saying racist, sexist, homopobic stuff in the Zello? The fact that their contributions are from right-wing US sources and the extreme right press is giving them publicity? How about the fact that they love Pat King? I've been living in downtown Ottawa for weeks, I've been harassed.
From a distance it's very hard to judge what's true and what isn't. My level of trust in the media these days is extremely low so reading stories about Nazi Flags I'm thinking "click bait". Meanwhile forums like reddit - and slowly HN as well - are clearly filled with "paid shill" accounts. So what to trust?
> I've been living in downtown Ottawa for weeks, I've been harassed.
I'm sorry to hear that. I did check your HN profile briefly and you "seem legit"
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We have a word for "blocking infrastructure" as a form of protest: civil disobedience. I'm sympathetic to (some) of the aims of the protesters but I think they've made their point and should go home. Still, this move by Trudeau seems like an overreaction considering there's been little/no violence.
One thing I've never understood about protests of the "you've made your point" variety is what they're supposed to do. I'm thinking of the Women's March and things like that, where there's a scheduled day and people walk around and then they are done. What is that supposed to do? It's less of a protest and more of a parade in my opinion. The trucker protest, on the other hand, I can understand what it is supposed to…
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It's not just Wellington St, it's Ottawa from the Canal to Bronson, and Somerset to Welligton. On the weekend it's extended all the way up Bank St. A giant no-go zone where businesses and pedestrians aren't safe.
Aren’t MPs still coming and going each day in the midst of it? That’s hard to square with a “no-go zone”.
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Or Canada could just say “you know a trucker without a vaccine really is that big of an issue” Unless Trudeau does that, and god forbid show some humility, this will not end good for Canada.
Why? A tiny minority of truckers is making a huge fuss over really very little - a vaccine being mandated to cross the border. In what way will this "not end good for Canada"? Most likely the blockades will be shut down and everyone else will be able to get on with life.
"Most likely the blockades will be shut down and everyone else will be able to get on with life."
Except for all people who can't because they got unlucky in the vaccine lottery, like Maddie de Garay:
https://thecovidblog.com/2021/07/08/maddie-de-garay-ohio-13-...
Note: de Garay is a child. Zero benefit from Covid vaccines to her or anyone else. It's bad enough when parents submit their children for medical experimentation like that, but when governments force them to do so it's even worse.