The movement doth protest too much

There’s no point protesting any more. It’s time to rebel.

Our protesting has been, consciously or unconsciously, insincere. It’s become a show that demonstrates the opposite of its protestations.  

“No!” we say “Stop doing those things that keep us rich…but keep us rich.”

Or, worse still: “I stand with (fill in your beleaguered group here)...” What you are actually doing is typing this while not even standing. You are nowhere near the people you are claiming to “stand” with. 

When people say “virtue signaling”, that’s what they mean. It’s about trying to gain moral kudos with little or no risk to yourself. 

Let’s face it. We don’t “Stand with Palestine” unless we are over there helping out. At the very least we'd have to be doing all we can to make a real material difference to the outcome. Act in support if you feel like it by all means, but not just by saying you are. 

Otherwise, what is it that we imagine is happening? Part of this taps into our weird sense of superiority as rich people with computers. We can do anything on these things. Even change governments thousands of miles away. 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world,” and all that, especially if they have some great memes. By the way, that quote works for anyone. It worked for ISIS. So if you want to do some good stop sending each other quotes and get on and actually do something. 

Do you think Benjamin Netanyahu gives a shit what you think? Or that if enough middle class people a long way away express outrage on social media that it will change the game? Do you really think enough wittily worded Tweets are going to turn the tide of history?  

If you think anything like those things then the first thing you should do is realise the extent to which that very thinking is captured. It is a big part of what allows a lot of these things to happen. You’ve been imprisoned by the notion that ineffectual signaling has an effect. That Facebook, X, Tiktok and all the rest are not, despite all the evidence, money making machines algorithmically mining your preferences on behalf of advertisers. That their owners, also, care what you say on the systems they own.  

It’s ProtestLite®™ now in exciting Woke flavour, a frothy beverage that inevitably reminds me of Fanta, as in Fantasy, which was, as you may know, invented by the Nazis. 

The same goes for “demonstrations”.

All we are demonstrating is an unwillingness to do anything about the situation other than performative whinging.

We walk around a bit and have a shout, and then go home. A witty banner is no more effective than a meme, in case people as old as me were wondering.  

Those who criticise protestors for this are right. We should take their bait. They tell us to stop whinging. We say, okay, watch this.

We rebel.

The big difference is in rebellion we’re not looking for concessions from governments. We’re looking to remove them and the system that spawned them. It’s kind of a “fuck you and the horse you rode in on” deal. 

That means actually taking tangible and planned steps to overthrow them. Because, by laws more ancient than politics itself, they've forfeited the privilege to govern. The reason? Recklessly endangering the entire populace for their own gain. 

Climate change, for example, is not just an environmental issue. It’s an issue of political power, just as much as the Stalinist famines in Russia or the East India Company famines in India weren’t about the weather. Those in power have profited massively from pumping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. They kept going more than a century after they knew the risks and decades after it was clear it would kill many millions, possibly billions, of people. That’s not even to mention all the other forms of pollution, environmental destruction and chaos.

The fact that they got the rest of us all involved in one way or another shouldn’t be surprising. It doesn’t absolve those at the top. That’s what power is - the ability to compel others to do things that benefit you, often at their expense. There's this notion that our lesser culpability and complicity negates our right to take a stand. It's both ludicrous and exactly what the powerful people love us to think. They can take the “we’re all in this together” faux democracy rhetoric and stick it where the Sun doesn’t shine.  

“Sorry Helmut. You enjoyed the Nuremberg rally as much as the rest of us. Now push those children into the gas chamber.”

Doing the right thing is doing the right thing. It doesn't matter how late you leave it. Heroism is most often a last minute thing. It’s always done by imperfect people. It's time we did even a bit of the right thing, like disruptive action, rather than the performance. Even if we're still doing a load of the wrong things, like driving cars, eating meat or whatever. That's better than continuing to go along with the whole obscenity. 

The test is what we’re sincerely hoping to achieve. It’s not about how many “righteous” things you’ve done or not done in the process. It doesn’t mean you have to do the whole thing perfectly without making any mistakes, or pack up and go home. 

Because this isn’t about individuals. It’s messy and complex. It’s a systemic thing. So it’s the system that needs to be overthrown. The system that gives people positions of power that allow them to sacrifice other people for their wealth. That includes the whole colonial thing too, which follows that same pattern. 

Rebellion is nothing new. It’s the logical extension of the limitations on the right to govern. That game's been playing out since the first homicidal warrior with a few mates shoved a blood soaked ring of gold on his bonce. 

It’s just way past time for another reset. 

Come on in, the revolution’s warm. Honestly, it’s fine once you’re in. 

This also explains why Sustainabile has gone sporadic. In most of my spare time I am now volunteering as an editor and organisor for Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. He is one of a very few people I know who is taking the future seriously. 

Together with a global team of volunteers we’ve put together a free, two day global online conference entitled Revolution in the 21st Century on June 22 2pm-10pm and June 23 2pm-midnight (UK time). Sessions will be recorded. You can register here. 

Those in Australasia will also receive a follow up invitation to a live session with Roger and I at 10am New Zealand time on Sunday June 23. 

If you’d like to know more about our work developing peaceful positive revolutions for industrialised democracies, based on Citizens Assemblies - got to rogerhallam.com

I’d love to see you add a comment if you’re coming along to this, just to see if this is working.