Summary
Australian senators censured Senator Lidia Thorpe for her outburst against King Charles III during his visit, calling him a colonizer and demanding land and reparations. Thorpe defended her actions, stating she would repeat them if Charles returned.
How dare she say something true!
She’s right, but outbursts like this are the equivalent of activists throwing paint at the Mona Lisa. It makes that side look petulant and doesn’t effect change. If she really wants land and reparations, did she really think this grandstanding was the way to accomplish that goal?
I think she’s as fully aware as black and indigenous Americans are that she’ll never actually get what she’s owed, so she might as well tell the king that’s been forced on her people to fuck off.
If it made Charles momentarily uncomfortable then that’s enough justification for me.
I think the whole point of acts like you describe show how you (people) care more about a painting than the continual ravaging of life on this planet by those who seek wealth and power.
What does the Mona Lisa matter when more and more of the worlds population is scrapping to survive under constant threat of environmental and economic collapse and war brought on by the people who host and visit such works of art.
The problem is that it doesn’t help their cause in the least. If anything, it damages it. To onlookers, it makes supporters of the cause look crazy and makes them easier to dismiss by opposition.
Climate change is a very serious problem that requires billions of people working together to solve. Culturally significant objects being vandalised is a much less serious problem but it also only requires a few individuals to not do what they have done to become a non-issue.
By all means, protest polluters, badger policymakers, and argue in forums. But if you start being annoying to people equally as powerless to effect meaningful change you’re only going to make people less likely to listen to you.
Whew thank you. You’re the only person in this thread that has actually made good points about your opinion, instead of trying to be snarky or clever with one-liners. I’m in almost total agreement with you, although I still won’t condemn those types of protests. I think they are probably more harmful than useful, but I understand the place it comes from is one of frustration with the absolute ridiculousness of our world and the powers that run it. I sympathize with those types of protesters, and what I assume is their frustration with the ineffectiveness of bottom-up solutions (to me, preferred) in the face of mass contributors to the problem – heads of government, corporations, etc.
Once again thanks for the actual good-faith and thoughtful response.
Yeah no problem. It’s always nice to be able to discuss something with others and be respectful even if you don’t fully agree.
I understand where the protesters are coming from and the idea that doing anything sounds better than just allowing the world to deteriorate. But I genuinely believe the less dramatic strategies do work better, even if it’s hard to feel the effects. Not too long ago, the idea that the climate change was happening and that humans were to blame was largely ignored. Now, most people acknowledge that it’s the case, and it’s a matter of making it a priority. But that’s still meaningful progress.
Anyways, thanks for the conversation and being open to push back. It’s great to see in spaces that seem more divisive than ever.
She also called him a colonizer and said he committed genocide, both very stupid statements. Shit happened hundreds of years ago, he had nothing to do with it. If she wants reparations and land she should be asking the UK and Australian governments for it, not an elderly monarch. And now she’s gone and got herself censured, making her a pariah and reducing Aboriginal influence in parliament. This is nothing but a loss for her and the people she represents.
The Commonwealth still owns land in Australia (and 14 other countries ) and still heads the government all be it with limited powers. Literally, they are still colonizers. Fuck em.
You really don’t understand symbolism.
Good on her, we should be a republic. Fuck these inbred twits.
I mean he said he was fine with you guys choosing whatever, why yell at the clouds about it, just write the legislation?
bootlickers gonna bootlick
But before she did that I didn’t even know her name. Now I know of the great Lidia Thorpe. In Spanish Thorpe sounds like Torpe which means like careless goofy. But let me tell you, I was driving home from work Friday when I heard that woman roar.
I mean she might could be like MTG, I don’t know anything about Australia. But one thing I know is that she’s part of my brown people. At least from that perspective I can totally understand her and her desire to prevent more damage and to instead try to lift her people.
great Lidia Thorpe
You might want to fact check that one…
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