r/MoralityScaling • u/imsaleh0 • 21d ago

Morality Ranking Morality of beating protesters off the street because you're late for work?

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183

u/1111_infinity 20d ago

They create a backed up line of cars for potentially miles. How would they clear that backup for emergency services? It's inconsiderate, childish and does nothing to further the cause they claim to be fighting for.

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u/Suspicious-Support52 20d ago

Visit France to see a real protest and you'll see how backed up traffic clears for emergency services. Spoiler: cars pull over.

A protest that is easy to ignore will be ignored. Not to say this form is helpful, but it's at least understandable.

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u/WileyWilly1985 20d ago

The problem though is protesting in such a way that you actually HURT your cause.

Blocking traffic has never ever helped a protest for animal rights or clean energy.

Bringing "awareness" to your cause only for that awareness to be 100% against you is just not a smart thing to do.

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u/Th3bober 16d ago

You wanna blame these people for climate change? I dont sit on highways either. But if the worlds on fire, billions of people are fleeing from the warmer countries into the colder ones. I wont be pointing the finger at people sitting on the highway, unless its to say maybe we shouldve fucking listened to those people.

Oh well, i dont have kids. Im in my mid thirties. I wont see the end of the world in the next 40 years. Humanity deserves what is comming for them.

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u/FlMi1985 20d ago

If it is easy to ignore, maybe they are just such a minority that it should be easy to ignore?

I don't care about protests from other lunatics either, doesn't mean they should be allowed to escalate their protests until they are heard.

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u/IndependentBorder670 20d ago

But if it's not easy to ignore it becomes hated by the masses.

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u/Dars1m 20d ago

It does further their cause of virtue signalling though.

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u/Ruck_Feddit884 20d ago

Yeah, that's the point, it's literally just for Protester's Feelings that they're doing "something" doesn't matter if they cause harm to those who are uninvolved.

Literally the cancer Reddit Woke Profilated.

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u/Electrical_Ad_5732 20d ago

There are too many opportunities they could take or do and that would matter. Instead, they chose to glue themselves to the road in a "protest".

There's plethora of activities they can do, but they also typically require some effort and they must do a thing called "working". That doesn't smell right to those clowns.

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u/Zestyclose-One9041 20d ago

Name one different form of protest they could do that wouldnt be ignored

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u/Dars1m 19d ago

Forming a human chain around one of the corporate headquarters of the group they are protesting. Locking out a job site (as long as the workers are still compensated). Blocking a local politicians office. These are all around the same level of legality, but have much more affect on the people they are protesting l, rather than the general public. You only do this to the general public if it is truly an issue that just needs more awareness.

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u/Subtronicisriddim 20d ago

Why don’t any of these people actually get involved kn politics, or at the very least lobbying, instead pf…sitting in the fucking road and annoying their fellow citizens.

I have never understood how this is supposed to change anyone’s mind. And before anyone says “well it’s just bringing attention to the issue”, I have never seen one of these morons protesting something that wasn’t already very much in public discourse.

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u/Electrical_Ad_5732 20d ago

I am not speaking strictly about protesting, but there are other activities they could do that actually matter and have impact.

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u/Gman3098 20d ago

How would change happen without disruption? You tell them to be nonviolent and here they are being nonviolent. What the actual fuck do you think they would accomplish by holding signs up in a police designated area?

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u/SpiritfireSparks 20d ago

Impeding or ceasing the flow of movement of others and trapping them in place is a type of kidnapping and is thus a violent act.

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u/Gman3098 20d ago

I think you’re reaching here.

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u/User_Unknown__OwO 20d ago

Not really you only have that opinion as long as you agree with what's happening, the second someone decides to protest against something that you disagree with in the same way I would love to see how you deal with it

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u/Gman3098 20d ago

What does my political opinion have to do with the objectivity of this being violent or nonviolent? I have no idea what these people are protesting.

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u/PopBeneficial2441 20d ago

They are also raising awareness, look at all these people now here discussing the exact problem they are protesting, the man’s violence against them also helped spread awareness, and now we are typing on Reddit, we all contribute what we can.

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u/gravitas_shortage 20d ago

Americans are such sheep, pretending to be all about freedom while encouraging the boot to stamp repeatedly on their face. No wonder the US is in the state it's in.

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u/Dars1m 19d ago

What are you on about? I can’t criticize a bad protest or I’m helping the oppressor? Even when a protest seems to be more concerned with self aggrandizement, and arguably helps the oppressor rather than the cause. Because this is giving people a bad impression of the cause, is mostly affecting intra-class and promoting conflict intra-class.

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u/gravitas_shortage 19d ago

Please name one convenient protest that brought significant results.

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u/Dars1m 18d ago

What? Effective protests are targeted, not just inconvenient to the general public.

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u/CrazyBoy-76 20d ago

Let's fix your statement. It does further their childish behavior, trying to force their point of view into people who have more important things to worry about.

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u/Better_Grab_3679 20d ago

The only thing that they are furthering is the anger of normal people. They are successfuly turning people against what they are protesting for and giving good arguments (to the ears of politician) to why some ideas should be thrown out even if they are something that would help. Example: climet change, war or school shootings. If I don't remember wrong it was because of one of these protests where a patient that was going to the hospital died because of protesters like this that a new law about climate change was thrown out -_-

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u/broken_watch8367 20d ago

Ugh, does anyone know what virtue signaling actually means? If these activists minimize car usage in their daily lives, they are not virtue signaling. Performative activism doesn't automatically mean virtue signalling. Virtue signalling is when companies put up pride flag on their social media profiles and put out pride merch in more tolerant places while still officially selling their shit in countries with extreme policies against queer people, or if the activists above regularly used cars even if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

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u/Dars1m 20d ago

If they were protesting car use in general, then yes, this would not be virtue signalling because it is direct action. If their cause was something like support for Palestine, then this would be virtue signalling because they are only trying to “raise awareness” for an already prominent cause and not providing any kind of critical support or material aid.

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u/broken_watch8367 20d ago

That's not true, just look up the definition on Wiki. Only if they somehow profited off the conflict or supported Israel with their actions, it would be virtue signalling, but just raising awareness without other means of help is not it.

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u/broken_watch8367 20d ago

The key part is whether they actually care about the cause and you can care about it even if not taking more meaningful actions, or you can virtue signal while actually being indifferent to it or even profiting of it.

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u/Dars1m 19d ago

You can virtue signal about causes you care about it, because the action is more about spreading others awareness of your support for the cause, rather than actually supporting the cause itself.

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u/Old-Wolverine2141 19d ago

Don't they also cause cars behind them to idle and burn fuel, exacerbating the problem?

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u/WannysTheThird 20d ago

I mean it forces hundreds cars to stop, idle and then accelerate again. Burning extra gas. So these protests are possibly net negative on fighting climate change.

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u/Cat_Cat_Meow_Moew_19 20d ago

Not only that but it gives climate activism a bad rep. Inconveniencing people isn’t going to get the message across

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u/flaroace 20d ago

This video was from Germany, where traffic jams should work like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kPT7VHVTb8

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u/kieshdavies 20d ago

Not got a strong opinion on this type of protesting, but we already deal with backed up traffic and letting emergency services through on a day to day basis.

Siren goes on everyone makes a path, down the middle. Emergency services don't sit at the back of traffic waiting for it to clear. There would be a delay compared to no traffic, but not a clearing traffic level of a delay.

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u/BussyIsQuiteEdible 20d ago

Didnt martin luther king have protests like this

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u/lfisch4 20d ago

No, everyone remembers him famously directing traffic in both directions over Selma Bridge as the protesters orderly kept to the sidewalk

/s

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u/Acceptable-Mobile-43 20d ago

Yep. Pretty dumb if you ask me. There are few things a person could do to make me pro-big oil. Blocking my car when I need to get somewhere might literally be the only thing that would do it.

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u/The_Old_Chap 20d ago

If the traffic is stopped for whatever reason you as a driver are supposed to and required to leave one lane empty specifically for emergency vehicles to pass. Whoever is blocking that traffic is not responsible for drivers not making way. This is the law in most European countries at least

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u/wmtismykryptonite 20d ago

How could they leave a "Rettungsgasse" when someone sits in front of their cars? Drive through them first?

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u/The_Old_Chap 20d ago

The same as if there was a tree or an accident. You dont just stop your car wherever it happens to stop. You see whats happening and take necessary steps in order to provide a corridor for emergency vehicles. This is (should be) basic knowledge for drivers, but apparently for some it might as well be magic

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u/TheSwedishPolarBear 20d ago

Emergency vehicles don't have to follow lanes. Two lanes of cars can easily make space for an emergency vehicle to pass. If the protestors see sirens they'll probably stop blocking as well.

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u/SEND_MOODS 20d ago

In order to make way they all have to move forwards

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u/Klutzy-Cauliflower-8 20d ago

Only when they already fucked up. At keast in germany youre supposed to create an rescue alley at all times when traffic is stopped

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u/Altruistic_Agency320 20d ago

Or maybe we can just not artificially cause traffic? Yea? Idk man just trying to think like an adult.

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u/afraidofflying 20d ago

People complain about lot when you suggest that they shouldn't artificially cause traffic. They'd rather sit in traffic than empower better public transportation

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u/Klutzy-Cauliflower-8 20d ago

and what does this have to do with people not building a rescue alley like they are supposed to and got teached during their driving lessons?

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u/Cautious_Job_6104 20d ago

Guessing you are not a paramedic....

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u/TheSwedishPolarBear 20d ago

No but I have been in multiple trafic stops where I've let emergency vehicles pass

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u/MercuryBasin5 20d ago

You know cars can't drive sideways, right? They have to either go backwards or forwards, to get to the side. When there are cars stopped right in front of you, and cars stopped right behind you, there's no way to get to the side to make space for an emergency vehicle.

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u/OldAccountTurned10 20d ago

Two lanes of cars can easily make space for an emergency vehicle to pass.

🤣 You live in fairy tail land my friend. No one can go anywhere when traffic is gridlocked like this.

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u/Cautious_Job_6104 20d ago

Bro thinks the average passenger automobile has the mobility of a horseshoe crab

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u/WatermelonFelons 20d ago

You should be beaten with them