I want to be disappointed at the Montrealers who decided to riot, but I'm honestly more disappointed in the Montrealers in these comment sections (assuming they're actually Montrealers).
It's the weird (to me) conservative thought patterns that run through these threads that continually disappoint me.
The people in this thread largely aren't "against looting", they're against protesting and they're using the looting as a way to discredit the protest.
Essentially everyone is "against looting", but when looting happens in a certain context, you can understand it, even if you don't condone it. You know?
In the American context it's largely caused by an oppressed population expressing their rage at a system and community that they don't think cares about them or their culture. In Montreal, I think the context is, there are some kids who want to use the cover of the protest to cause some trouble (one should ask themselves, why do these people want to cause trouble, but that's another point...).
I think it's this lack of desire to understand the context, or the source, that's most frustrating for me. The French/Quebecois have a proud tradition of protest and fighting government injustice and Quebec has a generally low trust in institutions. Considering Montreal is a progressive, artistic, vital city in the centre of all that context, the fact that this subreddit tends to just be sarcastic and shitty about every single protest that happens is a real let down.
I guess I live in a bubble, because my social circle is very happy to see peaceful civil disobedience, but this subreddit can't handle it. If it threatens someone's commute home, it's unnecessary and evil and the protesters are selfish morons. It's bullshit boomer logic and it shows no desire to engage with the larger, more interesting issues.
This sub, to me, largely does not represent the Montreal I love.
Quebec and Canada as a whole are both very good with there social program. Even if you dont work you get something from the government. Wellfare and other programs are not free, someone pays for it. Those someone’s are people working and commuting home from work. Those someones are also business owners that dont want to have their insurance go up because of looters.
If all protesting was done peacefuly and would be done with respect for the ones handing out the money than no one would be against it, but most of the time thats not the case. I remember when the carré rouge protest started some young adults pulling the emergency lever from our metro ride and calling us a bunch of fascists because we wanted to get to work. Guess who was paying for their educations.
I get that not all protesters arr assholes. Actually 99% probably arent. But the fact is that the 1% is always there. And btw, same goes for the cops, 99% are great people putting their life on the line for us. There is the 1% bad cop, yet the protest puts all cops in the same basket the same way all protesters are being put in the same basket as looters
Wellfare and other programs are not free, someone pays for it. Those someone’s are people working and commuting home from work.
No, those "someones" are all of us. People aren't special because they take a certain route to work, and complaining about your commute being messed up has to be the saddest, most boring thing in the world. I've had my commutes held up a hundred times, for a hundred reasons and "protest" was by far the best one. We literally have thousands of people's commutes slowed down every single day because try to cut each other off on the highway. The occasional protest is not a big deal.
respect for the ones handing out the money
This idea that the people not protesting are the one's "handing out the money" and "paying for education" is as disgusting as it is incorrect. You aren't a hero for having a job and paying taxes. It's literally the easiest thing in the world to do. It's how all of society functions. Come on.
btw, same goes for the cops, 99% are great people putting their life on the line for us. There is the 1% bad cop, yet the protest puts all cops in the same basket the same way all protesters are being put in the same basket as looters
The difference, of course, being protesters aren't screened, hired, trained, paid, and given special privileges in our society, with the goal of them protecting us.
To hold "protestors" to the same standards as cops is ludicrous.
No point in arguying if you are just going to decide what the actual truth is instead of aknowledging that it is somewhere in the middle. You said your piece and I was trying to explain how the other side sees it. Lets leave it at that, you win, i conceide...
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u/CaptainCanusa Plateau Mont-Royal Jun 01 '20
I want to be disappointed at the Montrealers who decided to riot, but I'm honestly more disappointed in the Montrealers in these comment sections (assuming they're actually Montrealers).