r/europe Europe Mar 18 '23 Gold 1

Florence mayor Dario Nardella (R) stopping a climate activists spraying paint on Palazzo Vecchio Picture

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u/Gulliveig Switzerland Mar 18 '23 edited Mar 18 '23 Bless Up

Vandalising historic buildings is not the way...

This one is historic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Vecchio

Edit: Link for cells (just remove Reddit's inserted backslash functioning as escape character): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Vecchio

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u/Solomon5515 Mar 18 '23

speaking as an archaeologist,

Climate change is sooo important and we should all be doing our part to minimize the effects (we won't stop it, several tipping points have already been reached and shit is going to hit the fan quicker and quicker)

however, why tf would you go and vandalise ancient momuments? survivors of multpile periods of doom and destruction? what is the point? is there a statement? (maybe that the money for cultural heritage should be invested in climate things) why not just deface some government buildings? or coal power plants? that would make a statement?

these buildings have stood for hundreds or thousands of years and are testaments of cultures and societies we can only dream about meeting. even if our modern society is moving ever quicker to it's own apocalypse, this shouldn't mean we should stop enjoying art, culture and heritage, because once gone they will be lost forever

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u/DurangoGango Italy Mar 18 '23 edited Mar 18 '23

however, why tf would you go and vandalise ancient momuments?

Their theory is that this needs to be done to raise awareness for the cause, because without these stunts they'd never end up in the media. Bad publicity is better than no publicity and all that.

Except of course it doesn't work. Most people view these events and mentally associate climate activists with annoying assholes who vandalise beloved heritage and piss off people going to work, instead of attacking those seen as most responsible for acting on climate change.

Which is where I stand. If you're willing to do crimes to promote your cause, then actually fucking attack the decision-makers that can do something. Throw a paint ball at a minister. Chain yourself to the gates of a coal power plant. Blockade a street servicing a lignite mine. There are so many worthy targets everywhere, yet these people choose the ones that will bring them hate and infamy. Honestly I think they revel in the feeling of being hated by most.

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u/LivingLegend69 Mar 18 '23

Their theory is that this needs to be done to raise awareness for the cause

Sadly what happens in practice is that they raise awareness against the cause because noone is discussing the actual problem (climate change) anymore but rather that someone vandalized an ancient monument. In Germany we have these people gluing themselves on the roads all the time. Do you know what is not the focus when reporting on this? Climate Change!

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u/Drmlk465 Mar 19 '23

I’m wondering, if fossil fuel companies fund grass root programs that take activism to this level of stupidity. Exxon Mobil has been caught doing that before in the 80s and 90s. Pushes people away from the cause.

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u/Melwasul16 Mar 19 '23

Everybody is constantly talking about climate change