Breaking windows won’t fix the problem
1 Apr 09
A minority of hardcore protesters are drawing attention away from a serious debate
Looking at broadcast images of today’s protests in London, taking place as the G20 leaders prepare to meet in the city’s Docklands, reminds me of the G8 protests that brought Edinburgh to a standstill nearly four years ago.
In both cases a peaceful demonstration attended by many thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds was overshadowed by much smaller, but more confrontational events a few days later.
In London on Saturday an estimated 10,000 people marched, with very few problems, to show the strength of their feelings about climate change and the economic crisis. Today a smaller number are focusing their attentions more directly on City institutions and other targets.
Employees of the banks and other establishments in the City of London have been advised to stay away if possible, or “dress down” to avoid becoming targets themselves. But who are the demonstrators really after? The people who brought the financial system to its knees are not likely to be popping out for a sandwich at lunchtime today.
Just like the senseless attack by vandals on Sir Fred Goodwin’s house, smashing windows in the City might be an outlet for some people’s anger but it solves nothing. If anything, it makes it easier to dismiss those posing serious questions to the world leaders as headbanging anarchists. And that would be a shame, because the present crisis, perhaps more tha ever before, cries out for a debate about who runs the world economy, how it is regulated and for whose benefit.