That afternoon at the racetrack was possibly the first chance I had to think about it. That might sound brash, considering I had already made the decision, and stories concerning its significance were already circulating the internet. That was nothing new, and in fact, neither was the feeling of some pause for thought being much overdue. As I sat amongst the rows of empty seats, my eyes looking over towards the tarmac, there was a distinct sensation of quiet - one of those sensations that takes you by surprise, and you think ‘ah, finally’, although you are not entirely sure what has been missing up to that point. The plastic seat beneath me took on a new sort of comfort as I finally had the chance to think about my actions and their consequences.
There was no fault I could really find in my reasoning. The protests had been noticeable - which is much more important than effective - and the money had been spent on highly professional publicity campaigns. I had been at some of the demonstrations myself, if only for a sense of fun, to relive a little, and they were perfectly okay. There was nothing to regret about the decision to fund the group, now was the chance to investigate my decision to stop.
It had not been a pre-emptive decision. There was no reason to expect, after the significant payment I had sent to the group in April, that I would not be sending another. But this was the way it transpired. The summer of that year was strangely muted, coming much too early and fading into a dull sort of autumn by mid-June. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of human activity, which approved over one hundred new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea, the very thing the money had gone towards preventing. I felt no real remorse over changing my mind, I concluded, as I stared absently towards the finish line. My decisions, though made in the usual frantic circumstances of business, were ultimately sincere. This put me in a good mood; moments of reflection are hard to come by, and surely it is a good feeling to learn that your previous actions match up to your present reasoning.
The wind had simply changed. I always remember an interview with John Lennon - now that will mark my age - in which he says: you can’t beat them with violence. They’ve been doing violence for years, and they are better at it than you are. Or maybe I am simply choosing to remember that interview now that I have been to the protests and they haven’t worked. In any case, the thought popped into my head and I gave a short laugh. It’s dangerous to have hippies in your head - that isn’t dismissive, I love The Beatles - it’s just the truth. The concept of harmony I find quite alarming, even in my most peaceful moments, perhaps because of its completely foreign nature. I balanced the thought of Mr Lennon quickly, instinctively, with a much more level-headed mogul of the business world, Sun-Tzu: “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” We had known the opponent was strong; any government is. What had become clear was that we were not striking at any notable weak point, and this, according to all the figures of my imagination, required a change in strategy.
But still it was nice to sit by that racetrack. I must have spent some time there, because by the time I reached for my phone, I had missed several calls and was already late picking up ingredients for dinner. I stood up hurriedly, breaking free from my thinking about this planet, about this world, about my role in it. But in standing up, I briefly reassured myself of what I already knew: you really don’t get that much time to think about it.
read the original story (BBC News):
Dale Vince: Major Labour donor to stop funding Just Stop Oil - BBC News
The views expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of the author. The stories themselves are based on imagined events. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is fictitious and should not be taken as representative.
Like this. Wondering if the protest happened at the mostly empty race track or were you there to gamble and contemplate the state of things after the event? As for Lennon (one of my heroes as well) along with the Hippies - were more in touch with Christ teachings of real Love than the conservative, so called Christians that would have Jesus arrested for vagrancy or worse if he showed up at their doorsteps. Hippies were also right about protecting/respecting the environment, healthy natural diet, getting back to nature and protesting for Civil Rights and against stupid, wasteful wars. Where they blew it in my humble opinion was with too many drugs and empty sex aka free love bs. But they were the iconoclast generation and yet their legacy does continue in all the protests that have followed like the one you attended. Not that they invented protesting - the workers rights movement had been doing that for decades before. But they lit the torch big time and were vigilant unlike post recent generations who only do a big protest occasionally. As Gandhi and MLK and Mandela proved - that militant civil disobedience works but has to be a constant ongoing process for years, decades, lifetimes before the desired results are achieved. Other aspects of the 1960s social revolution - both good and bad have manifested in myriad ways in the 21st century whether the youth know it or not. Like Newton said - everything is built on the shoulder of giants - from the past. We are all part of the tapestry flow of history. Very little or big actions do have an effect aka Butterfly Effect - again scientific ecology 101. Keep up the introspective style of fiction - a cool niche that is needed.
I wonder what he had for dinner.