Thursday, September 24, 2009

Is Violence Really Necessary during the G-20?

For extra credit, I decided to blog about the ridiculous acts of the G-20 and how Pittsburgh is getting out of control.

Today was an extremely important day for the G-20. The start of the G-20 was taking place, and the city was buzzing with students who wanted to see some famous world leaders. However, many newcomers arrived in the city, not to check out the streets, but to violently protest against the G-20. Some protestors, the Free Tibet protestors, started their protest this morning in front of Soldiers and Sailors. They were demonstrating a peaceful protest and respecting the city. However, when I entered the streets around 6:30, there was a protest taking place that started to turn for the worse. Down by Phipps Conservatory, a massive group gathered, mostly students just wanting to check out all the buzz, along with a protesting group in the middle of the street. I do not want to sound rude when I describe them, and I am extremely sorry if I offend anyone, but the protestors were dressed in mostly black, with unbrushed hair, and bandanas wrapped around their faces and heads. The police established a "go no further line," about 15 police deep and all across the street. They had shields, guns, and police on horses. The police officers made it clear that they do not want to use force on the protestors but when a few men started screaming "what can they do to us? Let's keep moving forward," the police started shooting off tear gas which sent everyone running. When the tear gas cleared, everyone went back and now, the protestors started throwing things. I was there solely to watch, and I did not understand what everyone was so upset about because their signs were not giving any info. Some of the protestors were just anarchists who wanted to be heard, and others were protesting the CEOs. When I asked a woman why she was protesting, all she said was the CEOs. She could not tell me anything past that which made me wonder if she knew what the G-20 was at all. She proceeded to ask me if I was educated and if I had a job because Obama and the rest of the world leaders were not acting in my favor. My favor? They haven't made any decisions yet! This woman told me she had a masters degree when I asked if she was educated because clearly she had no background in what the G-20 actually is. She rudely informed me that I would only be benefitted if I was a CEO and even then it would not really help. She was an animal rights protestor. And while animal rights is something that i agree with, that has absolutely nothing to do with the G-20. The G-20 is a summit where the world leaders discuss economic problems, not regular political problems like animal rights. Being caught up in these unnecessary riots is just plain stupid. There have already been 15 arrests, broken windows, etc all for no reason. If these protestors really want their point across, why destroy peoples homes and try to fight the police (who, keep in mind, can arrest you and also carry guns)? The G-20 was supposed to benefit Pittsburgh, but it is just destroying the city with people who don't exactly know what they are here for.

2 comments:

  1. Well said! I only got to see the protests on the news because I commute, but most of them did look like the kind of shiftless punk-rocker anarchist types who honestly probably dropped out of high school. In their opinion, every aspect of society is "bad" but as I listened to them talk to the reporters who were interviewing them, it sounded like they were mostly idiots who had no idea what they were talking about and just liked to spout bullshit anarchist buzzwords and propaganda phrases without having any idea how the world economy actually works.

    And you're right, what exactly do they think they are accomplishing by trashing our city and our campus, if the ones they're mad at are the "CEOs" and "politicians"? The politicians don't live here.

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  2. Thanks for commenting on G20! That was quite interesting.

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