Mass arrests 'Critical Mass' cycle ride during Olympics opening

[fimm]

Can I just say that the discussion in this thread has been very interesting and I might see if I can go on the Edinburgh Critical Mass ride sometime.

 

[CopperBrompton]

"An accusation of dishonesty"?

That is what disingenuous means, yes. Let's have one more go at actually debating the issue, though ...

Your account demonstrated the opposite of what you apparently wanted it to demonstrate.

How so? I suggested the ride could be led somewhere by riding to the front and waiting for the ride to follow. I illustrated this by showing it happens even when there was no effort made to do this. How does that illustrate the opposite?

(Straw-man comment ignored in a triumph of hope over experience.)

 

[dellzeqq]

Well, after getting some facts from an informative first hand source in a major 'paper down south, it seems like I owe CM and Dellzeqq an apology. It is hereby offered.

CM is normally a force for the good and a local CM (a hybrid between Critical Manners and Critical Mass... we use knife and fork up here when wolfing down the local lambs) could/will do an excellent job for us. Probably to the extent of saving lives as the death rate here is atrocious.

And yes, the unfortunate incident was a hijack. That was 0.1 % of all rides CM has so far done. Not fair.

And now; the talking is over and the walking (a local CM) will begin.

fair do's. And good luck.

 

[Linford]

I think the funniest statement being made is that CM isn't a political movement

 

[theclaud]

That is what disingenuous means, yes. Let's have one more go at actually debating the issue, though ...


How so? I suggested the ride could be led somewhere by riding to the front and waiting for the ride to follow. I illustrated this by showing it happens even when there was no effort made to do this. How does that illustrate the opposite?

(Straw-man comment ignored in a triumph of hope over experience.)

Slippery. Less-than-candid. Not quite as straightforward as it would pretend. But I'm happy to put it down to accident.

But anyway - DZ was saying that the ride was not organized. That people join it for diverse reasons, interact with it in different ways, belong to it wholly, partly, conditionally, or not at all - and that their relationship to it might change. Your own experience demonstrates as much. It is not an entity with a singular purpose - it cannot be held to account as it were a corporation or a gang. You went somewhere, and some people followed you. They might have done otherwise. They might have continued to follow you, until they realized you were just going home. Perhaps, if you'd said to them "let's all go and trash xxxxx", one might have taken you up on it, another argued that you shouldn't, another said "don't be a tosser, mate", and another just decided they wanted to go home. Aggressive policing destroys this multifariousness, and deprives the participants of the agency that creates it.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Slippery. Less-than-candid.

Ho hum.

 

[theclaud]

Weasel words.

Exactly the opposite. Explanation instead of mystification. Understanding how things work. You appear to think it is run by a mysterious and influential cadre.

 

[theclaud]

Ho hum.

Any chance you could stop being so sensitive and address the other stuff I wrote?

 

[dellzeqq]

they're timetabled. Well, almost. But anyone can start the ride, and anyone can lead the way. That's way short of organisation.

I'm struck by the parallels with Islam. Islam lacks hierarchy. People can be respected, and they can carry authority, but there are as many understandings of Islam, and in particular, what makes a Muslim, as there are strands of opinion on Cycle Chat.

And yet.........the very same people who claim to see a hidden hand guiding CM see Islam as a monolith. The reason is, of course, nothing to do with either CM or Islam - it's because people need something to definite to shout against. It's the cast of mind that generates ideas about One World Government and 'Area 51'. 'They', the unblinking agents of the Great Conspiracy are Out There. It's got to be true, because a man in a tricycle says so. And he knows because they were following him.

 

[dellzeqq]

"Xerocracy"?!

a close relative of hypnocracy

 

[theclaud]

"Xerocracy"?!

I can't tell whether you've changed your mind, are just enjoying the neologism, or are saying "Xerocracy my arse." I suspect it's just that 5pm on Monday is better than 9am...

 

[dellzeqq]

I do remember that on one CM the police absolutely insisted that they deal with somebody. So a chap stepped forward. He would be the somebody. So the police told him what we could do, and what we couldn't do. And then he set off.

Nobody knows who he was or where he went..........

 

[Linford]

Xerocracy

 

[theclaud]

1st sensible thing you've said all day

C'mon though, "Xerocracy"? You gotta admit, its a whole new level of twattishness I never knew existed!

I like it! Stop calling me a twat. That's the reason I never enter into debates on here, because it always descends into personal attacks etc etc... continued page 94.

 

[User482]

Any chance you could stop being so sensitive and address the other stuff I wrote?

One can only admire your optimism.