Reclaim the Streets is a festival to stop traffic in one part of a city for a day, to make a point to the local government that the streets are congested and better public transport is needed If you live in Sydney, New York, London or San Fransisco, go to the next 'Reclaim the Streets' festival; there's good music, dancing and political protest all at the same time for more info go to http://www.punk.org.au/reclaim-the-streets/ http://www.cat.org.au/rts/ http://www.active.org.au/sydney
And what gives you the right to block the average everyday citizen from reaching their place of work, their home, the hospital, etc? Or is this an organized affair with permits and whatnot, like the old SoFA fair in San Jose? Yes, there are traffic congestion problems in every major city, but you don't make any friends among the general public by getting in their way. What you should do is find the very routes that the political bigwigs take to their cushy jobs and block them. Otherwise you're only hurting innocent people who need to make a living. Although, if I may ask, how are the petitions for mass transit improvements going?
And blocking off one street causes even more congestion on other streets. Especially if this is downtown, where a lot of streets are one-way, or already overcongested. The people that have to suffer this will no doubt begin to hate you and your cause.
This is a great idea. Cars waste our environment and take up 1/3 of the average worker's money. Let's show the world there's a way around cars.
I can't stand people who complain about traffic. "Oh wah, traffic is so bad, wah wah! Won't someone please make the traffic stop! All this congestion, someone really needs to fix it! Why do so many people have to drive! Cruel world!" Hey brah, you are the fucking traffic. Take back the streets! Because we don't want you to drive so we can get places faster in our cars! Hypocrites.
Am getting a bit sick of having no place on the road for my bicycle and a murder attempt twice a day by car drivers...
I'm getting sick of watching us destroy our environment, and those who say cars aren't a huge part of this are delusional... Plant trees on the roads!
I want a tank. A huge fucking tank. Not only would I crush and shell anything that was in the way, everyone would know that my penis is massive.
"And what gives you the right to block the average everyday citizen from reaching their place of work, their home, the hospital" Not sure what you mean. the Australian constitution gives me the right to protest in the streets "Or is this an organized affair with permits and whatnot, like the old SoFA fair in San Jose?" Im not organising it - I just heard about it and thought it was a good thing to support - I can only assume the organisers recieved permission - the police don't try to stop them "Yes, there are traffic congestion problems in every major city, but you don't make any friends among the general public by getting in their way. What you should do is find the very routes that the political bigwigs take to their cushy jobs and block them. Otherwise you're only hurting innocent people who need to make a living." Makes sense.. and from where past festivals have been held - my guess would be that they have tried to do this "And blocking off one street causes even more congestion on other streets. Especially if this is downtown, where a lot of streets are one-way, or already overcongested. The people that have to suffer this will no doubt begin to hate you and your cause." That's half the point - there'll be worse conditions for one day, but then (hopefully) an improvment over the next 20 years. hey roman. Just fit a gun onto an SUV. It's essentially the same thing
But all you'll do is drive the populace away from your cause. I'm not saying improved mass transit is a bad idea. Hell, I wish they'd improve it around here. (They complain about the lack of nightlife despite the clubs downtown, but the buses stop runnign at 6PM and the taxis are too expensive. So if you want to knock back some drinks but don't a have friend to be a desgnated driver, you're sunk.) Your tactic, like "Critical Mass" assaults the people you claim to be trying to help and wins nobody over. Try a more intelligent approach.
Stop driving in your car and demand public transport. Now try to persuade others to do the same. Nothing will change if you do nothing. Come on...it is worth it. You can get drunk whenever you want. But seriously I found going out here a problem. I'm used to having the nightbus to take me home. The perfect transport for a drunk. None of that here of course. I actually have never spend so much time in a car driven by drunk drivers than here in the US. I'm not suprised drunk driving is such a problem here. A lot of people see no alternative, no matter how irresponsible it is. And you can trust people to take the easy route most of the times. Even if that means being a total prick and drive drunk. Or get in a car with a drunk and stoned driver. WE WANT PUBLIC TRANSPORT!!!!! Save our lives!
I wish South Africa had decent public transport. Most of it's minibus taxis, few of which are roadworthy.
You're missing my point, spurious. We need better public transportation, but clogging up roads that are already packed enough and pissing off the general public isn't the way to do it. It's not the goal I object to. It's the proposed means.
I don't give a fuck about winning you over, it feels great to hold up traffic. Think of the critical mass as a great big fuck you, you tool.
But why do you consider me your enemy in this matter? I agree with your aim. It's your method I don't agree with. And I assure you, we motorists don't need pedestrians and bicyclists to hold up traffic. Motorists and road crews do that pretty well on their own.
Can a whole bunch of us motorists bring cattle prods? I say we drive these morons into the Sydney harbour to be eaten by sharks.
And you can bet the survivors, if any, will be the first to bitch and moan if the ambulances can't get through because other pedestrians and bicyclists are clogging up the streets.
