On pre-apocalyptic scenarios

[gominokouhai]

I watched the march along Princes Street this morning: 20,000 people turned up. I stood next to two beautiful, but very bored, police horses and watched the protestors file past in a line stretching out beyond the horizon. It felt like 1983, except it wasn't in black and white, and there were iPhones and vuvuzelas.

I couldn't join in because I had to rush off to an audition, but I'm starting to think I should get some practice in while everything's still peaceful. I'd hate for my first rally to be the one when they start throwing bricks around.

A while back, I wrote If I woke up tomorrow morning in a terrifying neo-Thatcherpunk dystopia, then so be it: start stockpiling guns then. Is it time yet?

Comments

[akicif]

I don't think any of the tabloids were involved in placards for demonstrations: that was a short-lived phenomenon of the anti-war movement earlier this century.

And nostalgia? Nope: even in hindsight those were not good times: the behaviour of non-Yorkshire police seconded to Leeds reminded me of nothing so much as the Army back in Norn Iron, and even the local ones were twitchy (I used to get around the country by hitching in those days, and being questioned at the edge of the road became a regular occurrence.

[gominokouhai]

> I don't think any of the tabloids were involved in placards

The papers were red-topped. Hence the scenes depicted on the front page were red-topped. I was three; you can't expect detailed analysis.

> the behaviour of non-Yorkshire police seconded to Leeds reminded me of nothing so much as the Army back in Norn Iron

I heard much the same thing about the Met when they were up here during G8. I had the opposite experience during Popefest '10: the non-Edinburgh police were utterly lovely while they were restricting my freedom of movement.

[akicif]

Doh! Of course the papers were red-topped: I've such a strong picture in my mind's eye of that time that I was half assuming it was an actual picture that you would have seen - apologies!

Yeah, I saw your piece - and it reminded me indeed of the G8. Some of the police up then were great folk (I was still doing voluntary stewarding in those days - I may yet go back to it). But the Met! Apparently after the bombing down south that week someone on the Scotsman wanted to use the headline "Met Return to London: two cities feel safer"....

[gominokouhai]

During G8 I saw a bunch of coppers forming one of those line things to keep protestors contained. (Wasn't kettling; there was actual violence kicking off inside.) They all looked very young and very, very scared, so I can't help but feel a little sympathy. Don't think those ones were the Met though.