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

[digitalraven]

It is time.

[gominokouhai]

You first.

[stormclouds]

I saw the police horses but didn't see you. This time the police only told me to "Move along" when I stopped to sign a petition that the white guy next to me was in the process of signing. No searches this time as I was in Western clothing. If it hadn't been for the white guy (Mark's flatmate in the role of my carer for the day) informing the police that we were signing a petition I would not have signed it. They scare me but the horses were beautiful.

[akicif]

Oh, 1983 was in colour: flashing blue lights, yellow collecting buckets and red-topped placards - I moved from Edinburgh to Leeds just in time for the miners' srike to get nasty, and to pre-empt the SWP's takeover of our nascent anti poll-tax group by turning up with 200 stencil-duplicated sheets introducing the protest methods FoFP had tried and tested in Edinburgh (they later took the same suggestions and used them in other parts of West Yorkshire, so it was a win all round).

[gominokouhai]

I saw it through newspaper front pages, so it was black and white for me. My grandparents took the Daily Mirror, though, so I'm totally with you on the red-topped placards. Pretty much everything in 1983 had a red top, as far as I know.

You sound nostalgic. Looking forward to doing it all over again?

[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.

[gominokouhai]

> Oh, 1983 was in colour

The iPhones and vuvuzelas are new, though.

[gominokouhai]

Okay, now it is time.