The following is a hypothetical situation. Let's say you're an activist, and you're protesting something that doesn't affect you personally in any way. For example, let's say you are protesting the construction of a new road because it will be built on land that has been set aside for preservation as a nature reserve. You don't own any land nearby, nor do your friends or family members who live there. But you have decided to protest anyway, because you think it's important to protect this area from development.
So you go to the site of the proposed road, which is located near where you live. There are already roads in place all around this area, so why should you care about this one? Well, maybe you don't know what the reasons behind the decision to build the road were. Maybe you don't understand how it will impact the local community. Or perhaps you just don't like the idea of change happening in your neighborhood. Whatever the reason, you've come out into the streets to protest against the construction of this new road.
You gather with your fellow protesters outside the building site. They're holding signs and chanting slogans. They carry placards saying things like "Save our Nature Reserve!" and "No New Roads! Keep Our Land Protected!" And then they start to sing songs. Some of them are political songs about environmental issues. Others are folk songs about the importance of preserving the natural world.
After a while, the police show up. They try to get the protesters to leave the area, but the activists won't budge. Instead, they stand their ground and continue singing and dancing. The police use loudspeakers to tell them to stop. They threaten to arrest anyone who refuses to leave. Still, the activists remain defiant. They refuse to move.
Finally, the police decide to make good on their threat. They surround the group and start making arrests. Most of those arrested are elderly people. They are taken away in handcuffs. A few younger people are also arrested. But the rest of the protesters simply keep on singing.
Then the bulldozers arrive. They begin to clear the land. Soon, the protesters are gone. The bulldozers tear through the trees and bushes. Then they cut down the vegetation. They scrape the earth with heavy machines. Finally, they dig deep holes in the ground. They bury the soil.
It takes several hours before the bulldozers finish clearing the land. By then, most of the protesters have been arrested. The remaining few are escorted off the site. They are taken to a nearby building, where they wait in a large room until they are released.
As the last of them leave the building, the police close the doors behind them. Then they lock the door and turn out the lights.
This is a hypothetical situation. It may not happen exactly as described here. However, the scenario does illustrate some of the ways that activists can justify themselves when they inconvenience others.
First of all, it shows that many activists believe that they are doing something worthwhile. They see themselves as part of a movement that is fighting for a cause that is important to them. They feel that their efforts are helping to make the world a better place. They want to protect the environment and preserve natural resources. They want to stop the destruction of the planet. They want to save the whales and the dolphins and the elephants and the polar bears. They want to protect the forests and the rivers and the mountains.
In short, they want to save the world.
And they believe that they are right. They have strong opinions about what is wrong with the world and what needs to be done to fix it. They feel passionately about their beliefs. They think that they are acting in the best interests of society. And they
want everyone else to share their views.
But are they really right?
Let's take a closer look at the people who were involved in this hypothetical situation. The activists in question are mostly elderly citizens. Many of them are retired. They have spent most of their lives living in the same neighborhood. They have raised families there. They know the area well. They have lived in the same house for decades. They have always walked the same streets.
Now, suddenly, their neighborhood is changing. New buildings are going up. New roads are being built. And the old people are upset. They don't like the idea of their homes being torn down. They don't like the thought of strangers moving into the neighborhood. They don't like the idea of change happening in their backyard.
So they protest. They march in the streets. They bring out their placards. They sing their songs. They dance their dances. They hold up their signs and shout their slogans. They make their voices heard.
What about the people who were also arrested? Were they protesting because they wanted to protect the environment? Or were they just being selfish? Did they really care about saving the world? Or did they just want to keep their neighborhoods the way they had always been?
If they were only protesting because they didn't want their houses to be destroyed, then why weren't they willing to leave the area? Why did they insist on staying in the neighborhood and blocking the workmen from doing their jobs?
Perhaps the answer is that these people were not actually concerned about protecting the environment. Perhaps they were more interested in keeping their own property intact. They saw the construction of the new road as an opportunity to expand their own properties. They were not thinking about the wider picture. They were only worried about what was happening in their own backyards.
And the fact that they were arrested for this shows that they could not be trusted to behave responsibly. If they were not mature enough to respect the rights of other people, then they were probably too immature to be allowed to live in the neighborhood. They should have been removed from the area. They should have been sent somewhere else.
In conclusion, it seems clear that the protesters were behaving irresponsibly. They disrupted the work of the builders. They prevented the project from being completed. They made life difficult for the people who worked there. And they endangered the safety of the workers.
They did not deserve to be treated with any respect. They should have been punished. They should have been forced to leave the area. They should have been sent away.
But were they justified in their actions? After all, they were protesting against something that would eventually benefit everyone. They were preventing the destruction of a beautiful nature reserve. They were trying to protect the habitat of endangered species.
Was it really fair to punish them for their actions?
Maybe it wasn't.
After all, it's hard to say whether the protesters were right or wrong. They might have been right. Or they might have been wrong. We don't know. All we know is that they were protesting about something that was happening in their own neighborhood.
And if they were right, then it's possible that they were justified in their actions. They may have been acting in the best interests of society. They may have been trying to protect the environment. They may have been trying to preserve natural resources.
However, it's equally possible that they were wrong.
We can't be sure. We don't know. So it's impossible to say whether they were justified or unjustified.