I agree insofar that these protests are not created by anti-establishment ideology, however regardless of the reason for protesting, the younger you are and the less overall responsibility you have the more likely it is that you will pick up the baton for whatever protest movement is in vogue at the time.
Agreed to a certain extent, but it also depends on the individual and demographics.
There has been no violence in Scotland for example in our marches and demonstrations for this. Where as a violent minority in London seem to be casting poor light upon all students it would seem.
How many of the students who are protesting against University Fees for example will if they graduate to become politicians and policy makers remember or care about that which they protested against when they were young?
Tony Blair was a member of CND for example, yet supported our Nuclear Deterrent 20 years later when he had the power to influence the decision to keep it.
That's because he had to adopt the "political garments" of Labour/Office to stop the Conservatives from hanging him when he decided on his career in politics.
Once firmly in the establishment, he is not going to want to dismantle one premise onto which it stands. He would apparently damage the country, remove a significant proportion of its current influence and more than likely hinder his personal ambitions for office/the world.
Although I think this is quite an extreme example, as Labour totally left its socialist credentials behind it with the shedding of its Clause IV outer skin and the distance between the CND parliamentary group and the party.
Everyone especially the rising stars underwent a paradigm shift within that creed when moving towards the upper echelons of the party and government.
So my point isn't that they do not have valid reasons for protesting, but as they get older and more experienced, they become less idealistic, less likely to follow the in-crowd and more likely to have wider considerations and are less likely to be swayed by militant rhetoric.
Yes I concur but not in huge numbers as we have seen. I can remember the protests around the G8 in Edinburgh, which turned into a riot in large sections. That was down to a well reported traveling bunch of violent trouble makers, "home grown" thugs literally catching the bus to go up town and slog it out with the police with appropriate attire - I caught a bus with a few talking about it after
- and as you say some people getting caught in the moment.
Overall it was a minority here, but the impact was irreversible and open to exploitation. As it was. When I look at the protests near you, I can only assume the same. The disproportionate amount of reporting on the 'highlights;violence" in comparison to the peaceful aspect is a bit concerning. Can't make my mind up if it is just sensationalist reporting, or if it is motivated behind that.
As I've grown older I've probably become more idealistic; adapting to learning and outside impacts rather than changing all together.
