One of the hallmarks of Western democracies is the right of citizens to take to the streets to protest government policies. Indeed, that Chinese citizens do not have this right is one of the principle reasons why China will never surpass the United States as the world’s most admired, respected, and envied country – even if it surpasses the U.S. in building the world’s largest economy.
Unfortunately, some citizens in Western democracies have begun abusing this right. Most notably, we have witnessed the spectacle of anti-globalization protesters blithely causing tens of millions in damage to commercial businesses from vandalism and lost sales in cities where the WTO was holding conferences on free trade.
All the same, these protesters – even the purported anarchists amongst them – rarely showed any interest in causing bodily harm to the government officials who devised, enacted, or embodied the policies that incited their rage. This is why the assault by student protesters on the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall was so shocking.
It came after students had taken to the streets of London on Thursday to protest the passage of a bill in Parliament that will increase university tuition fees from $5,000 to $15,000. (Incidentally, I have no doubt that there would be no talk today about criminal prosecutions if student protesters had limited their assaults to riot police.)
As it happened, chance (or incompetent police work) led the motorcade carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to a royal performance at a local theater right into the midst of these students – as they were dispersing from a day of protest. And, mob inertia and mentality being what they are, the students duly took out their residual frustrations on them.
Frankly, this confluence of the privilege they and their Rolls-Royce limousine embodied with the burdens this tuition bill will impose on these students was as ironic as it was combustible.
So what began as mere sound and fury – complete with the republican yell, “off with their heads” – soon led to projectiles being hurled at their limo, shattering windows and scaring the daylights out of Camilla.
Luckily neither of them was hurt, and reports are that Camilla regained her regal composure as soon as her urgent request for a stiff shot of brandy was supplied. And, yes, the show went on….
But a red line – insofar as the right of citizens to protest is concerned – had clearly been crossed. This is why detectives from Scotland Yard have been busy over the past few days arresting anyone who was in the vicinity of those who assaulted the royals.
This included the arrest just yesterday of Charlie Gilmore, son of Pink Floyd legend David Gilmore, who may have also committed a far more serious offense by swinging on the Union Flag at the Cenotaph (the national memorial to Britain’s war dead) at one point during the protest.
Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why Britons are protesting a rise in university fees that still amounts to less than what many Americans pay in kindergarten fees, the following proclamation by Daisy Jones, student union president at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, should suffice:
In Britain we believe in free education as a social good for all, and education should be based on social values and have nothing to do with money and consumerism. It should be a right for everyone.
(London Daily Mail, December 12, 2010)
Of course, this reflects the welfare state of mind that has been nurtured in Britain and throughout Europe for generations. It is why the austerity measures being imposed over there to deal with the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis are being met with such existential resistance. And it is probably why even the son of a wealthy rock legend like Gilmore would feel moved to join in these student protests….
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