Santiago, Chile is rioting

[crimson5pheonix]

https://www.ft.com/content/d05a54ac-f24b-11e9-a79c-bc9acae3b654

A raise in the rates on metro tickets proved to be the last straw in poor economic times and hard austerity measures. So the locals burnt the town down.

It looks like that unpopular policy is going to get reversed over this.

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BZ8VbpYyTM
That's a burning building, a rather large one.

Edit Edit: https://twitter.com/biobio/status/1185672975808372736
And a burning metro station.

Edit Edit Edit: https://twitter.com/pinkitsvne/status/1185753431992143872?s=20
More videos of the streets. Protesters running from the police.

 

[Seanchaidh]

But the government is right wing, so we won't hear much about it or threaten them with sanctions.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

But the government is right wing, so we won't hear much about it or threaten them with sanctions.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-protests/chiles-pinera-extends-state-of-emergency-says-we-are-at-war-idUSKBN1WZ0EP

[Helicopters rev in the distance]

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

But the government is right wing, so we won't hear much about it or threaten them with sanctions.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-protests/chiles-pinera-extends-state-of-emergency-says-we-are-at-war-idUSKBN1WZ0EP

[Helicopters rev in the distance]

Come on now: Death flights were more the Argentinian Junta's deal than they were for Chile.

Also, does anyone remember a user here from a few years ago named PinochetIsMyBro [https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/PinochetIsMyBro]?
I wonder what he's doing now a days?

 

[Saint of M]

Do you think this will lead to any change, or is this too soon to tell?

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I realize given who I am, I will default to siding with the populace in all things.

But I realize my lack of knowledge of this direct situation. Is there any recourse other than this blatantly inflammatory move for Chile to recoup some money?

Oops. Read that Chile is one of the most wealthy Latin American Countries [https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/chile-protests-president-extends-state-of-emergency-after-riots.html]. So, there goes me trying to be fair and balanced.

When will "the elite" actually wake up and realize you can only squeeze the populace so much until they realize they outnumber you?

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

When will "the elite" actually wake up and realize you can only squeeze the populace so much until they realize they outnumber you?

It seems unpredictable, except in hindsight, to guess what will set a population off like this. Perhaps they should learn to tread carefully.

 

[Silvanus]

When will "the elite" actually wake up and realize you can only squeeze the populace so much until they realize they outnumber you?

Most of the time, this realisation just convinces the elite to get a bit subtler-- convincing people that obscene wealth is all fairly earned; convincing people that corporatism helps job creation and national wellbeing; convincing people that hardships are the fault of various minority groups. Failing that, just control the media, and people won't find out unless they go looking for information.

That's been the procedure in the US and UK.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Do you think this will lead to any change, or is this too soon to tell?

Well riots only work historically in the short term, so any progress will be reversed soon enough.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

When will "the elite" actually wake up and realize you can only squeeze the populace so much until they realize they outnumber you?

They never will, they own too much. I live near Ferguson MO, and was in college during the riots back in 2014. Guess what was never reported, and never shown? About 1 block from the shooting is the HQ of Emerson Electric, a Fortune 500 company, one of the largest in the world, with contracts with the US government and the Ferguson police department, and several ex-employees on local councils. They basically own Ferguson, and its well known the police patrol the streets around them to make sure black kids stay away - they call them Nuisance Abatement Activities. The riots from the rioter's perspective was all about Michael Brown's death, but to the police it was protect Emerson from looting, and nothing else.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

When will "the elite" actually wake up and realize you can only squeeze the populace so much until they realize they outnumber you?

They never will, they own too much. I live near Ferguson MO, and was in college during the riots back in 2014. Guess what was never reported, and never shown? About 1 block from the shooting is the HQ of Emerson Electric, a Fortune 500 company, one of the largest in the world, with contracts with the US government and the Ferguson police department, and several ex-employees on local councils. They basically own Ferguson, and its well known the police patrol the streets around them to make sure black kids stay away - they call them Nuisance Abatement Activities. The riots from the rioter's perspective was all about Michael Brown's death, but to the police it was protect Emerson from looting, and nothing else.

The coverage of the Ferguson riots by the national media was a train wreck all around, to put it lightly. And I'd like to complain about it. I was visiting family in STL County at the time, about 20 minutes away from Ferguson by highway, and I kept getting concerned friends and extended family members calling me up and asking me if I could see people burning things down. Even people who I had told in advance where I would be and that I wasn't worried because it was far away. One person later told me that they thought because of the news coverage that the entire city/county area had turned into a war zone. One person wanted me to take pictures of the aftermath for some reason. I never found out why.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/23/chile-unrest-president-sebastian-pinera-wage-rises-taxes-on-rich

That's a massive improvement over calling things a civil war.

 

[Seanchaidh]

So this is happening.

[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195418253859811329"]
[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195425634278727680"]

Brilliant.

 

[generals3]

So this is happening.

[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195418253859811329"]
[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195425634278727680"]

Brilliant.

Soooo, when people violently protest against left wing South American governments it's all part of anti-democratic right wing conspiracies, but when people protest against a right wing south american government it's "brilliant"?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Lasers got heavily restricted in Australia because of that. Not because of protestors attacking police with them, but randoms trying to dazzle the pilots of any helicopter they could.

 

[Saelune]

So this is happening.

Spoiler

[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195418253859811329"]
[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195425634278727680"]

Brilliant.

Soooo, when people violently protest against left wing South American governments it's all part of anti-democratic right wing conspiracies, but when people protest against a right wing south american government it's "brilliant"?

'Oh, so throwing water on a burning forest is good, but throwing fire on a not burning forest is bad? So hypocritical, both things are throwing onto forests, therefor they are exactly the same'

Opposing evil is good, supporting evil is bad. Stop trying to claim two different things are the same thing.

 

[generals3]

Opposing evil is good, supporting evil is bad. Stop trying to claim two different things are the same thing.

Your empty platitudes aren't really making any case here. In Chile people started to protest because metro ticket prices went up. Granted it was not so much that as rising inequalities which brought forth these protests, but it sure was far from an evil dictator which brought forth these protests. In Bolivia the protests occured after a president decided to throw away the constitution (after a failed referendum about it) to become president once more (something typical of dictatorial banana republics). Sounds a lot more "protest worthy" than what sparked things up in Chile.

I consider it rather weak to simply equate "left" to good and "right" to evil without any arguments whatsoever. I think communism has killed enough people to prove that's just plain wrong.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Opposing evil is good, supporting evil is bad. Stop trying to claim two different things are the same thing.

Your empty platitudes aren't really making any case here. In Chile people started to protest because metro ticket prices went up. Granted it was not so much that as rising inequalities which brought forth these protests, but it sure was far from an evil dictator which brought forth these protests. In Bolivia the protests occured after a president decided to throw away the constitution (after a failed referendum about it) to become president once more (something typical of dictatorial banana republics). Sounds a lot more "protest worthy" than what sparked things up in Chile.

I consider it rather weak to simply equate "left" to good and "right" to evil without any arguments whatsoever. I think communism has killed enough people to prove that's just plain wrong.

It is in South America where all right-wing protests are US-backed. Or did you already forget about the one in Bolivia that led to a fascist dictatorship?



And if you want to compare the numbers of deaths caused by communusist regimes versus the capitalist ones.. be my guest.

 

[Saelune]

Opposing evil is good, supporting evil is bad. Stop trying to claim two different things are the same thing.

Your empty platitudes aren't really making any case here. In Chile people started to protest because metro ticket prices went up. Granted it was not so much that as rising inequalities which brought forth these protests, but it sure was far from an evil dictator which brought forth these protests. In Bolivia the protests occured after a president decided to throw away the constitution (after a failed referendum about it) to become president once more (something typical of dictatorial banana republics). Sounds a lot more "protest worthy" than what sparked things up in Chile.

I consider it rather weak to simply equate "left" to good and "right" to evil without any arguments whatsoever. I think communism has killed enough people to prove that's just plain wrong.

I have spent the last *checks* 3 years elaborating on why left is good and right is bad.

And this right-wing fascist government is just another blatant piece of glaring evidence why that is the case. If the government is bad, you should not replace it with a more blatantly evil government.

Stalin and Mao are as communist as North Korea is 'Democratic Republic'.

 

[Seanchaidh]

So this is happening.

[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195418253859811329"]
[tweet t="https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1195425634278727680"]

Brilliant.

Soooo, when people violently protest against left wing South American governments it's all part of anti-democratic right wing conspiracies, but when people protest against a right wing south american government it's "brilliant"?

I am, in fact, capable of drawing a moral distinction between the landing at Normandy and Hitler's invasion of France, and many other instances of violent aggression besides.

In Bolivia the protests occured after a president decided to throw away the constitution (after a failed referendum about it) to become president once more (something typical of dictatorial banana republics). Sounds a lot more "protest worthy" than what sparked things up in Chile.

The christofascist coup in Bolivia has a thread already, but I'll note that your characterization of things is both shallow and misleading.