Student Protest

[FinalGamer]

I think the raise on university students is unfair and the students have a right to feel very angry over it all. I'm surprised and glad that there were no serious injuries, and clearly there was nobody truly violent in the crowds who wanted to actively wound anyone. It's one of the nicer protests I've seen in this country of late.

Nevertheless a violent protest is always wrong, but they have a good reason to be upset.

 

[Okysho]

That is a lot of money, significantly more than I pay, and I am in very close to the most expensive university program in Canada.

How much? I have to pay ~$6000 a year (about 3000 pounds... huh).

$11 500 Canadian for tuition, residence is $6000 a year.

Wow. Which university is this?!

That is a lot of money, significantly more than I pay, and I am in very close to the most expensive university program in Canada.

How much? I have to pay ~$6000 a year (about 3000 pounds... huh).

$11 500 Canadian for tuition, residence is $6000 a year.

Sounds like U waterloo Prices... I dropped out and want to University at home for this reason.. near 20k per year (plus res)

 

[interspark]

i agree, peaceful protests are just an annoyance that'll eventually go away, it's not until a few windows get smashed that people start listning to you, but yes, any kind of violence SHOULD be avoided in modern day lives. as for my views on the matter at hand, i think the government has no right to pig out on the student's non-existant money, cos god knows that a fraction of that money will actually go into the universities themselves

 

[dcrane]

Why restrict access to Uni? (which is what raising tuition does)
Why is the UK gov de-prioritizing Uni funding? (where are your tax dollars going instead?)
Does the UK gov foresee a future that requires more less-educated citizens?

 

[D0WNT0WN]

Im really against these fees, I am not very well off and raising £9000 will be quite a stretch. I want to go to University but now it seems like only the rich and well off will be able to raise the cash to go.

Also Stundent loans are a really stupid idea, getting a Student loan and then living on baked beans for the next 3 to 5 years. The goverment needs to listen and stop contradicting them selves.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

In my last year of uni i have £13,000 debts currently from tution fees and loans, i work evenings to help myself get by and i say £6000 a year (or £9000 a year in "exceptional circumstances" whatever that is) is too much. Feel sorry for students just starting out, studying to get a good degree is hard enough without the massive money worries.

 

[Vault Girl]

They have capped the tuition at £9,00 pund right now, the cost of living and housing has skyrocketed. i hate the friggin Tory goverment and their dedication to clusterfucking the class divide.

 

[bad rider]

Oh if only there were some other way to pay for education or get rid of debts.. err ... ah .. i hmmm.. dunno taxing the rich... maybe?

[HEADING=1]NO! NO, DO NOT TAX THE RICH. NEVER TAX THE RICH! NOT NOW NOT EVER![/HEADING]

What about wars, oh wait we need those what am I thinking, how else will we stop the terrorists unless we invade their countries and kill all of them and setting up a government which favours our political views. Damn terror..... wait which side are we on again?

 

[Dastardly]

Hey everyone, to catch up none UK residents and people not watching the news....

First of all in the UK the government is raising the annual fee of £3000 to £9000 for university students, this has caused a lot of anger and today a protest turned a little violent today.

Students stormed the Millbank tower and began protesting there. Windows were smashed and bonfires lit but no one was seriously hurt. The media is up in arms about it and everyone is calling it a disgrace. But is it?

I mean as far as i know no ones been hurt and the most violent thing i saw was window smashing and its gotten the nations attention, unlike every other "peaceful" protest so maybe something will now be done.

So topic for discussion.. If youv been following this on the news are you for or against this protest? If you dont live in the UK/dont know wtf is going on, do you think peaceful protests are effective? Or is it sometimes good to cause a stir to raise awareness for an important cause

p.s just to state its important to remember there have been no serious injuries, obviously very violent protests are always wrong

These kind of protests have a place... though that place requires very careful balance. In this case, I don't think that balance has been struck.

The dangers of "violent" protests, which certainly includes vandalism rather than just violence against people, are pretty clear: You run the risk of showing yourself to be extremely unreasonable, which means ANYONE on the fence will want to distance themselves from you. This can mean an automatic loss. It can also mean that any valid points or stirring follow-up speeches and appeals you had planned will be ignored, because you're part of those violent, out-of-control asshats.

The only time violence against cops, etc., won't turn the masses against you is when they were already on your side. This is primarily in countries with oppressive governments, where nearly everyone wants to be free, but it takes a brave (or foolish) handful to get the ball rolling. This isn't the case here, as it's not as clear-cut an issue, and there is no clear majority consensus.

But assuming you create enough of a stir that things grab attention without turning people against you, you've still only done half the job. You've gotten people's attention... to tell them what? You'd rather pay less than pay more? Yeah. I hope you're planning to work toward a BS in Obvious Bullshit. Everyone wants to pay less for things.

What's the alternative? This isn't the kind of war where one side wins and the other loses, or vice versa. This is the kind where you either come up with an alternative compromise, or the people in power automatically win--just like a well-entrenched defender in any war. You either suggest a way in which everyone gets a little of what they want, or you're getting nowhere. You're trying to force a compromise, not hoping for a landslide.

I'm seeing all of the mistakes done. This isn't a protest, it's a tantrum. I'm not saying there aren't some good solutions, or that this idea doesn't warrant some real opposition. I'm just saying these proceedings lack the maturity to be referred to as a "protest."

 

[Vidiot]

Wait a minute, you mean that students had a protest, it turned violent to the point of fires and smashed property, and the police didn't open fire? Oh, right... England... yeah...
Still wanna move there.

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

I'm all for protest. I wanted to go today, but I couldn't afford to skip lectures, and had no train fare either. I hope we keep making ourselves heard though. Most students are working their asses off in the hope of decent jobs and a future in a country that is making it steadily more difficult. £9000 per year, while our loans stay the same? We were already going to be in debt, but now the average student will be in debt for the rest of their life. Not only that, but our quality of education is being reduced as the cuts force out the better teachers and all but the core classes in each subject, and the poorer students are gradually forced out or unable to apply at all because they can no longer afford it.

We're going to have a tough few years, but the youth are supposed to rebuild this country when the Tories are done screwing it up. More cuts like this could cripple us. No matter what other people say, there must be better ways of clearing our debt without damaging the future generation.

I've never advocated violence, but I'm starting to worry that it's the only way we get them to listen. The hundreds of thousands that marched against the Iraq war were ignored, so how do we know peaceful protest would be listened to now? We're entitled to be pissed off, and sadly it looks like we're going to need to shout bloody good and loud before we're heard.

The media thinks this is scary? They should take a closer look at the French. They say they're upping the retirement age and the entire country goes ballistic. What are we doing? Little to nothing, and they're planning to put the retirement age up much more than the French are. My parents will be breaking their backs in very difficult jobs until they're seventy. I've had relatives die before that!

My point is, all we seem to be doing in this country is quietly whingeing that things aren't fair while our government gives us the finger. Maybe we should give them the finger right back.

Just lay off the fire extinguishers. Those policemen probably have families.

 

[SnipErlite]

To be honest, I'm kinda happy about this.

As someone commented on the Telegraph site, "It's good to see there's still some fire in Britain's youth".

We feel passionate about an issue, we take action. I like that.

I wasn't in the protest but I kinda wish I had been. Not that the trashing of innocent people's shops and stuff is a good thing, but it's still encouraging to see we can say "fuck you" to the government when they try to implement some shitty fee raise.

[HEADING=1]Videos shot by me[/HEADING]

You were there? (Y) Good stuff, I would have gone but I didn't know it was on (been out of the country for a few days) and it's hard for me to travel down to London.

 

[Cheesebob]

Some goverment arseholes planted people in the student protest in order to stir up some shit and cast a bad light over it all, allowing it to be ignored.

Like Thatcher did with the miner's strikes.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

The students had good intentions, but their execution was all wrong, IMHO.

Vandalizing the Conservative HQ solves nothing. It also probably won't win over England; and when I say that, I'm referring to the 'people in power'.

They should've gathered more students, and kept it as a peaceful protest. At least the chances of them being listened to and respected would've been higher.

 

[Versabane]

study in Norway, its free. OIL POWER!

 

[Popadomus Ohio]

i hate the idea of them raising it to that level, mainly because i am starting uni next year. i'm hoping to do a masters degree course and so i might leave with nearly £40,000 worth of debt. the government has to do stuff to save money and get the defeceit down, but putting people off of going to uni and getting rid of jobs is not the way. its only going to get worse, though.

 

[DrCalgori]

My point is, all we seem to be doing in this country is quietly whingeing that things aren't fair while our government gives us the finger. Maybe we should give them the finger right back.

This is what britain is most famous for though. Jokes aside, how would we "give them the finger right back" ? British politics is some of the dirtiest politics in the world. And they'll ALWAYS screw you over. The british people lost its power over the government a long time ago it seems.

 

[Chewster]

I'd be for the protest if that was how big a jump they made, as that is a completely absurd expectation. Heck man, here in Canada, we storm Parliament Hill (non-violently, though the numbers are usually really good) every year when they raise tuition by a couple hundred bucks. I'm with the students, even if there was a bit of property damage.

$11 500 Canadian for tuition

What??!? What school do you go to in Canada that charges that much? Is is like half of that to go to grad school and that is twice as much as every other undergrad is paying, I guarantee you.

Are you international or something, because I have never heard of fees that high for a domestic student, unless they were going to a private university, and there are not too many of them around. If that were the case, that number you listed would be unrealistic.

Residence usually costs too much though, especially if you want to live in a nice building, with your own room.

EDIT: Saw that it was answered. My bad for being lazy. So I guess the next question is, how does Waterloo get away with that?

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

My point is, all we seem to be doing in this country is quietly whingeing that things aren't fair while our government gives us the finger. Maybe we should give them the finger right back.

This is what britain is most famous for though. Jokes aside, how would we "give them the finger right back" ? British politics is some of the dirtiest politics in the world. And they'll ALWAYS screw you over. The british people lost its power over the government a long time ago it seems.

It's crossed my mind, believe me. In our current situation we only have two parties that ever have a chance of getting into power, and neither has the public's best interests at heart. Sure, we have the coalition, but the Lib Dems may as well not be there at all for all the good they seem to be doing. As I said, most forms of protest are going to be ignored by a government as dirty as ours. If we even want a chance of being listened to, we're going to have to break things. I don't want it to be like that, but I'm getting disillusioned to the point where that's my opinion.

At the end of the day, it's better than sitting on our backsides and letting them screw us over.

And for the record, your username wins.