Vicious personal attacks on Tamsin Omond
Keith Parkins | 21.09.2009 13:19 | COP15 Climate Summit 2009 | Climate Chaos | Indymedia | Repression | Social Struggles | Cambridge
Why is Indymedia UK being used to launch viscous personal attacks on Climate Rush founder Tamsin Omond?
Tamsin Omond
Climate Rush pay Jeremy Clarkson a visit
'Only those who risk going too far can possible find out how far they can go.' -- T S Elliot
'You must do the thing you think you cannot do!' -- Eleanor Roosevelt
'Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.' -- Lord Dewar
Indymedia UK is not and never has been a forum to launch viscous personal attacks on individuals. Expose cant and hypocrisy yes, viscous personal attacks no.
I am perplexed why Indymedia UK is being used to launch viscous personal attacks on Tamsin Omond. If there is something wrong with her campaigning style, say so, with detailed analysis, but remember there is no 'right' way.
That she has got up some peoples noses is all too obvious.
I thought Climate Rush on the Run, travelling across southern England by horse and cart dressed as modern day suffragettes, from Sipson near Heathrow Airport to Totnes in Devon, raising awareness of climate change on the way, with the occasional direct action, was a brilliant idea.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/437740.html?c=on
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438116.html?c=on
http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/
Dumping horse manure on Jeremy Clarkson's front lawn was a brilliant stunt.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438142.html?c=on
http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/2009/09/anyone-for-manure-words-and-photos.html
And look at the oodles of excellent publicity it has achieved.
Tamsin also has a good track record in terms of activist credentials.
So why such a negative reaction on Indymedia UK? It was not just negative, vicious personal attacks on Tamsin herself.
Was it because she is posh? Was it because she got a First at Cambridge? Was it because she is stunningly good looking, sexually attractive with a nice body? Being called an eco-starlet by the mainstream media, obviously did not help. Nor being sought after by Vogue and Tatler. Was it because she is rich, or if she is not rich, that she comes from a wealthy family, her grandfather owning a landed estate in Dorset. Was she too posh, her grandfather being a baronet? But then she did not decide who her parents were or what her background was.
Tamsin has been accused of promoting her book. And yet I have seen no evidence of this. The book was not being plugged on the Climate Rush on the Run tour. No mention of the book on the blog or twitter.
I for one am looking forward to reading her book. If it is a load of tosh, self-serving, egotistical crap, I will say so, but I reserve judgment until such time as I have read it.
But even if the tour had been a promotion of the book, would that have been such a bad thing? It is not uncommon for writers, or even activists, to go on tour to promote a new book.. If the publisher wished to promote a book tour with a bit of awareness raising and direct action en-route, I for one would have no problem with that.
Last year at the Guildford Book Festival, Mark Thomas was brilliant. His appearance was part of a tour to promote his latest book, Belching Out the Devil. I did not see anyone complaining and the Electric Theatre was full. I know because I had the last ticket. I recall the Amnesty International event with Tariq Ali, again to promote a new book, was packed.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/411305.html
Climate Camp at Blackheath Common was a success because it found the right balance on direct action, activism and awareness raising. By doing so, it brought a whole load new people on board.
What Tamsin Omond, Climate Rush and other have managed to do is make protest a class act, not class in terms of social divide but class in terms of style. As with Climate Camp, they have wrong-footed the authorities and remained ahead of the game. They have taken protest to a whole new level, and they are being listened to. For this they should be applauded, not condemned. Whether this will result in needed change, changes in the group mindset remains to be seen. But at least they have tried, which is more than their critics have done.
When democracy has stopped working, as it has in the UK and elsewhere, where corruption of the body politic is rife, there is no alternative to direct action, civil disobedience.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/dir-act.htm
An educated elite with the ability to organise has tasted the protest game and they like it. Government and big business pay heed, your days are numbered.
Is government worried? The simple answer is yes, as we can see from the mouth of Gordon Brown when protesters, including Tamsin, sat on the roof of the House of Commons:
"The message should go out today, very clearly, that decisions in this country should be made in the chamber of this House and not on the roof of this House. It's a very important message that should be sent out to those people who are protesting."
In other words, Brown was rattled.
Politicians are our servants not our masters!
A shortened version of a longer article published elsewhere.
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/tamsin-omond-founder-of-climate-rush/
'You must do the thing you think you cannot do!' -- Eleanor Roosevelt
'Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.' -- Lord Dewar
Indymedia UK is not and never has been a forum to launch viscous personal attacks on individuals. Expose cant and hypocrisy yes, viscous personal attacks no.
I am perplexed why Indymedia UK is being used to launch viscous personal attacks on Tamsin Omond. If there is something wrong with her campaigning style, say so, with detailed analysis, but remember there is no 'right' way.
That she has got up some peoples noses is all too obvious.
I thought Climate Rush on the Run, travelling across southern England by horse and cart dressed as modern day suffragettes, from Sipson near Heathrow Airport to Totnes in Devon, raising awareness of climate change on the way, with the occasional direct action, was a brilliant idea.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/437740.html?c=on http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438116.html?c=on http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/ Dumping horse manure on Jeremy Clarkson's front lawn was a brilliant stunt.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438142.html?c=on http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/2009/09/anyone-for-manure-words-and-photos.html And look at the oodles of excellent publicity it has achieved.
Tamsin also has a good track record in terms of activist credentials.
So why such a negative reaction on Indymedia UK? It was not just negative, vicious personal attacks on Tamsin herself.
Was it because she is posh? Was it because she got a First at Cambridge? Was it because she is stunningly good looking, sexually attractive with a nice body? Being called an eco-starlet by the mainstream media, obviously did not help. Nor being sought after by Vogue and Tatler. Was it because she is rich, or if she is not rich, that she comes from a wealthy family, her grandfather owning a landed estate in Dorset. Was she too posh, her grandfather being a baronet? But then she did not decide who her parents were or what her background was.
Tamsin has been accused of promoting her book. And yet I have seen no evidence of this. The book was not being plugged on the Climate Rush on the Run tour. No mention of the book on the blog or twitter.
I for one am looking forward to reading her book. If it is a load of tosh, self-serving, egotistical crap, I will say so, but I reserve judgment until such time as I have read it.
But even if the tour had been a promotion of the book, would that have been such a bad thing? It is not uncommon for writers, or even activists, to go on tour to promote a new book.. If the publisher wished to promote a book tour with a bit of awareness raising and direct action en-route, I for one would have no problem with that.
Last year at the Guildford Book Festival, Mark Thomas was brilliant. His appearance was part of a tour to promote his latest book, Belching Out the Devil. I did not see anyone complaining and the Electric Theatre was full. I know because I had the last ticket. I recall the Amnesty International event with Tariq Ali, again to promote a new book, was packed.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/411305.html Climate Camp at Blackheath Common was a success because it found the right balance on direct action, activism and awareness raising. By doing so, it brought a whole load new people on board.
What Tamsin Omond, Climate Rush and other have managed to do is make protest a class act, not class in terms of social divide but class in terms of style. As with Climate Camp, they have wrong-footed the authorities and remained ahead of the game. They have taken protest to a whole new level, and they are being listened to. For this they should be applauded, not condemned. Whether this will result in needed change, changes in the group mindset remains to be seen. But at least they have tried, which is more than their critics have done.
When democracy has stopped working, as it has in the UK and elsewhere, where corruption of the body politic is rife, there is no alternative to direct action, civil disobedience.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/dir-act.htm An educated elite with the ability to organise has tasted the protest game and they like it. Government and big business pay heed, your days are numbered.
Is government worried? The simple answer is yes, as we can see from the mouth of Gordon Brown when protesters, including Tamsin, sat on the roof of the House of Commons:
"The message should go out today, very clearly, that decisions in this country should be made in the chamber of this House and not on the roof of this House. It's a very important message that should be sent out to those people who are protesting."
In other words, Brown was rattled.
Politicians are our servants not our masters!
A shortened version of a longer article published elsewhere.
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/tamsin-omond-founder-of-climate-rush/
Keith Parkins
Homepage:
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/
Comments
Hide the following 57 comments
And they say
21.09.2009 13:34
campboy
Class war not 'class' war.
21.09.2009 13:42
It should also be noted that those that comment on Indymedia do not represent IM. IM is simply a tool to share news I would suggest that if it appears she is unpopular it is because she is.
The guardian article about the Clarkson 'stunt' was followed by hundreds of messages from readers remarking how dumb it was.
As for the tour. Why subjugate a horse to drag them round the country rather than putting some bloody effort in and cycling? Get those animals off those horses etc.
Class war not 'class' war.
Howard
below the belt
21.09.2009 14:29
keep your own obsessions with tamsin to yourself and cut out the sexist nonsense.
anarchist
Book Publicity?
21.09.2009 14:31
Marion Boyars, the publisher of Tamsin's book, says this on it's website:
'Tamsin Omond will be promoting her book by touring the UK by horse in September, to publicize the need for action against climate change, and the warming of our planet, and to campaign against the third runway at Heathrow airport.
Her itinerary is as follows - come and join her, and buy the book!
Sipson village: 4th September; Aylesbury: 8th September; Oxford: 12th September; Stroud: 17th September Bristol: 20th September Exeter: 28th September Totnes: 30th September etc: "
Mixed messages there then?
Soaking
Homepage:
http://www.marionboyars.co.uk/Amy%20individual%20book%20info/Rush.html
Personality Politics The Spectacularisation of Fairmile
21.09.2009 15:08
Below are some bits of a longer article that can be found at:
Personality Politics
The Spectacularisation of Fairmile
"Revolt is contained by overexposure. We are given it to contemplate so that we forget to participate."
- Raoul Vaneigem.
During and after the eviction of the anti-A30 road camps at Fairmile in early 1997 there was an explosion of media interest that seemed to come out of nowhere and caught us all by surprise. At that time a lot of the A 30 campaign were living together in the office and there appeared to be consensus on what interviews to do and what to say in them...
...I was really unhappy with the way that journalists frequently said that the point of the campaign had been to attract publicity to the issues. It not only presented a false view of direct action but was disempowering to the readers as it reinforced the view that they cannot change anything directly. In it's way it was a factor in causing the Swampy phenomenon to continue into the Manchester based No Second Runway Campaign, when some activists adopted this view themselves. Raising the issues is important but it shouldn't be the only point of a campaign, otherwise it's not direct action, it's indirect action. What we had after Fairmile was a situation where the media were reinventing direct action as indirect action.
...At the time we had little concept that 'positive' publicity could be a problem. Looking back on the experience, I think that we need to be at least as wary of 'positive' publicity that misrepresents individuals and/or the campaign as we are of publicity that is negative. I feel a lot more comfortable being denounced accurately as a dirty, dolescrounging, anarchist than being lauded as someone trying to get publicity for their single issue concern in the hope that the government will do something to stop it. In the end I came to the conclusion that my whole outlook was so radically different from that of the mainstream media that it was a straight choice between being hated for what I am or loved for what I'm not. The latter is not necessarily better since the media's agenda doesn't really represent what the public think but merely what corporate interests would like them to think. And besides, misrepresentation on a large scale has its own dangers.
... The attitude towards the press was different at Manchester [anti-airport resistance camps]. A lot of people had seen the Fairmile publicity and aspired to something on the same scale. Some even saw media attention as one of the most important aims of the campaign. The media misrepresentation was that living on site was just a way of grabbing the attention of decision makers by getting in the papers. It became a self fulfilling prophecy as people who got involved as a result of the coverage were those who found the misrepresentation attractive and they brought that attitude with them onto site. The character of the Manchester campaign, at times, seemed to mirror the character of the Fairmile coverage. Being in the papers inspires people to come on site and that's great. But those who see the media as a recruitment tool should acknowledge that while coverage will encourage the movement to grow it will also infiuence the direction it grows in.
...The media picked on one person and made him the focus not only of an entire campaign, but of an entire movement. This gave the readership an image of action being taken by a 'hero', a famous person, not a diverse group of ordinarily extraordinary people like themselves. This, coupled with the 'It's all just to raise awareness' line, reinforced peoples' disempowerment.
I think that the biggest problem facing us in the aftermath of the spectacularisation of Fairmile is the kind of over-enthusiasm that a lot of us have towards the media. Many people consider that to change the world we must change peoples' minds and that this is best done through the media. But what are we changing their minds for? It doesn't matter what people believe if they are too alienated and disempowered to act on it, and the mass media is above all a tool of disempowerment and alienation.The dangers of becoming too dependant on the media are obvious. The people who control the mass media have broadly the same outlook and some of the same interests as the people who own opencast sites and build roads. To get good coverage we risk pandering to their outlook in the mistaken belief that it represents the thoughts of the general public. (People, in general, tend to be more radical than the mainstream media would lead you to believe.) Especially frightening, and again this isn't a problem yet, is the risk that we will start only doing actions that will look good in the papers. Once we go down that path then we might as well just phone up heads of multinationals and say 'What would you like us to do today?'...
anon
Perhaps...
21.09.2009 15:17
Jeremy Clark's son
Just an observation
21.09.2009 15:26
The cult of celebrity is dangerous and disempowering to those who may look for "a leader" and "leaders" can end up with too much stress and responsibility if they take on that role. Those who have limitless energy and passion to get things done can end up with many activists looking to them for leadership. The authorities love a leader to lock up. I have no idea whether Tamsin has courted "celebrity" or not, she may have done tactically with good intentions, she may not have done anything of the sort. She certainly seems to have, with others, done some really good actions.
We all just need to get on with whatever it is we are doing as activists and leave her to get on with her stuff unless it is to contructively criticise or to challenge something percieved as harmful.
Lynn Sawyer
environment movement has no leaders
21.09.2009 15:40
norwich anarchist
Using horses?
21.09.2009 15:53
Forced labor in which individuals [in this case horses] are considered to be, or treated as, the property of others, without their consent....now I wonder what that reminds me of....the 19th century perhaps? How oppressive. What next? These so-called 'suffragettes' selling themselves to men as a form of climate chaos marriage or something similary pathetic.
I guess it's ok oppressing others though as long as its not yourself right? Idiots.
I wish I'd made my way to one of these events and fucked their shit up.
veg@n
Re: Just an observation
21.09.2009 16:09
Effective how? Please explain.
Owe Henry
the book
21.09.2009 16:10
anon
@Norwich Anarchist
21.09.2009 16:38
you wot??? sort out yer arguments!!!
"being in so many media stunts" - ie participating in many actions. what's the limit? should each person only take part in 2, 3 actions a year for fear of making you think they're trying to "take a leadership role"??
"writing a book" - did you know the Rossport 5 wrote a book?? bastards, trying to claim a leadership role...
i'm no fan of this Tamsin person but for fuck's sake, if this is what you've got against her then you're scraping the bottom of the barrel!!
s
Tamsin - again.....
21.09.2009 16:55
Concerned
More from the Marion Boyars blog re: the book
21.09.2009 16:57
-----
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
RUSH! on the move - tour by horse
Photographer Peter Marshall is with the Climate Rush tour as it progresses from Sipson to Aylesbury, then Oxford where they plan to close down the airport just renamed London Airport (!) on the 12th September, and then on to Bristol if they are not put in prison first.
The above link is to his web site, mylondondiary - nothing to do with the Evening Standard and the famous column of the same name - and I hope lots of people will look at the photographs, and ask for permission to reprint them (as I did).
Last Friday, September 4th, Rebecca and I went and joined the RUSH! at Sipson, held on the land that Greenpeace have bought with 10,000 signatories, to stop the development on the third runway at Heathrow.
Now, in case people think this is a piece of jumping on the bandwagon publishing, let me make it clear that I live and work directly underneath the Heathrow flight path. I can hear aeroplanes now going over the office in Putney. In the summer, it is hard to talk in our garden for the noise of the planes - in fact I was amazed that in Sipson, right up against the perimeter fence of Heathrow, the noise was identical to that in my garden.
In fact, finding Spison was hard. It officially does not exist. It is not on the map. Not at all so no matter how good your map reading skills are, it makes no difference, you just have to guess which is the Northern perimeter of the airport and head towards it. We were taking copies of RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist, for Tamsin to sign and sell as they progress on the tour.
When you get near to Sipson, there is just one tiny signpost for a left turn, and then you are in the village. In fact, the village has a great pub, but very few shops and no real centre. The camp on the Greepeace land is just behind the King William 1v pub - or as it is affectionately known to the locals - behind the King Willy.
The camp itself was idyllic. September sunshine, gifts of fruit from the locals, the horses gently resting in the background, the tarpaulins of the carts being sewn, tents up, a large fire starting for the evening. The locals were all delighted to see the Climate Rush! suffragettes and to read about themselves in the book. I met many people, and really wanted to stay all evening and join the camp. I nearly ran away with the fairies and never came back. It is all hugely fun and the nicest of times, while being essential to raise awareness of the fragility of nature. Sipson used to be on a site called Heath Row, and it was a huge market garden, which is why it is still full of fruit trees. The houses are small, and loved, though every time you mow the lawn you must think, is it worth it, when will the bulldozers arrive? It reminded me of the beginning of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, but this is for real, with real people, right up the road.
It will mean that more people will vote for David Cameron next May as he has said he will cancel the third runway. But that was what Gordon Brown said also. Who can trust politicians now? We have enough flights for business and travel to flourish - we do not need more. It's all about moderation - and we should not treat this planet as an endless resource. Because, although the Climate Camp at Sipson was lovely, and people were having a nice time, when it is a runway, they certainly will not. I heard a journalist on the radio last night saying he is done with flying when he goes on holiday - he takes a train or drives. And when you arrive somewhere with cheap flights, it is full of tourists. Finding the 'real' world is hard, because we, in the first world, have fully invaded it. I may sound like an old fashioned reactionary, but it's just about doing with less, and being happy with less, as a way of life. I hope the young see Tamsin and her friends, and decide she is right - it takes a massive change of lifestyle. But I think her example, which you can read about in her book, will have some impact...I hope so.
------------
Bask Street Kid
Homepage:
http://riskingit.blogspot.com/
Perkins enough already!
21.09.2009 18:19
It shows you for who you are and its not the first time, you ass!
Ann Archy
Homepage:
http://www.Self-serving-ego-idiot-Tasmin.com
see you in copenhagen
21.09.2009 18:22
for a big riot
'Parkins!' 'Yes m'lady'
21.09.2009 19:29
Proffessor Higgins
Good article
21.09.2009 20:56
I have never met the lady, but she and the others in Climate Rush have got off their backsides done some really great things. More power to their elbows. They have done more than post destructive comments on Indymedia, possibly after a few beers, which is all I guess some posting here have ever done.
I couldn't care less who her parents and grandparents are. I am not bothered what her body is like either. Power to the people comments leave me bored. I imagine she finds all this stuff boring or embarrassing. What does interest me about her is what she has done on climate change. Not many people have campaigned from the top of the Westminster parliament. If I had done that I might feel prepared to criticise.
As for the horses, this is not the Victorian era with horses being beaten into doing things. The horses will only pull the cart if they want to. If they don't want to pull it the horses are too big for humans to force them. Horses are not stupid.
If I meet Tamsin in Copenhagen, most unlikely but you never know, I will tell her to keep doing what she is doing.
The childish posturing of British people talking of burning Copenhagen down is strange, the sort of comment made by someone who does not know the history. Look up 1807 in a search engine. I will be staying in and campaigning for most of the time in Nørrebro. Class warriors should look that up in a search engine too, they might find
A N Other
to veg@n
21.09.2009 20:58
chrisTeathan
Rebel Girl
21.09.2009 21:49
Don't let the bastards grind you down
Homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5202/rebelgirl.html
Guardian commenters are mostly right-wing students
21.09.2009 22:08
Erm, I think that's because the people who comment on the Guardian stories are overwhelmingly precocious trolling right-wing students winding up lefties.
anon
chrisTeathan
21.09.2009 22:19
You spoon! They can't talk to us, that's why they can't give their consent to manual labour even if they wanted to. PS - 'They' cannot talk, not 'it'. Horses are individuals, not objects.
veg@n
important distinction
21.09.2009 22:28
From talking to people who have been involved in Climate Rush I understand that Tamsin and one other person have explicitly appointed themselves as the 'faces' of Climate Rush. I other words they think it is a positive and useful thing to have figurehead leaders in this way. These two people have a massively disproportionate influence within the group.
This results in Climate Rush becoming increasingly hierarchical, which is unhealthy, less effective and disempowering for those who want to be involved.
To summarise, she has gone out of her way to set herself up as a figurehead and therefore fully deserves criticism.
How dare she pose as a leader not just of Climate Rush, but of 'the climate movement'?
She doesn't speak for me.
Q
ignore the evidence of the majority and replace with your own singular viewpoint
21.09.2009 23:56
>> Erm, I think that's because the people who comment on the Guardian stories are overwhelmingly precocious trolling right-wing students winding up lefties.
Any evidence to support that bullshit statement?
Clarkson and Top Gear are very popular. And i noticed that most people who commented in the media thought the stunt was really dumb and stupid.
I don't think a "green transport show" would be popular at all. Something about how to get from A to B on public transport where it will cost more, be more unreliable, be subject to antisocial behaviour from wierdos, and take longer.
Max
take me to your leader
22.09.2009 00:14
If a movement has leaders in the traditional sense of the word then it isn't an anarchist movement. No anarchist has ever been led except in the sense of leading volunteers, by example. Leaders issue orders, and any order is a request backed by violent threat. No one and no movement is in itself anarchist, but people and group do anarchist things. It's their actions not themselves that are anarchist though, anarchy is a verb, something you do not something you are. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was an elected leader of a union of volunteers and would have done what she was told to do by the other members. That's not what most people think of as a 'leader'. The individual is no less or more important than the group and it is a mistake for any group to be overly represented by anyone.
A bit irrelevant pedantry since I doubt Tamsin would claim to be anarchist given her lack of media shyness. Keith is wrong to compare Tamsin to Mark Thomas since Mark was independently famous as a comedian and contributed a great deal to many campaigns before touring books at activist venues, whereas Tamsin is famous solely for being the face of Climate Change activism for the Daily Mail market.
Of course, maybe I'm just bitter since I'm not "stunningly good looking, sexually attractive with a nice body". Maybe Keith should persuade Tamsin to pose for the Sun to better spread environmentalism to a wider audience?
Copenhagen
Hope for me, I hope for you,
We're snowdrops falling through the night.
We'll melt away before we land,
Two teardrops for somebody's hand.
Follow me into just one more Spring.
Copenhagen, you're the end,
Gone and made me a child again.
Warmed my feet beneath cold sheets,
Dyed my hair with your sunny streets.
Children aren't afraid to love
And laugh when life amuses them.
And our love is an antique song
For children's carousels
Scott3
Highlighted!
22.09.2009 02:51
suspicious
i can call myself anything i wont!
22.09.2009 08:58
The harder thing is to act and speak like one.
Good article Keith, highlights the obsession with personalities - the triumph of style over content.
Never met the woman in question, so can not comment on her, her lifestyle or background. Irrelevant anyway.
The class warriors here condemn her background, the infantile unthinking 'anarchists' condemn her tactics and the spoilers here - from old bill in all its forms, the reactionary 'opposition' of moneyed interest to the right-wing spoilers that specialize in the personal attack - condemn her campaign, albeit indirectly ... mud sticks an that.
Yes we are all pawns in some way.
Yes there will be differences of opinion.
Yes there is a point where I will digress in philosophy and tactics.
Right now, good luck and thank you to this woman.
To hell with the those that divide to conquer, and grow up those who divide to inure ego.
The only real anarchist ever
Why was this shit promoted?
22.09.2009 09:22
"Articles may be promoted for the following reasons:
The promoted newswire is to show the best of the newswire. Moderators will promote any good posts. The guidelines below cover common practice, but are neither mandatory or comprehensive.
In general, posts meeting the following guidelines will be promoted:
* original, first hand reports on actions and other events
* good, original analysis
In general, the following types of posts will not be promoted:
* re-posts from other sources (blogs etc)"
This is definitely not an original, first hand report of an action, and it'd be quite a stretch to call it "good, original analysis" either. On the other hand, it definitely is a re-post from another source. So why the fuck is this embarrassing shit promoted?
Anarchist
And the book is available...
22.09.2009 10:08
anon
in response
22.09.2009 12:28
Yes.
"Was it because she got a First at Cambridge?"
Yes.
"Was it because she is stunningly good looking, sexually attractive with a nice body?"
She isn't.
More to the point, that's utterly, utterly irrelevant, and unless you can point to examples of her appearance being brought up as a criticism you should keep this sexist crap to yourself.
"Was it because she is rich, or if she is not rich, that she comes from a wealthy family, her grandfather owning a landed estate in Dorset. Was she too posh, her grandfather being a baronet? But then she did not decide who her parents were or what her background was."
True, she didn't choose her background. However, I have yet to see even the slightest bit of self-awareness on the part of her or any other element of the "Climate Rush" group of the enormous disparity in this country between rich and poor, nor any attempt to deal with working people on their own level. Instead they present themselves as superheroes on a moral crusade.
A large part of the hostility really has little to do with Tamsin herself and everything to do with the social systems in place. Seeing her pinning a badge on Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall was frankly nauseating on a level which is far more emotional than logical - a disgust with the antics of the rich which is found in many people.
Every interview I've come across with her has seemed quite unbearably smug and self-righteous, bordering on a martyr complex. This is exactly the kind of attitude which puts many people off activism and causes activists to be held in contempt by the wider public - a combination of ego, self-righteousness and preaching to others to alter their lifestyles while living in the lap of luxury.
Her upbringing may not be her fault, but it does change things - the way we view the world and the way the world views us. It's a product of the capitalist system, but it is also an unfortunate fact of life.
anonymous
Calm down
22.09.2009 12:56
If that is true then the Green Party in England has done the same thing in order to be more friendly to the mainstream media. I might not do the same thing myself, but I understand why others may do it. I wouldn't make it a key point of an attack on others.
When I have looked at their web site I have never noticed anyone being featured in every photograph. Neither do I see any name repeatedly mentioned in the text.
>>How dare she pose as a leader not just of Climate Rush, but of 'the climate movement'?
Does she pose as a leader of the climate movement? From what little I have seen and heard of the lady I haven't noticed. I have better things to do with my campaigning time than look at my navel. Getting activists to argue amongst themselves pointlessly is a well known tactic by those who are working on behalf of government.
>>She doesn't speak for me.
She speaks for me when she says things I agree with. So far I have agreed with everything of what little I have heard her say. If I disagree with something in the future I will get in touch with Climate Rush, not write messages on Indymedia.
You can gauge how well a campaigner is doing by how much opposition they generate. Tamsin seems to be a good campaigner by that measure.
Those being critical could be working for government, or more interested in petty disagreements amongst campaigners than actually campaigning. Neither group are worth bothering with.
A N Other
addendum
22.09.2009 13:01
"But it was horrible reading some of the comments that people have posted to stories in the newspaper this week. So many were celebrating the idea of this little posh girl falling flat on her face. It was the first time I was made aware of the fact that my lineage and background is a problem to some people."
This quote alone speaks volumes. How utterly oblivious would you have to be to live to the age of 23 without knowing that maybe, just maybe, some people dislike the fact that some in the UK have vast country estates while others are struggling to pay the rent on a council house?
While many of these attacks have been on Tamsin personally, they are more about what she represents in my view - namely, the rich. The "Oxbridge set" which somehow manages to rise to dominance in whatever field they should choose to target - be it business, politics, religion, or in this case, activism. Being ruled over by this demographic creates a quite natural (and good!) resentment, and to have "one of them" (an unpleasant phrase, but a necessary one) take a role as spokesperson for the eco movement results in equally natural hostility.
anonymous
@A N Other
22.09.2009 13:19
That's just silly. Plenty of campaigners generate opposition not because they are doing well, but because their politics are objectionable, their actions are useless or counter-productive, and so on. Your post seems to be taking a quasi-religious view that persecution is a sign of virtue, when often, it's a sign of being a complete tool.
Not saying that's the case with Tamsin specifically, just making a general point.
anonymous
... and here ...
22.09.2009 13:49
spot the wolf competion (closed)
hush now as the black clad 'anarchist bigbootus' and its louder and more preposterous cousin, the 'class warrior', or 'the red megaphone hog', stalk their prey ... using personal attacks, meaningless rhetoric and the classic diversionary tactic of false consciousness the movement is fatally weakened.
Rarely though,do the the 'anarchist' and 'class warrior' get to close in for the kill and enjoy the fruits of their less than hard work, the larger, more vicious species, 'the system',or 'the fatus catus' utilizes its huge police-like paws in an Hegelian squeeze and dispatches its victim.
not anonomous but you don't know me anyway
Haven't you got anything better to do
22.09.2009 14:28
If you're so worried about the cult of personality, why are you creating a cult of personality by spending time and effort writing about her on Indymedia? I'd never even heard of the poor woman till today. I had heard of Climate Rush tho, so i guess that says something.
(Can't believe I'm helping to make this pointless conversation one of the most commented-on articles on Indymedia)
Unity is strength
gremlins
22.09.2009 15:53
Yes, should be vicious, not viscous. Must be those bloody anarchists again!
Keith
Prejudices
22.09.2009 15:53
All I have so far seen is people crawling out of the woodwork to flout their prejudices.
I rarely go to meetings because I see the same time wasting, divisive antics and idiots spouting drivel.
Meanwhile the planet burns whilst the children trade insults.
Keith
Fancy a bit Keith?
22.09.2009 16:54
Working class woman
Keith's own prejudices
22.09.2009 16:59
"All I have so far seen is people crawling out of the woodwork to flout their prejudices."
And the one prejudice you clearly won't be addressing is this one:
"Was it because she is stunningly good looking, sexually attractive with a nice body? "
Thats your own stuff coming out Keith - and including it in a report you then post to Indymedia is indeed quite worrying behavior. Have you any reason to make that claim?
How do you think the media became aware that Tamsin has bluish blood? Is it perhaps because she told them? If it isn't relevant, why is it in every main stream report? She certainly isn't the only Oxbridge graduate with a first in the movement, and yet somehow the others have avoided becoming the story. And there aren't reams of comments expressing disquiet about their campaigning style on Indymedia. So somehow Tamsin seems to have almost scored another first (but not quite - there is Monbiot.....)
Oh, here's another of your prejudices:
"Meanwhile the planet burns whilst the children trade insults."
You belittle anybody who doesn't share your life view by calling them children.
If you really have such disdain for Indymedia readers then feel free to retire to the quiet backwater that is your own blog. We can manage perfectly well without being patronised by you.
Ugh
@ Unity is strength
22.09.2009 17:30
Yes of course we bloody well do, and most of us do them! Doesn't mean we can't spend the odd few minutes here and there chatting about less important matters as well.
anonymous
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22.09.2009 18:00
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Komet
@s
22.09.2009 18:31
Norwich anarchist
contentious?
22.09.2009 18:32
What did you just prove?
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temok
Tamsin who???
23.09.2009 09:44
Now that we all know who Tamsin is (never met her) would it not now be a good opportunity to return to what made her famous.
CO2 emissions and climate change!
Exactly how few of us beleive this?
Motek
Betrayal?
23.09.2009 10:04
How can an anarchist refer to the awakenings of individuals to their own potential [the green movement] as a entity capable of being betrayed because someone not from your own sphere of experience and background chooses to try and make a difference in their own way?
Is it desired that 'activists' be vetted by some proletariat committee (a vanguard[sic] perhaps?)
The very fact that the comments are piling up should indicate that this discussion IS an important one. It is about inclusiveness, about our ability to break down those very same class barriers that everybody is pointing at here.
Where are the cogent criticisms of tactics, of words uttered or deeds done that so cause some here to condemn?
Are we really reduced to a 'big brother' style contest that selects on the basis of who can manipulate their popularity the best (seems to be an exact parallel to the way political campaigns are run in this shame called parliamentary democracy)?
And, as for the suggestion that to note ones own response to the physical attributes of another in an honest and open manner, and commenting on the probability that in our still patriarchal power arrangement that such physical attributes get you noticed more - is sexist?!
Well not every sexual impulse is sexist, men and women are attracted to each other in all manner of combinations ... a delicious act that should not be shamed or politically incorrect.
Lord Itup
@norwich anarchist
23.09.2009 10:25
1. PGA is basically dead.
2. Very few groups still use the hallmarks.
3. They are a statement of principles, not a holy writ that people can be judged by their ability to live up to.
There are plenty of valid criticisms to be made of Tamsin and Climate Rush, but this one is just strange.
anonymous
welcome back to home
23.09.2009 19:12
No wonder governments can continually walk all over the rights of people living there. Too busy blaming others - immigrants if you're brainwashed by the corporate media, others if you are not.
Forget CCTV, police state, the monarchy, fox hunting, animal abuse, weapons of mass destruction, environmental destruction, the stupid prohibition of drugs, the locking up of refugees and others, mass incarceration, a basic lack of democracy, continued reports showing the UK is a bad place to live for children and others....no, lets slag someone off who isn't even to blame.
What a fuckin shitty place.
Argh
Big Bob.
23.09.2009 21:19
IM is read by a lot of people and just a few people (posting under different names) are responsible for the attacks on Tamsin.
Who they are we don't know, maybe Tamsin supporters trying to create a legend, maybe anarchists who trawl around this site trying to disrupt things (they do this all the time, hello Danny!).
This conversation has run its course no matter.
Realist
@Realist
24.09.2009 10:15
And you have proof for this, I assume?
anonymous
Proposal
24.09.2009 11:41
Is Tamsin being accused of giving "orders" to the Climate Camp movement?
There are concerns being raised here that Climate Camp's media policy is being dictated by a self appointed elite. Is Tamsin part of the Climate Camp Media Team?
I propose that members of Climate Camp Media Team should be elected regional delegates recallable by national and regional gatherings.
Solidarity Redge!
Re: proposal
24.09.2009 12:17
Tamsin Omond is a media spoke for Climate Rush, not Climate Camp.
Climate Camp's media key messages are approved by consensus at national gatherings. We hold open training sessions a few times a year and anyone is free to join the media team. A lot of the time we use pseudonyms so that nobody ends up being seen as the "face" of the movement.
Kia
personal abuse and divisive tactics
24.09.2009 14:23
What differentiates one from another is difficult to say and only time can be the real judge. There is more than one way of approaching a problem, one is not necessary better than another.
Climate Rush on the Run are travelling from Sipson (near Heathrow) to Totnes in Devon. They are travelling on foot and bicycle, with the horses used to pull the carts. I have seen no evidence to suggest the horses are being mistreated. En-route they are raising awareness of Climate Change with the odd minor direct action thrown in for good measure.
Maybe copies of the book are being sold of the back of the cart in true Steptoe fashion. So what?
So far so good. I have seen nothing wrong so far, nor have I seen any intelligent analysis of there being anything wrong with the campaign. On the Climate Rush on the Run website I have seen no particular person being promoted. And please do not confuse the gush coming from a PR agent or publisher with the person herself.
What I have seen is Indymedia UK being used as a platform to launch vicious attacks on Tamsin Omond for no other reason than a handful of individuals have taken a personal dislike to her, even though they have never apparently met her and their only source of information is the mainstream media.
Should this be a topic of discussion? Yes, and for two reasons:
- Indymedia was not intended for and should not be used a platform for personal abuse and attacks.
- It is very divisive and the motives behind these divisive attacks need to be questioned.
Are parts of the green movement to be attacked and marginalised because a vociferous minority take a strong dislike to one individual, a dislike that is rooted in their own perverse prejudices rather than any particular actions by the individual attacked?
Maybe the question to ask: Who benefits from this personal abuse and divisive tactics?
Keith
Homepage:
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/
Have you apologised for your sexist remarks Keith?
24.09.2009 18:42
Working class gal
PGA
24.09.2009 19:43
Firstly, Tamsin is affiliated with Climate Rush. Climate Camp is a separate, although related, movement.
I've not seen anything from Climate Rush indicating they work according to the PGA Hallmarks; from a brief check on the interwebs, the only mention of the PGA Hallmarks relating to the climate camp is a brief mention in the minutes of one meeting, relating to the (also-defunct) Dissent network:
My comment regarding PGA being dead relates to the Peoples' Global Action network, which appears to have ceased functioning for the most part. Similarly, while there are some groups which stick to their hallmarks, they seem to have decreasing relevance with each passing year. Nothing, to my knowledge, has "superseded" it (whatever that even means in this context - superseded in what sense? become a new anti-capitalist network? provided a new set of hallmarks? organised new conferences? all of the above?).
"Is Tamsin being accused of giving "orders" to the Climate Camp movement?"
No, she is accused of using her position within Climate Rush to provide a public face for the radical ecological movement as a whole, something she has been able to do pretty much entirely due to her background and the eloquence and media-friendliness which comes with it. Her representation does not reflect many of those within the movement, while she has been treated as tho it does - largely due to the media, but I have yet to see any attempt by those involved with CR to dispell this myth.
anonymous
@Keith
24.09.2009 20:00
Hating the rich is not a "perverse prejudice," it is the unfortunate but inevitable result of class society. To ignore this altogether in favour of your individualistic "OMG poor sexy little rich girl!!!" mentality is frankly ridiculous.
anonymous
Hello Realist!
26.09.2009 12:49
I'm trying to disrupt IM-UK? Well, I won't break the guidelines by saying what I think of you, your own racist, sexist, pro-war comments speak volumes.
Realist attacking all Muslim women as ugly
Realist defending Blairs invasion of Iraq
Realist defending the murder of Ian Tomlinson and decrying protestors as vultures
Realist defending the BNP and 'decent white Brits'
Realist attacking the irrational Palestinians
Realist attacking M&S demonstrators as being BNP
Realist attacking further education
Danny
Missed this News Post / Discussion Thread earlier
19.11.2009 14:49
I think the answer about all this is that whilst IM is used by a lot of people who post action reports and photos and campaign updates as some sort of news website, many others use it as a discussion forum via the comments function.
Sadly a lot of the discussion is simply slagging off, rather than any constructive criticism or addition of background links etc. Yes a bit like the whole internet. But annoyingly IM is supposed to be a particular corner of the Internet which tries to highlight radical politics, but it seems many of it's readers behave just as badly as others.
And let's also face it, many wings of radical politics are riddled with infighting and bitching, so IM partly reflects this.
It's true also that sometimes there is disinformation posted, and that a logical extension would be that some also engage in persistant trolling. But like I say, that's only part of it.
If this were a 'proper' radical political discussion forum where you had to register then i imagine a lot of people would have been kicked off it.
It's sad really. I know quite a few people and some groups that would like to post news to IM but do not because of the crappy comments often seen.
Time to remove comments?
I've always liked them, especially for adding more information and constructive discussion. But maybe there comes a time when they are doing more damage than good...?
mrme