G-20 In Pittsburgh...Should I be scared?
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So I know there are a lot of people from all over the world that visit this forum daily and I have a question that may seem a bit random....but has anyone personally experienced the events at any of the these g-20, g-8, etc.. events? I ask, because I live in Pittsburgh and work right by the city where protests are already scheduled to be held. Should I be a little fearful? I must also add that our office is in a renovated bank. Oh my, Im starting to scare myself. I have just been researching what some of these protestors have done in the past and I must admit that I am a little bit worried to go into work Thursday and Friday. Honestly, I am worried to even be in the city. Part of me feels like it is an honor to have my home town hosting this, and it really says a lot about where we are in all of this economical mess and where we are heading, but we are not the biggest city by any stretch of the imagination, and I am worried about that damage that can be done. Does anyone have any personal insight or general feelings about this. I am just trying to find out as much as I can, to prepare myself for the rest of this week.
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Take off work and join the protesters. The World Bank and IMF should not be able to set global economic policies behind closed doors with no elected representatives.
On another note, since the WTO fiasco in Seattle with the so called anarchist violence, there have been new policies for protesting at such events. Most protesting will be held to restricted zones.
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Although I haven't been watching the G-20 closely, I was working right in the thick of the RNC convention in St Paul last September. They were expecting mass riots - and there were some anarchists and violent protesters, but they didn't bother the local people for the most part. The ones you have to look out for are the para-military cops! They gassed and detained innocent people for hours - protesters and passers-by alike. My guess is it won't be as bad as it sounds, but good luck and let us know how it goes!
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I would like to take off but I dont know if I would protest. I support the movement for changing things, but then I dont completely agree with everything else being said and the ways that people go about it. I just want to see my city make it out of this safe and sound.
Protests are fine, but there are a lot of sick people out there that jsut look at this as an opportunity to cause riots and damage without even knowing what it is for...too many uneducated people just going a long with the whole "lets make a change" without even knowing what it is really about. Not to mention and threats of terrorism...it may be going a bit extreme, but you cant help but fear that these days -
I was living right in the centre of Edinburgh during the 2005 Gleneagles G8+5 summit. I worked way out in the sticks, but on my return to the city centre after work one evening I discovered the riots were in full force a few hundred yards from my apartment. Nevertheless, as UK police don't carry guns it was possible to safely get within just a few feet of the rioters (who appeared to be a mix of mostly German and Spanish anarcho-tourists with the usual Edinburgh chavs just looking for an excuse to throw things at the police). All in all, it looked a lot worse than it was, as long as you made sure you didn't get stuck between the rioters and the police it was entertaining in a rather depressing way. Of course if the Pittburgh police are trigger happy, then it'd be best avoided altogether.
As much as I'd like to string up a great proportion of the world's bankers for their antics, the rioting of course achieves nothing. I've got about as little symapthy for injuries incurred by someone who attacks a police officer or destroys public or private property as I do for the bankers who have shafted us all.
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I haven't any experience of riots at political events, but I have been around riots at soccer games. IMO if you don't want to be involved in the riot then you won't be. If you see a bad situation happening around you you just walk away in the oppositie direction.
There will definitely be a massive security presence, and that will probably affect you when travelling, but I doubt very much that you have anything to worry about when it comes to violence.
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@johnsenior1973 said:
I haven't any experience of riots at political events, but I have been around riots at soccer games. IMO if you don't want to be involved in the riot then you won't be. If you see a bad situation happening around you you just walk away in the oppositie direction.
... if you can. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster
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@unknownuser said:
@johnsenior1973 said:
I haven't any experience of riots at political events, but I have been around riots at soccer games. IMO if you don't want to be involved in the riot then you won't be. If you see a bad situation happening around you you just walk away in the oppositie direction.
... if you can. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster
That was 1985. We're in 2009 now.
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What -today's hooligans are somehow more docile?
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I hope to avoid all of it, but I just hope these people dont look at our building and act like idiots and see that it was an old bank and start doing shit. Its crazy but I cant help but expect and prepare for the worst.
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If you're that worried, just ask your boss if you could work at home.
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