The English tear some shit up

Imagine that you read a headline that says education is being cut even further - by forty percent. What do you do? If you're like me and every other American, you're going to silently frown and go about your day.

Students in England, however, stormed Tory headquarters.

There have been violent scenes as tens of thousands of people protested against plans to treble tuition fees and cut university funding in England.

Demonstrators stormed a building in Westminster housing the Conservative Party head quarters, smashed windows and got on to the roof.

Outside, a crowd of thousands surged as placards and banners were set on fire and missiles were thrown.

Student leaders condemned the violence as "despicable".

They say about 50,000 people took part in a march through Westminster earlier.

A stand-off is still taking place between about two dozen demonstrators and the police, with 32 people having been arrested so far.

According to Scotland Yard, 14 people have been injured, including seven police officers. No-one was seriously hurt.

The vast majority of demonstrators had been peaceful, a statement said, but "a small minority" had damaged property.

[...]

One of the protesters who got on to the roof was Manchester student Emily Parks.

"It shows how angry people are," she told BBC News.

"Why is our education being cut? Why are tuition fees going up here when in other parts people have free education? People have felt the need to take matters into their own hands."

[...]

Hundreds of coachloads of students and lecturers had travelled to London from across England for the demonstration in Whitehall, with 2,000 students also travelling from Wales.

National Union of Students president Aaron Porter condemned the violence as "despicable".

"This was not part of our plan," he said.

"This action was by others who have come out and used this opportunity to hijack a peaceful protest."

[...]

Among the crowds at the rally in London were about 400 students from Oxford.

Oxford University Student Union President David Barclay said: "This is the day a generation of politicians learn that though they might forget their promises, students won't.

What struck me most when watching that video was the realization of how far left I've become. I mean, I certainly wouldn't have joined in had been there, because I'm kind of a pussy, but that wouldn't have stopped me from cheering them on from the sidelines. A year ago I would've condemned the little shitheads for not understanding the definition of "democracy," but now I'm convinced that scary protests like this is what protects democracy all around the world. Corporate interests have highjacked democracy. We've been peacefully protesting for the last decade, and it hasn't done shit. Look at where we're at. Violence against human beings is abhorrent and should be avoided at all costs, but the destruction of property is the only language these people understand. If your only solution is standing there with a sign and blowing air our of your lungs, neocons are just going to wait for you to leave. If you want to get peoples' attention, you have to stop traffic.

And these protests are happening all over Europe. In America, where the global economic crisis originated, we're not protesting at all. Instead we're clamoring to go back to the policies that caused everything. It's an embarrassment.