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The "Tire Extinguishers" Just Proved They're a Distasteful Bunch

If you don’t know who the “Tire Extinguishers” (or “Tyre Extinguishers”, if you’re British) are, then you might not own an SUV. Or maybe you didn’t hear about their intent to make this type of car unusable in urban areas. While their plan to sound the alarm over climate change could be considered a form of protest, what they did just now is proof these people have no respect for the society they live in, act solely to annoy others, and have no regard for tradition.
Activist Deflating an SUV Tire 6 photos
Photo: The Tyre Extinguishers on Twitter
Global Air Quality MapDeflated TireDeflated SUV TiresActivist Deflating an SUV TireA Sticker Promoting the Movement
The eco-warriors struck again. They found a couple of SUVs in London and Edinburgh and deflated one or more of their tires. Hurrah! The activists did it... They managed to temporarily stall 15 people from reaching their destinations. And they made a big fuss about it on social media.

Fortunately, not many people paid attention. Their online impact was laughably low – barely 185 likes. And that's after they strategically targeted the Scottish capital where the Queen's coffin arrived on Sunday.

But leaving aside their simple-minded and somewhat dangerous idea to stop people from polluting the environment temporarily, the “your gas guzzler kills” crew disregarded a major happening – the Queen’s passing. While millions of people were mourning and thinking about the empty place left by Her Majesty in their lives, the activists were sneaking around causing problems to their peers.

A whole country and a vast international community are getting ready to say goodbye to a person that dedicated her whole life to public service and remained for over 70 years a pillar of stability, a guarantee to every citizen that the Constitution would be upheld no matter what else might have happened. She may have lived a privileged life, but the Queen never belittled her role or acted outside her prerogatives. She took her role seriously until the very end.

Don’t get me wrong…

I’m not a royalist or a monarchist. I want to vote for a president, and I like the thought that any citizen that’s born or acquires citizenship of a certain country could one day become its democratically elected leader. But that doesn’t mean I won’t respect what a personality, an international figure such as Queen Elizabeth II was for the British and for the entire world.

People with an agenda have to understand and accept that there are historical moments such as this unfortunate one when a good way to make your cause known is to abide by what’s morally right, by taking a break. Life will resume, and it will return to normal in a couple of days. We won’t suddenly burst into flames and our world won’t collapse if we just stop momentarily.

But the activists did not believe this was the right way of doing things.

“No matter what’s happening – monarchy-related or otherwise – the climate emergency isn’t taking a break, so neither will we,” said the leaderless organization on Twitter.

They’re not stopping

Targeting the wealthiest neighborhoods first and SUVs that look American or are bigger, the “Tire Extinguishers” said, “it’s what her majesty would have wanted.” That’s how they chose to express themselves – by not even respecting the defunct monarch in writing.

Their message to the media even ends with “Onwards, to the funeral of SUVs!” That shows everyone these people have no real goal in mind and no common sense for that matter. They’re not acting on a strong belief and do not want to solve a problem. Instead, they look to externalize the chaos that’s governing their own lives into society and onto people that have no idea what they might have done wrong.

All they are doing is a campaign of irritation and their actions do not help anyone, not even those that are trying to sound the alarm over much-needed environmental-related changes. Moreover, deflating tires leads only to more carbon production and fossil fuel burning since the affected people will most likely call someone to come and fix their car or, worse, buy another tire in case the deflated one gets damaged in the process.

If you own an SUV and live in Western and Central Europe or Northern America, then you should get a dashcam for your vehicle that’s able to record from multiple angles. Or, even better, park in front of a house or a store that has video surveillance. A deflated tire might not be such a big issue, but if the movement leads to the actual damage of one’s property – as it has already happened – it’s good to have some proof.

Even though the activists don’t care about tradition and morals and have shown their true nature, they don’t know one important thing – the world’s most polluted countries that continue to exceed harmful particle concentration levels tenfold are Bangladesh, Chad, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and India, according to data collected and interpreted by IQAir. The UK is in 94th place out of 117.

Moreover, according to Statista, China is the world’s largest CO2 producer – a gas that leads to the unwanted greenhouse effect and warms up the Earth. So, why should those living in the UK, Canada, or even the U.S. be punished by their peers?

Finally, even the global air quality map that’s updated live shows Europe doesn’t have major problems with air quality – yet. Climate change is a concern for everyone, and it must be addressed by every country on Earth. It must be a collective effort. But in trying to get anyone on board, people shouldn’t mess with someone else’s property or show a blatant disregard for societal rules or moral values. It might backfire.
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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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