Antonio wrote:
There is intrinsic moral value in our activities providing help to others in our society. That has little to do with the social value as perceived by the destructive persons in the OP.
Obviously what anybody can and should do to provide value to society is work in some fashion either physical, intellectual or both and with that earn a solid paid reward in exchange, for self-evidently doing something useful. Business aviation is work, not play, and its the fraction of GA activity that seems to attract wackos like these in Europe.
A perpetual-student friend in central Italy (a place that by government policy breeds them) was once going on endlessly to me about companies needing to satisfy their “social obligations”… while as you can probably imagine I contemplated how to move the conversation on to something interesting instead. What worked was asking him if would help society if companies voluntarily went out of business and if their employees started doing what he did instead (meaning little to nothing productive at the time, and still now) 
Antonio wrote:
Like it or not, in a democratic place like the USA but even more so in Europe, the perceived value of an activity has a big impact on its long-term viability, so we should really care about it if we care about GA. Unlike the USA, in Europe we have done too little to help our society understand and appreciate the value of GA. I for one would like to change that.
Absolutely. As per another recent thread democracy is a participation sport, it’s not just about voting, and I think pilots organizing and reaching into their pockets to proactively present their values and their legitimate interests is the way its done. The US AOPA is a very well funded by its members with paid professional employees who work to get time on the calendars of their membership’s congressional elected representatives – those who are paid by the taxpayer to listen and make laws based on what they learn. Do you think people with values in opposition to GA aren’t doing that in Europe, and are their interests the only ones that count?
Jet vandalised in Ibiza 14th July 2023
I just read this news article, sorry it’s only in Spanish.
How is this acceptable? How are these people framed by the media as activists and not criminals? How can they possibly think this is helpful to their cause, as honorable as it may or may not be?
Sorry for the rant-post…fuming right now.
This is the bad state of society in these days. People think that everything is allowed if they believe it is the right thing.
Unless a government take appropiate actions when this happen, things will only get worse.
Only after seeing that picture I got a question: what is worse, the paint or the idiot walking on the wing?
Well, as all this is allegedly done “to save the planet”, instead of an “interview” at the police station those mischieving idiots get a hearing with the Prime Minister…
There is a good article on this topic on the AOPA Germany side: (in German, but Google makes a good job translating it if you so wish)
https://aopa.de/2023/06/07/es-geht-um-den-rechtsstaat/
RikB wrote:
This is the bad state of society in these days. People think that everything is allowed if they believe it is the right thing.Exactly this. You speak right out of my heart. Many people seem not to understand the “freedom of speech”. We might lose our constitutional state, if such behavior remains tolerated.
Alex wrote:
How is this acceptable?
Has anyone anywhere said that this is “acceptable”? What is acceptable even supposed to mean in this context. We had some of these activists here in Norway a year or two back. They sat down in the middle of the road, stopped all traffic indiscriminately. This also included stopping ambulances, which is a serious offence. They got the normal punishment for their actions, and we have never seen them since
I got nothing against activist (in principle), as long as they are punished for their actions. That’s what it means to be an activist. IMO activists are indeed “acceptable” (in principle, if it were my plane I’m sure I would change my mind in that particular case but still).
I remember from the 80s when we had activists doing all kinds of, often very dangerous and costly, stunts regarding poisonous waste. They all got punished for it, again and again, but didn’t give up like those brainwashed roadblockers. In hindsight, today, that poisonous waste is a criminal offense. The activists were right after all. That is what most of this stuff is all about. People with money and power believing they have the “right” to do exactly as they want (including destroying the planet), for the sole purpose of making more money and grabbing more power. Sometimes it’s backed up by governments, laws and regulations. That doesn’t make it more “right”.
But, vandalizing private aircraft? If it were Ryanair aircraft they vandalized it would make some sense. I think that’s the problem here, the lack of connection between the activism and the message. It becomes hard to differentiate. Is it activism or just stupid attention seeking by brainwashed idiots?
A couple of pics taken by a friend of mine down there
You can see these people are the product of the finest education system their parents could pay for 
I do wonder if activism is the final nail in the coffin of democracy.
I’m all with LeSving here!
LeSving wrote:
Has anyone anywhere said that this is “acceptable”?
Since Berlin, Sylt, blocking EDDL and EDDH recently…. my personal impression is that these people are framed as activists by media, when they’re nothing less but criminals. In Sylt, they even had all the time in the world to spray the jet, become aware of their “mistake”, take off the engine covers and ruin the engines, all while the police had all the time in the world to stop them.
All I see is a dumb leftist agenda disguised as environmental concern. Yes, they’re generating awareness, but you could do this as well without destroying private property. Be it a jet, a painting in a museum or vandalising a shop window.
Of course they won’t target Ryanair or some other airline. This wouldn’t play into the narrative.
