About ten activists from Scientist Rebellion Global, Growth Kills and Extinction Rebellion take action in Brussels’ Nieuwstraat on Saturday afternoon. They try to enter into dialogue with Saturday shoppers and encourage them to question the consumer society that brought them there.
Earlier this week there were already several other actions in Brussels.
“This is ultimately another way for us to reach the public,” says campaigner Manua. “The previous actions this week were mainly aimed at politicians, to wake them up, but we do not always want to take frontal actions, with civil disobedience, but also listen to the people who do not participate in our actions, ask what concerns them, and explain to them what we have learned.
Lifestyle
“We are in a place full of advertising that encourages overconsumption, and we want to start the discussion here,” Manua continues. “Is working 40 hours a week to consume and constantly accumulating low-quality goods that endanger our future really the lifestyle we want? What if we worked less to produce less and consume less, and devoted our free time to our passions and to rebuilding the social fabric destroyed by centuries of capitalism and decades of neoliberal policies?”