The scared sitters, a new formation in the environmental struggle

The Extinction Rebellion (XR) has been recently flooding the streets of Warsaw in protest of fossil fuel consumption. They’re easy to recognise – groups of teenagers sit in the middle of roads in the city centre, blocking oncoming cars and forcing passersbys to notice their signs. “I’m afraid to grow up on a dying planet” is written in blood-red font on a piece of cardboard, held by the girl from the picture.

Blockades force raging drivers to exclaim their annoyance with air-thrown fists, whilst helpless policemen sink into the everlasting ennui as they watch over the frail children positioned on the road.

The teenagers however, are powerful in their anger and to a great extent, correct in their fears. Since 1970, carbon dioxide emissions have increased by 90 percent, now exceeding any tolerable levels. The report ‘Existential Climate-Related Security Risk’, produced by an Australian think tank; the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, argues that by 2050 ‘thirty-five percent of the global land area, and 55 percent of the global population, are subject to more than 20 days a year of lethal heat conditions, beyond the threshold of human survivability’.

The urgency of the issue is apparent, but how to cure the tortured planet is not clear. The scared sitters offer an interesting approach – “I’m afraid” seems to be their only motto. Hand-held signs and Instagram posts are overwhelmed with a profuse fright, exclaiming volatile uncertainty for humanity’s survival. But what are they beyond fear? And is this fear powerful enough to raise awareness?

Top-down fear, as Nicolo Machiavelli argued, is a proven machinery of building support for political action. Poland is the perfect example, with its nationalistic government endlessly installing fear in its constituents. Migrants, the LGBT community, the European Union, all seem to be the object of aversion of the PiS (Law and Justice) party supporters.

Bottom-up fear, however, generally does not manage to impact politics at all. Attempting to change the world through expressions of dismay is, thus, poorly rooted in what we know about political processes and widely inefficient. While it exhausts the helpless teenagers, it ironically desensitises the public.

Why then did the red-haired girl from the picture, sit bravely in the middle of a busy Warsaw street? If the XR’s aims are unrealistic and their means inefficient, what is there to sit for? While we cannot read her fiery-coloured mind, we can assume that her motivation is not political in essence, but rather ethical. Scared sitting gives calm. In the midst of the planet descending into the abyss, at least she did something. She was aware, she was fighting – she tried.

The efforts of the Extinction Rebellion might not be giving results in political terms, but perhaps they offer some sense of ethical security. To the bypassing driver, she might just be another troubled teenager. But to herself, she is an insurgent defending the future.