Spanish climate activists sprayed red paint across a superyacht owned by billionaire Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie in Barcelona on Friday, the second time the yacht has been the target of protests in the past two months.

    • peopleproblems
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      451 year ago

      I have an idea. Destroying it probably just gets written off from insurance.

      Wash the boat with undiluted pine sol.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        Literally no damage done to the boat will ever actually financially harm the bitchionaire. That’s not the goal of protest - though it’s certainly a bonus when it’s achievable.

      • @zuu
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        221 year ago

        So it slips out of the water. Smart.

        • peopleproblems
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          141 year ago

          Undiluted pine sol is the smell of pine, but it is incredibly strong, and takes forever to get rid of.

          Back on reddit there was a story about some soldiers that resorted to it to “speed clean” the smell of their training facility. It’s far more effective in an enclosed space.

      • Franzia
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        41 year ago

        They’ll sue for emotional damage or some rich person bullshit idk

      • @Wakmrow
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        31 year ago

        You’re right they shouldn’t set fire to the boat

  • queermunist she/her
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    1341 year ago

    Everyone’s complaining that this doesn’t do anything and is counter productive, but you know what this looks like to me?

    Propaganda of the deed. Someone will look at this and think “I know better things to spray her superyacht with than paint…”

    • @DoctorTYVM
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      221 year ago

      Make sure it’s something that will take her servants an extra hard time to clean

      • @Sterile_Technique
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        401 year ago

        The bottom of the ocean would be pretty hard to clean.

        • @[email protected]
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          151 year ago

          They should put the billionaire on the bottom of the ocean, not the boat. The boat might be useful for something.

          • @another_lemming
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            91 year ago

            Billionaire’s yacht? Hardly. But it may be scrapped. Expensive furniture and tech sold, high quality engine and parts repurposed.

        • @DoctorTYVM
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          71 year ago

          Yeah, then her servants would have to start filing paperwork and have another yacht pulled out of storage while they design the new one.

          • @Sterile_Technique
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            51 year ago

            Not if the bottom-of-the-ocean thing happens when the oligarch in question is on board.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          ADMIRALTY ORDERS

          To Cpt. S. Technique

          ‘Intercept Walmart billionaire’s megayacht KAOS en route to extinction, INTENT ON CARRYING US ALL TO THOSE WATERS…Sink, Burn, or take her a Prize’

      • @andrewta
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        -161 year ago

        As an added bonus lots of chemicals and crap will be put into the environment.

        Yup this sounds productive to vandalize someone’s boat.

        • @flow_off_a_cliff
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          21 year ago

          Tell us you didn’t read the article without saying that. Plus even if they had used normal paint, that’s literally nothing compared to what this yacht does on a regular basis.

  • @markr
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    991 year ago

    Good. Symbolic protests are a way to surface issues suppressed by the dominant ideology. If it gets any media coverage it is a success.

  • @Macaque
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    891 year ago

    All billionaires are ethically in the wrong.

    • @[email protected]
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      -291 year ago

      Not really but this one in particular is the Michael Jordan of drunk driving and I believe got away with manslaughter.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        Yes, really. There are no ethically sound reasons for a person to have all this money when there is so much inequality. Moreover, there is no ethical ways to accumulate all this money. If you are billionaire either you or your daddy had to do a lot of explicitly unethical shit, and in order to retain it, you have to do unethical shit, actively, right now.

        • @Illuminostro
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          121 year ago

          Capitalism, no matter how benign, and well intended, is literally exploiting labor from those who are lesss fortunate. And thanks to that malignant leprechaun Milton Friedman, every MBA since thinks that they’re legally bound to maximize dividends for investors instead of compensating the people who do the actual production. It’s obscene, sociopathic, and literally evil. But if Jeebus didn’t want them to rich, they wouldn’t be, right?

    • @elscallr
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      271 year ago

      “Fear”

      You really think they give a shit? About something like this? They just pay someone $200 to clean the yacht. Sink it and they just buy a new one. This isn’t anything.

      • GladiusB
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        251 year ago

        Lol you haven’t seen many rich people have you? This is definitely something they fear.

        • @[email protected]
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          31 year ago

          Then they have a weird way of showing it. They’re doing an awful lot of hoarding and exploitation for somebody within pitchfork distance.

          I honestly hope you are correct.

          • @kmkz_ninja
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            51 year ago

            The rich know there will always be people who will tell you you’re protesting wrong.

        • @mind
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          deleted by creator

            • @mind
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              91 year ago

              deleted by creator

          • @[email protected]
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            -21 year ago

            Ok how many unions or political organizations are you directly involved in? If the answer isn’t something above bare minimum then I’m still firmly on team fuck superyachts.

        • @afraid_of_zombies
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          51 year ago

          I stopped shopping at Walmart and started shopping on Amazon. By switching what billionaires I support I am going my part.

          • @KIM_JONG
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            21 year ago

            Sad thing is, Amazons profit margins on their shopping shit is razor thin. It’s AWS that is making bank, and that’s like half of the servers on the internet.

  • Phoenixz
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    631 year ago

    Governments should stop billionaires. Tax them 100% income tax after a certain amount of income, tax them 50%% of their networth yearly after a certain amount of value.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        I don’t think there ever was a time where not the richest were in power. From warlords to kings and now politicians in the pockets of CEO’s or shareholders by extension, people in power amass riches and with it more power.

      • Karyoplasma
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        51 year ago

        Your post makes it sound like it was any different in the past. I certainly don’t remember that.

  • @[email protected]
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    601 year ago

    100% agreed, billionaires should not exist. It’s absolutely disgusting that they do. They’ll take and take and take and take some more. If you haven’t seen it yet, please check out this site visualizing Jeff Bezos’ wealth. These people believe that they owe nothing to a society that gave them the tools, infra, security, and workforce for their companies to succeed. The level of excess is really unfathomable, and this chart is like Power of Ten for helping you understand the difference in a few zeros.

    https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/

  • @jerome
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    591 year ago

    it’s a great start.

  • @[email protected]
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    521 year ago

    How dare these activists do anything other than overthrowing the government and instituting a socialist utopia. I just can’t support this.

  • @tinkeringidiot
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    491 year ago

    More mandatory overtime for her staff. She’ll never know it happened unless one of her social media managers sees it on Twitter and mentions it to her.

    • Justagamer
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      171 year ago

      And then they buy more red spray paint on Amazon because Walmart was out .

      Side note, didn’t the movie company make bank from people buying those V for Vendetta masks to protest against corporations or something? Vague memory of it

      • @tinkeringidiot
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        21 year ago

        Yeah, between Anonymous and Occupy Wall Street those masks were very profitable for the people being protested against.

        I’m sure their brief and ultimately pointless unpopularity was well compensated for by those extra revenues.

    • @Mamertine
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      -81 year ago

      That’s what I don’t get.

      The owner of the yacht doesn’t give a shit. It’s beneath them.

      Those activists just made a headache for the working class crew who run the yacht.

      Good work sticking it to the man’s working class employees! /S

      • @flow_off_a_cliff
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        361 year ago

        They got their message on international news, and they did it targeting the super wealthy instead of blocking traffic or otherwise hindering innocent people. Frankly I don’t care if the crew has a ‘headache’ being paid to clean up some biodegradable paint, they’re just being paid for one task instead of another. What actual harm of any kind has this done? The benefit might be small but it’s nonzero unlike what most of us are doing.

        • BeautifulMind ♾️
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          61 year ago

          they did it targeting the super wealthy instead of blocking traffic or otherwise hindering innocent people

          Reminds me that the point of protest is to be disruptive. Oh, you’re blocked on your way to do your job? Your job is to do your job, not to fight other workers on behalf of your employer

          I don’t get the whole ‘protest should not ever inconvenience anyone, ever’ line of thinking- if I’m travelling for work and I get stuck in traffic behind a protest, I bill my time and that’s how I pass the disruption signal along to where it needs to land

      • @[email protected]
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        81 year ago

        They’re creating jobs by fucking up the yacht aren’t they?

        Or is it only billionaires that “create jobs” when they fuck up the entire world?

      • @[email protected]
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        31 year ago

        Because targeted vandalism is easier and more satisfying to animalistic urges than the long work of organizing political backing, running for office, enacting societal change

  • Nepenthe
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    241 year ago

    A spokesperson for Marina Port Vell said that the boat had not been damaged in Friday’s action. “After a quick action on behalf of the security team, the incident has been corrected and the boat is now in a perfect state,” the spokesperson told CNN.

    Cannot stress enough that a new paint job is not the kind of action that’s going to fix jack shit. More than likely, it’s barely an annoyance. Few people on the planet have not heard the message already. If you don’t want them joyriding a massive yacht everywhere, remove the yacht.

    • @[email protected]
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      631 year ago

      So, while you’re entirely correct, someone on the team of “let’s harass the inconceivably wealthy” would probably still appreciate this action because it’s better than nothing.

      It’s also possible they’re trying to get the media to cover it more, rather than cause actual property damage

      • Nepenthe
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        1 year ago

        Uh. Lemme check. Yes. We’re well past the “please stop killing me, it’s really mean :(” stage. They know. They are choosing to jetset anyway.

        If the disgustingly rich haven’t shifted their focus by now, they’ve basically made their stance known already and stuff like this strikes me as just toying around. It makes activists feel like they accomplished something, and then it’s rectified quite literally the same day and everyone continues about their business.

        Wanna join in or would your parents worry?

        • HeartyBeast
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          31 year ago

          So what have you done yourself? Stolen any boats?

          It’s too easy to sit and criticise other peoples protests from the comforting you gaming chair.

        • @Touching_Grass
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          1 year ago

          Its self masturbatory. It makes themselves feel like they did something but grosses out most other people. These types of activist whose strategy is to do something shocking just to get press are always counter productive. As if they can’t reason how they’re speaking to the choir

            • @[email protected]
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              41 year ago

              Fuck, if a climate protest stopped me from getting to work on time, I’d buy breakfast for the protesters.

              • @njordomir
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                11 year ago

                Your local vegan restaurant would probably love this. No joke.

            • @Touching_Grass
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              -41 year ago

              Not just my opinion. You would know what the majority and growing opinion on it is. Which is why most of those protest are backed by fossil industries. They stopped trying to fight these groups and started funding the most annoying of them.

    • LinkOpensChest.wav
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      161 year ago

      And end up like Will Van Spronsen, who was called a terrorist and demonized by almost everyone for doing good. (Reddit would suspend your account just for mentioning him.)

      The super wealthy’s propaganda tools are more powerful than ours because they control the media, and there aren’t as many people who are awake to what’s happening as you might think. I’m all for direct action like what you describe, but we still need the red paint to make people aware of what’s going on. And I promise, it does do something. What do the unlovable rich want that they can’t buy? Love and respect. (Look at fucking Elon, that pathetic insect.)

      I recently read a sci-fi book called “Station Six” by an anarchist author who goes by S.J. Klapecki. Let me quote one of the characters:

      He wants to live like good King Arthur, loved and cherished and appreciated by his serfs. I like throwing a wrench into that. I think it’s important. And, who knows, maybe the next set of malcontents will learn something from us. I doubt it, but there’s my optimism for ya.

      You and I look at the activists pictured and think, “What was the point,” but the majority of people are still learning their ABCs of why this whole system is fucked. Sure, I’d have preferred the ship got destroyed completely, but these folks still did a brave act that has hit that sweet spot where it will get media attention without being entirely buried like a Will Van Spronsen (who, for the record, is a god damn hero and I’m not disparaging him at all).

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        There’s quite a difference between destroying a yatch and trying to blow up a building with people in it…

        • LinkOpensChest.wav
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          1 year ago

          Not sure whose disinformation campaign you’ve been hearing, but he set fire to unoccupied buses, not “trying to blow up a building with people in it”

          But I’m sure the fascists are happy someone from sh.itjust.works came along to defend them. What a shocker.

          Edit: What I should have said is “exhibit A” – This is why we still need the red paint, so thank you for illustrating my point

    • @[email protected]
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      131 year ago

      And yet, here we are talking about it. Sometimes keeping the conversation going is in itself a win.

  • @DarthBueller
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    231 year ago

    It would be super easy to get away with sinking known billionaire yachts worldwide if you do it right.

      • peopleproblems
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        -41 year ago

        Warm? Nah they’ve been doing it for fun. Just give them a lot of points for this one.

    • @nomecks
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      61 year ago

      ITT: People who don’t think $100m+ yachts have countermeasures for attacks like this.

      • @[email protected]
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        111 year ago

        Yeah, one of the big countermeasures being the people who live on board, as in, the crew. I hope they can sleep at night knowing they killed a working class schmuck. Fire, or these more outlandish ideas of explosives and scuba shit, will almost certainly get the crew members if it’s enough to actually sink a yacht like this.

        • @andrewta
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          71 year ago

          Hey look part of the crew died. Part has serious ptsd. And all that are left alive just lost their jobs. Meanwhile the billionaire has the boat insured so he gets his money back.

      • icedterminal
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        1 year ago

        Super yachts are built similar to cruise liners. Compartmentalised below the water line. You breach one, it gets detected and will seal it off. They are obviously gonna be connected to several alert systems and will notify the owner or whomever is in charge of maintenance. If anyone does manage to damage the hull, gonna have to do it more than once.

    • LordXenu
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      51 year ago

      Scuba certified activists. Sabotage the hull or fuck up the prop.

    • Nora
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      31 year ago

      How do you sink a boat that big? Get a drill that can work under water? Explosives are too hard to make. Maybe burn it with a Molotov?

      • @[email protected]
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        For a boat that big, you can get into the idea of an economic loss. For example, flooding the engine room for long enough can ruin the engines, and make the cost and time of repair high enough that you can practically rebuy the boat with the price.

        Obviously it is insured, but insurance goes up when you’re the target of economic terror attacks (To think I live in world where I get to type that sentence). Also there would be the wait for a new vessel. And maybe… just maybe, the Waltons might think, “hey, maybe some people are upset we have a $110 million boat while our employees are on food stamps.”

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          I suppose if your goal is mere spite, making it no longer an enjoyable benefit for her to have a personal yacht would be a win.

      • @DarthBueller
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        1 year ago

        Underwater cutting torch. Edit: now I’m bullshitting. No idea whether somebody would get sucked into the hole or whether there are underwater cutting rigs that don’t rely on surface support.

        • Nora
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          41 year ago

          Yeah you wouldn’t even have to make a circle, just hold it there for a little bit.

          Maybe make a few in different places.

        • @NatakuNox
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          31 year ago

          I’d go with a thermite fire started by a drone. Much easier to do and harder to stop. Enough thermite will burn all the way through the boat, burning it and sinking it all at once.

            • @NatakuNox
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              11 year ago

              It wouldn’t work for Ukraine because their Drones are being shot at. For a super yacht sitting on a private marina? Totally would work. A couple pounds of thermite and a flair that can be remotely ignited. Land it on the deck press the button, it’ll burn to the haul before they even get the hoses.

              • @DarthBueller
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                11 year ago

                Hmmm. I guess for this mental exercise i was thinking of the way to do it that would def land your ass in jail if caught but would avoid bonus penalty charges for things that spectacularly go kaboom for political reasons.

      • @EmpathicVagrant
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        21 year ago

        Obviously the classics are still known for a reason. Everyone is saying fire but I think if we put our heads together we could summon the kraken.