On October 14th, a video went viral of a protester throwing soup at a Van Gogh painting claiming that to people, that painting was worth more than our planet. She was a part of a group of protesters called “Just Stop Oil”, she is also one of the innumerable examples of how hypocrisy is displayed in America.

On a daily basis, protests fill America’s streets against pollution, yet the United States is the world’s biggest polluter after China. How hypocritical can America’s citizens get? Last year, 67 million tons of American pollution inhabited the atmosphere, this does not include the oceans, rainforests, and other environments of our planet.

89% of Amazon’s petrol comes from Ecuador. Even more shocking is the fact that California is responsible for taking 50% of the Amazon’s oil. That’s only one state out of the 50 that is destroying the world’s biggest producer of oxygen.

As for the “Just Stop Oil” protest, a 21-year-old named Phoebe Plummer in the video is seen throwing tomato soup at a priceless work of art and super gluing her hands to the wall, so security won’t take her. She protests that something like a painting is worth more than our planet and its health. Yet most hair dyes -which probably includes the one she used to dye her hair pink- are made from extracts of petroleum. On top of that, the glue she uses is made from products extracted from oil. 

It is insane how uninformed our society is, how can this girl protest against something -like oil- and not be aware that nearly everything she is wearing from her shoes to her jeans to her hair dye is derived from oil? We need America -and especially the younger generations of America- to be better informed. Because in the end, throwing tomato soup at a multi-million-dollar painting won’t solve the world’s problems.