#Occupy Protests...
- Thread starter Pittsey
- Start date
well pittsey, it's time for u to understand - Fuck sky news. 
I already understood this. Although I came to realise this year, and was a little disappointed, that BBC News are also in the pocket. So since earlier this year I watch Russia Today when I am not using the internet for my current affairs.
What do they report though? Do they show the heavy handed NY Police kicking and punching peaceful protesters? Did they show the young unarmed (and half the size of the Coppers) girls getting pepper sprayed?
The Occupy Protests have a good heart.. but no brain. D: They really need a leader b/c right now they're making a lot of noise but are only loosely affiliated to each other by a similar name and a few similar goals.. I heard the OWS group is London is also protesting Scientology? That may not be accurate, but you know.. if it is.. wtf? lol And the group in Oakland is also protesting police brutality? There's too much going on. As much as they may despise Capitalism, they need to run this more like a business and less like a group of angry college kids to get anything done. I'd love to see them set up some solid ideas and try to get a new political party started. They certainly have enough support for the signatures they'd need and if each person protesting gave a dollar.. they could raise enough money as well. But, I'm worried they're going to run out of steam and significance without having accomplished anything because their goals are too vague and broad.
I was at the OWS Chicago protests for a few days and got a headache from how poorly organized it was.. entire groups of people arguing about who was there first, who's really for the movement.. etc.
I was at the OWS Chicago protests for a few days and got a headache from how poorly organized it was.. entire groups of people arguing about who was there first, who's really for the movement.. etc.
I am not aware of this at all.
And these protests won't achieve anything but get the message out that we have had enough of the corruption. Which in itself is enough. I don't think anyone is expecting a camp out to become a revolution. Unfortunately the media and the government has everyone convinced that the protest is the just the great unwashed moaning about nothing, and has convoluted the whole "movement". It's not a protest against the hard working, it's a protest against the large boys club which has enabled a small percentage to rob us blind, and then taken our money to pay themselves back. This isn't capitalism it is anti-capitalist.... It's what Saddam and Gaddafi did, and yet their behaviour was the justification we needed to invade.
While I won't be out there protesting, and I don't expect, nor really want, a revolution. Hopefully it will open a few ruling eyes to the fact that people are aware of what is happening.
We do need a new political party... But they will soon be corrupted. Look at all the freedom fighters turned tyrannical leaders. Power corrupts.
And these protests won't achieve anything but get the message out that we have had enough of the corruption. Which in itself is enough. I don't think anyone is expecting a camp out to become a revolution. Unfortunately the media and the government has everyone convinced that the protest is the just the great unwashed moaning about nothing, and has convoluted the whole "movement". It's not a protest against the hard working, it's a protest against the large boys club which has enabled a small percentage to rob us blind, and then taken our money to pay themselves back. This isn't capitalism it is anti-capitalist.... It's what Saddam and Gaddafi did, and yet their behaviour was the justification we needed to invade.
While I won't be out there protesting, and I don't expect, nor really want, a revolution. Hopefully it will open a few ruling eyes to the fact that people are aware of what is happening.
We do need a new political party... But they will soon be corrupted. Look at all the freedom fighters turned tyrannical leaders. Power corrupts.
The fact that OWS is a very loose, open source organization with a wide spectrum of goals only speaks to the problems that we're facing in this country. This movement works better without a leader because that way the public and the media can't focus on one person and try to discredit them. You can't stop a leaderless movement because you have no one to target. What I believe the OWS movement is doing at this point is creating awareness, rallying people, and starting a dialogue. For the first time in a long time, mainstream media is reporting on income inequality on its cover pages. It's hard to intellectually argue that occupying a bank branch and putting up a tent inside it serves a good purpose. But it's an act of exasperation. It gets media attention and gets people to start talking. We're going to need to see a lot more police brutality for lazy people like me to start taking action.
Do you foresee it getting to that point though? I think what most people who are even simply following the protests don't understand is that actually, most people still don't really give a fuck and it's very easy to ignore it or even be largely unaware of all of it. With that in regard, I don't see it changing anything really unless it gets a lot more widespread and/or more violent.
I mean, maybe I'm just too self-involved but that's how I see it right now.
I mean, maybe I'm just too self-involved but that's how I see it right now.
In my opinion, protests are only effective if they're able to inconvenience people. On Thursday night, Occupy Seattle shut down University bridge that helps connect the east side to Seattle during rush hour. A lot of people were pissed. Even those who sympathize with the cause were outraged that they had to spend an extra hour in traffic after work before they got home. The protest and the bridge occupation were about the need for job creation and not job cuts. The bridge was occupied to bring attention to the urgent need for infrastructure investment in this country. It can easily be argued that it's not the smartest way of going about things, but like I said, until people start feeling inconvenience and getting angry, nothing is going to get accomplished.
Also, I do believe that we'll see a lot more police brutality. November 9th at Cal-Berkeley was a clear example. Just because we live in an age of camera phones doesn't prevent cops from acting like complete fucking assholes. They pepper-sprayed an 84 year old lady in Seattle. Shit made national news.
I know the shit is making me angry. I wouldn't mind if the Occupy movement started arming itself. In the words of Bobby Seale, we need an equalizer. It needs to be shown that what the police has is an illusion of power and authority.
Also, I do believe that we'll see a lot more police brutality. November 9th at Cal-Berkeley was a clear example. Just because we live in an age of camera phones doesn't prevent cops from acting like complete fucking assholes. They pepper-sprayed an 84 year old lady in Seattle. Shit made national news.
I know the shit is making me angry. I wouldn't mind if the Occupy movement started arming itself. In the words of Bobby Seale, we need an equalizer. It needs to be shown that what the police has is an illusion of power and authority.
I definitely get the benefits of a leaderless movement. And yeah, they're definitely creating an awareness but I'd just love to see so much more come out of this while people are still kind of feeling the energy and together as a group. It would be so much easier to make the transition now, as opposed to later when people aren't really talking about this anymore.
They occupied a bridge here in Chicago as well and the police started arresting people. It concerns me that the police in Chicago (maybe other places?) aren't even being required to wear any type of identifiers on their uniforms. You get attacked by a cop on a rage streak and there's no way to trace that back to anyone. It's getting pretty violent. It's why I stopped going. Sad as it may be, I support the movement but I can't risk being arrested, even if it is for a good cause.
IDK I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
They occupied a bridge here in Chicago as well and the police started arresting people. It concerns me that the police in Chicago (maybe other places?) aren't even being required to wear any type of identifiers on their uniforms. You get attacked by a cop on a rage streak and there's no way to trace that back to anyone. It's getting pretty violent. It's why I stopped going. Sad as it may be, I support the movement but I can't risk being arrested, even if it is for a good cause.
IDK I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Conservative reporters who were writing critical articles about the protestors were handled "aggressively" by NYPD but helped by the protestors.
http://thinkprogress.org/special/20...y-caller-beaten-by-nypd-helped-by-protesters/
http://thinkprogress.org/special/20...y-caller-beaten-by-nypd-helped-by-protesters/
This era of protesters are wussies for the most part. Always thought that, and will continue to do so. They want change, but they're afraid to push to the extreme for it. The Occupy Protests is a good start, but it's not crossing that line of no return where they're invested into it wholeheartedly. The biggest (and most successful) social changes and revolutions arose from a gun-barrel, not by the pacifist word (don't point out Gandhi, extremely different situation). I know I'm really over-simplifying this and there are a lot more variables to it all, but I still come back to the importance of a strong leader. The likes of Lenin, Maximilien Robespierre and more had the smarts, charisma and leadership qualities to push movements to the top of their potential.
Meh, maybe I'm getting too emotionally involved with this... :\
/rant
Meh, maybe I'm getting too emotionally involved with this... :\
/rant
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