OccupyBoston speaks

Video of the week! (4.00 / 1)

Thank you so much for posting this!

I almost never watch a video that long on the internet. I was glued. It made my day.

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by: DianeR @ Tue Oct 04, 2011 at 14:44:01 PM CDT

This is so great (0.00 / 0)

Finally!!

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by: Chaz Proulx @ Tue Oct 04, 2011 at 18:09:41 PM CDT

Well, there's a lot of autocrats who are relieved, too. (0.00 / 0)

They've been worrying since 1968 and for a while there, it seemed all their preparations, that whole "law and order" and "war on terror" agenda was for naught.  Now, at last, the torch bearers and forks are appearing in the streets.  Except the torches have turned into LEDs and the forks are being used to take the olives off the pizza.

The starving poor are really too weak to carry pitchforks (not that they have access to any kinds of tools) and abused people can't fight for themselves, anyway, 'cause that just causes more hurt. Somebody has to stand up to the bullies and, under our system, if the agents we appoint don't do it, we the people have to do it ourselves.  We have the authority and, if authority stands silent in the face of abuse, it becomes complicit.
It would have been nice if our agents of government had done the job and stopped the deprivators, instead of letting them hide under cover of law.  But, they didn't.  So, we have to.

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by: hannah @ Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:44:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's curious, though not really, (0.00 / 0)

why the Tea Party protests were legitimized by MSM and sitting Congress critters, with most of those exhorting the protesters on.  Contrast that with the kettling of the Occupy dissenters, and the other heavy-handed tactics that the establishment is using to head this movement off.

A few things stand out to me, and I'm interested in other thoughts.  First, this comparison does amplify the idea that the Tea Party was a fabricated, corporate-sponsored, faux movement.  Looking at the Tea Party through this window provides a clear and frightening view of public opinion manipulation at a highly sophisticated level.

Another thing that immediately strikes me is that the tactics being employed by the establishment almost never work.  Stifling dissent, particularly larger movements, works to radicalize the participants and draw more sympathizers.  The civil rights movement became inflamed and much more urgent when the protesters baited the establishment into bringing out the dogs and water cannons (note that I'm not comparing movements, only failed tactics.)  Heavy-handed tactics, so the SOP goes, work best when the MSM covers the events because it is believed that this discourages future participants.  

We have a long way to go in this playbook.  There will be demonizing of the organizers, agent provocateurs, and brutality (we've seen some already).  If the movement has legs, and after these tactics fail, how effective will the establishment co-opting tactics be?    

In the immediate aftermath of Since the start of the financial crisis, the Fed/Treasury lent, spent, or guaranteed $28 $29 trillion to save the banking system.

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by: StraffordDem @ Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 09:38:51 AM CDT

I used to think the fear-mongers were generating fear to exercise (0.00 / 0)

control. Then I realized that the fear-mongers are fearful. It's endemic. They're sure somebody or something is out to get them and have convinced themselves that the best defense is a good offense.  So, they're offensive.
The problem is that most people, who aren't fearful, tend to be generous and easy-going and don't take offense. So, the fearful have to ramp up their offense to make a point. Until they get to the point where the consensus is that "enough is enough." Somebody has to tell them 'no.'

Why are these people, who are apparently everywhere, fearful? Since it doesn't seem to be culturally related, I'm thinking it's a perception problem or a mental processing problem. They perceive the world wrongly in the sense that their reactions to their environment, because they have mis-perceived, are inappropriate and they suffer because of it.

Imagine a person looking out the window, seeing the sun shine and deciding it must be warm outside in January in New Hampshire. If that person goes outside bare-chested, he's in for a shock. We have a grandson who'd do that, if we let him. He says he's never cold, but he turns up the thermostat in his room to 80 degrees because, "the room gets cold at night." Clearly, his temperature sensors are off. My mother was always cold until I started insisting that she put on more layers of clothing. But eventually I realized her sensors weren't accurate. Her feeling cold had no relationship to the environment. Am I suggesting it's genetic? No. Just that it's endemic. It may just be a lack of self-awareness--the opposite of a limb that's been amputated hurting.
Bottom line -- everybody's variable.

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by: hannah @ Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 02:36:15 AM CDT

[ Parent ]