Sunday, November 20, 2011

Wonking out on #Occupy

I thought this diavlog between David Roberts and Julian Sanchez touched on a lot of the thoughts I've had floating around in my mind the past month or two. More precisely, David and Julian, in their disagreements, seem to speak to the contradicting reactions I have been having.

If you're thoroughly fired up by the Occupy movement, this conversation probably won't appeal to you. If you're sympathetic to the emotion but hesitant or skeptical about other aspects, it may. They do not really come to any conclusion, but I think they do a good job of articulating a number of important points.

(alt. video link)

6 comments:

M. Bouffant said...

As long as the sheep continue to consume & let their bosses shove them around, a few thousand people who can easily be condemned as "hippies" & whose abuse by the police will be approved of by "real, hardworking" Americans will make little or no actual difference, no matter how much I or anyone else wish it were otherwise.

bjkeefe said...

I take your point, and did when I saw that post of yours the first time, but I don't think the situation is that hopeless. Most revolutions, literal or metaphorical, are carried out by a small core, who are surrounded by concentric rings of people who, moving outward from the center (1) strongly support, (2) sympathize with, (3) will tolerate/don't dislike.

The key is building up those outer two, especially. I'm not sure how to do it (or I'd already be implementing it), but it does seem to me that the initial dirty smelly hippies have made some significant first steps.

TC said...

I think it's a stretch to call the protestors "hippies.' We haven't had any genuine hippies around for years now. Those students who got pepper sprayed at Univ. of Calif at Davis the other day didn't look like hippies to me. They looked like pretty standard students of the current day. They also looked well-bathed and well-fed to me. I think Newt was trying to trigger feelings of the old pro-Vietnam War segment of the Repube base, by trying to associate them with the anti-war crowd of 50 years ago. If those students are hippies, then I guess 99% of Americans are hippies also. Newt is fighting a battle of half a century ago. I know for a fact that some of those 99 percenters bathe every day and you can't really go get a job while you're a student, even if there were jobs needing filling.

bjkeefe said...

If those students are hippies, then I guess 99% of Americans are hippies also.

THERE'S the bumper sticker we need.

I was, of course, being entirely tongue in cheek by referring to "the initial dirty smelly hippies."

TC said...

From dictionary.com:

hip·pie   [hip-ee] Show IPA
noun
a person, especially of the late 1960s, who rejected established institutions and values and sought spontaneity, direct personal relations expressing love, and expanded consciousness, often expressed externally in the wearing of casual, folksy clothing and of beads, headbands, used garments, etc.

If you are demanding lower tuition so you can graduate from the institution, you're hardly rejecting the institution, and I didn't see anyone wearing folksy clothing or beads

bjkeefe said...

Again, I use the term ironically, in light of the wingnut tendency to apply the label to anyone who doesn't become moist or tumescent at the site of police brutality.

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