I can't wait to see how a bunch of angry white kids destroyed Capitalism just in time to go off to college, apply for fake disabaility claims or become old enough to access their trust funds.
This kind of fascism never happens in Cuba, North Korea and The Sudan because these places are like totally free and everybody's happy.
Smash The State
Before You Graduate
Then You Gotta Get A Job
And It's Too Late!!
This kind of fascism never happens in Cuba, North Korea and The Sudan because these places are like totally free and everybody's happy.
Haha
This kind of fascism never happens in Cuba, North Korea because they aren't fascist. Sudan maybe, the ethnic cleansing falls in those lines, but will people commenting on politics please be appropriate? The fascists worked hard to make the ideology infamous. Give credit where its due. Political repression is the trait of general authoritarianism. There are enough differences to justify a split between totalitarianism and authoritarianism, fascism and communism are very different ideologies.
I justify neither and do not claim communism a lesser evil, but jebus crust people if you're going to pretend to know something quit with the political malapropisms.
Cliche Guevara....
Um, you have no idea what you're talking about. I'm sorry that you have a Reagan-chip installed in your head, and have been deprived of any ability to think for yourself.
Most people who protest indignations are not angry, rich, white kids. And if they are, they, at least, know what's actually happening in our world, and use their capital to advance programs that help the most vulnerable around the globe. Hope you're enjoying the Starbucks coffee you're drinking -- my grandparents' former workers are now being paid pennies to gather worthless coffee for your enjoyment.
Uh, yeah. I don't remember seeing too many "rich white kids" there. There were auto workers, steel workers, school teachers...almost every field was represented (except for of rich white men). I saw all races there; black, white, asian.. Also, I don't remember "destroy capitalism" being on the agenda. Do a little research and read what it was really about, instead of posting BS on the internet.
-------------------------
"I'm verklempt, talk amongst yourselves..."
It's at least worth raising the issue of Stuff White People Like:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/
I am older than you. :-) Trust me, I am.
And after all the failures of angry rich white kids in the 70's to do much
but help themselves, I think Battle In Seattle as a shift in Hollywood merchandising is pretty cynical.
Hopefully the film will get a wide enough release than just 5 cities.
Stuff White People Like includes fey and feckless middle class heroes like John Cusack who is now a poster boy for Progressives.
Make no mistake, I advocate cultural change. But at the time in 1999 I saw the
Battle In Seattle as a way for political science students to 'get their stripes' and have a cred to talk about in their political science classroom.
Not much happened.
I have a favorite quote from a film called The Fourth World War:
"I did not know who my neighbors were until I meet them in the street."
If that is the message in Battle In Seattle then it is a good message.
When they came to "protest" the WTO and World Bank in DC right after these events, the vast majority were white kids who had no problem vandalizing public property and private businesses...hid behind masks and for the most part, had no idea what they were actually "protesting."
sharebut as you say...these people came after Seattle. Seattle was a bit different.
shareThere were no steel workers, no auto workers, or any other kind of worker, though there might, admittedly, have been a few school teachers or others parasites who habitually have their heads buried in the public trough. Participants were, in large part, rabble rousers from the lower echelons of various regional universities' more unchallenging departments, (ie, journalism, education, etc.)who'd have better spent their time in their schools' libraries in a probably futile attempt at salvaging their failing college careers.
By following the latter course, they'd at least have had a chance of some profit from their efforts, if only that of extending their obvious adolescence by continued leeching from their parents and government grants. That, of course, would be far too much to ask of a crowd who seems to enjoy sawing off the limb their worthless little butts are perched upon, that is, to annoy the very people who provide the wealth that supports the educational system which is the scene of their childish pranks.
Ah! Tis fine to be young and stupidly oblivious to which side of one's bread is spread with butter. The "Battle in Seattle" was nothing more than a pack of spoiled rotten vandals trying to reprise the glories of the sixties, all the while entertaining illusions of the grandeur of the piggish Che Guevara. It's okay, though. The hippies of those halcyon days also knew the best and easiest way to get laid was through phony, baloney 'activism'.
Disgusting, really.
IF and it's a big IF there were any of the groups mentioned at the WTO, they were probably inside the event not outside destroying cars and buildings. I was there, my girlfriend was trapped by these thugs. It was the COPS that got her away from those Che loving idiots. The mob was told on more than one occasion that if they didn't disperse there would be consequences. This mob was SO arrogant they didn't believe the police would actually have the audacity to use tear gas and rubber bullets, when they police had been announcing it for more than an hour... The anarchists got what they deserved.
share> There were no steel workers, no auto workers, or any other kind of worker
You're wrong - do you know you're just making s__t up?
> The "Battle in Seattle" was nothing more than a pack of spoiled rotten
> vandals trying to reprise the glories of the sixties
That's what it might have seemed like to you, but do you really think people involved with the "Battle in Seattle" were desirous of resurrecting something their *parents* did? nope.
There are and always will be protesters in a democracy. Don't like it? too bad. Don't understand it? wish people would accept the status quo unthinkingly? that's fine -- you're entitled to your opinion, but you sound a lot more frightened by life and cowed by the prospect of raising your voice if you think something is wrong than these people did. They're brave and patriotic in contrast to your fearful acquiescence.
As for getting laid...what's wrong with that? people who are passionately working on something together may indeed mix it up with other like-minded people -- where's the problem?
As it happens, I was an eye witness to the goings on in Seattle on that day. I took the time to talk to a few of these idiots, who were so wet behind the ears they positively dripped their ignorance. They had no idea what the WTO was or the objectives of its meeting.
I don't need some callow know it all telling me about protests. I was there when this sort of crap became all the rage for worthless punks who know nothing, have never done anything to justify their existence and whose "protests" are nothing more than a prolongation of their whimpers when they'd pooped their diapers.
It's probable that a few of these cruds will actually grow up someday and become worthwhile, contributing citizens. For the larger share, about the best that came be hoped for is that they are physically unable to reproduce themselves, thereby preventing their contamination of another generation with their psychosis.
It's comical to have some nitwit tell me that the virtue of bravery is attached to the destructive lunacy of the clowns in the WTO riot. I've faced down real bullets from real men, and hardly need lessons from some sniveling Che worshipper to tell me what I may fear. I don't fear a damned thing. Except, perhaps, being caught without Pepto to settle my nausea when witnessing the kind of useless brats these jerks' parents unleashed on society.
The idiocy displayed at the 'Battle in Seattle' accomplished nothing. The organization continued their agenda, entered into the plans, and went on about their business without feeling so much as a bump in the road from the rioters.
In my next incarnation, I hope to be the judge whom these lunatics appear before. They will spend the next several years fending off the amorous advances of their cellmates, which will be more profitable than anything they've done to date. Or, more likely, welcoming those advances.
[deleted]
The real question is, what makes you think you can read minds? I live and work in the Seattle area, in the Everett Boeing plant and have for quite a long time. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it would serve you better to address the substance of my message rather than make decisions upon my veracity based upon nothing more than your disagreement.
From the published facts, it is easy to make an assessment of the punks who participated in the vandalism Nullifidian would likely pretend was nothing more than an ordinary demonstration of free speech. No one needs to take my word for it, or Nullifidian's, but to simply do a Google search and read the descriptions of those participants to know they were nothing more than a pack of punk kids whose greatest need is a generous and enthusiastic application of leather to their worthless asses.
Maybe, Nullifidian, you'd like to supply a few names out of all those auto and steel workers who joined in the vandalism. Two or three? One?
None, right?
[deleted]
Of course the steel workers and auto workers were there, on behalf of the UNION that is run by radical leftist twits just like the air-head little yuppies at the rally.
The same unions that demanded ObamaCare for us peasants then went ape$hit when they were going to have to pay as well. I think they've managed to get a sweetheart deal by now.
Who cares what these union thugs rally for?
You can bet whatever the union is behind (100% liberal/leftist/democrat ideologies) America would be wise to go against it.
Tell us though, were the rapes handled 'internally' like they were at the 'OWS' rallies that were literally covered in feces and urine from one end to the other by these wonderfully intellectual leftists?
Um, the Everett Boeing plant isn't in the Seattle area. It's in the Everett area.
Do you still have a job?
Normal Is A Myth. foadadlh
http://www.preventchildabuse.org/help/reach_out.shtml
I think that you're the disgusting one.
You think you're better than all these people because - why? Are you more independent than others? Are you morally superior? Are you poor or a minority and thus eligible to speak your mind? I, personally, wasn't aware that there was of litmus test for the Constitution. It's a good thing I'm poor (probably because my mother wasted her college years on "activism" and "journalism") or else I'd have reason to be worried.
To be so dismissive of humanity and emotions in others takes a truly disgusting person. Here's something for you - NOT EVERYONE IS SO HIDEOUSLY SELF-INVOLVED AS YOU ARE. Occasionally, people will think of those less fortunate than themselves. And even more occasionally, people will feel so moved by the suffering they see in the world that they might actually want to put their lives on the line to feel like they're doing something. And I'll tell you something else - it's is exponentially better than sitting on your ass and crying, "The world sucks! And there's nothing I can do." What if our forefathers did that in the Revolutionary War? Or did were they all just spoiled vandals just trying to get laid, too? After all, they were taking advantage of English exports while whining about taxation and representation and all that. What lousy hippies they were! Just a bunch of opportunists looking for a handout, I'm sure.
Maybe you should have spent a few more years in our educational system, because you're obviously misinformed. Activism did not begin with the Vietnam War. Activism began with America, and that's why I love this country. We were founded on radicalism and freedom, and that is what we should always strive for. You can't expect people to just sit home because of their race, economic class, or occupation. We are Americans; when we feel the need to speak up, we will. The groups in Seattle were far more diverse than you make them out to be, like that even needed to be said. They were not all evil people living off the government. There were people who worked hard for what they got, there were people born into wealth. There were white and blue collars both. There were all races. There were people who believed in freedom.
Grow up.
You just equated teachers with parasites. Wow. Well that says a lot about your priorities.
BTW the vast majority of the most highly educated people in our society are on the left. Ponder that one.
nicely written, well thought out, lots of words, good punctuation and a seemingly simple premise with some examples.. hmmm very well done. only a couple problems.
1. its all bullsh ! t
2. written like its for a college professor
3. shallow, pointless, arrogant, and you get a sense of grandeur coming from the writer like there is not a possible thing you could say thats wrong. just like all the other college BS that people spin out for their teachers to glance at.
4. the educational system you talk about is probably college, in which case is largely paid by the students "worthless little butt". OR could be your talking about the American public school system which is a joke worldwide.
5. i live next door to a steel worker and he was there with me, along with almost all his coworkers. and so were all my friends in the auto industry, and a friend of mine who works at Nike downtown brought a bunch of his coworkers, and many, many, many more workers of America were there to protest
you are disgusting. REALLY.
30 something US Army Veteran who fricking sweats and bleeds for a living and I was there in Seattle when it happened. I'm not rich, and neither were my 18 other co-workers who made it there with me. We WERE ALL steel workers!
My god man, you are delusional. All three of your paragraphs are complete nonsense! You sir are the disgusting one. I suggest you go get yourself an education before you ramble on again with your drivel.
You really really don't know what your talking about. Fascism?
Jdylan-1, pretty much said what needs to be said.
There was all types of people there. And they were not trying to destroy capitalism.
What country are these posters from!!! lol
shareWhat is wrong with you people? Has the art of irony (too often today mislabled as "sarcasm" which it isn't) and satire been totally lost to an entire generation? Is only the obvious obvious to you?
Although I disagree with the poster's assertion, at least read his statement with some sort of a critical eye.
Now, as for the poster's statement, as a man with European, African, and Native American ancestory, and who is 54 years old, and who was born and raised and still lives in Seattle, minimizing what happened shows a lack of first hand knowledge and tolerance. I did not protest, but I was on the street. Some Anarchists got out of hand, yes, and the protest lacked cohesion, but for the first time since those horrible 70s when we "rich white kids" were peaking in our "Me first" selfishness setting up free clinics, marching for justice for Hispanics, women, and other minorities and vulnerable peoples, and doing other things that of course profited only me, me, me....finally for the first time people were standing up and protesting policies and actions that they believed harmed peoples other than themselves and harmed the environment.
Yes, I get your point poster...the Sudan, Cuba, and North Korea stamp out protest before it starts. Thank goodness we live where we can protest. But doesn't this fact invalidate your point to begin with?
No, it's not because they're happy,it's because it they dared do anything they would be killed. U.S. is not perfect but you can speak your mind without the fear of your government blowing you away like they would in cuba, north korea or the sudan.
share
Are you kidding me? The race that I was born as has nothing to do with what I believe in and what I fight for. And anarchists are not rich, if I don't live cheap or free then I can't get by.
I was at the protest myself, and while I am white, I am anything but rich. What a completely uninformed post!
shareDid you also express your outrage against Nike and MacDonalds while wearing Adidas and stopping for lunch at Burger King, like this faux "angry" mob of spoiled brats did?
shareI've always enjoyed this argument. Capitalism becomes the dominant ideology of the planet. It touches everything and global institutions coerce participation in every facet of society under one underlying economic philosophy. Companies expand vertically as well as horizontally, buying out all levels of production for every product in the world. The literal conquest of society by those who own and buy out those who cannot compete (though there is essentially nothing wrong with competition) consequently limits consumer choice on ethical grounds. Mass production out paces those of local producers (once more not entirely a bad thing), but market prices are manipulated through various forms of market saturation in order for dominant producers to limit the rise of new competitors.
Massive institutions force society into a single moral philosophy through "purchased agreement", and the price for those who wish to speak out against blatant injustices and abuses of individual rights, the very grounds in which this same philosophy of capitalism was founded and continues to be justified on, are entrapped in the label of hypocrite.
The game is called entrapment. The conveniences of society generated by all the brilliance of humanity musn't be participated by those who seek to criticize its flaws. If you are poor, you are condemned to live with the burden that, as Sartre wrote in his famous preface to The Wretched of the Earth, "We were men at his expense". The relative poor who can't afford anything else but to shop at Wal-Mart, who have no time or money to go beyond the conveniences provided by the society of the G8 have to put up and tuck away the fact that they would never allow their children or their friends to work in slave conditions. To work where the only differentiation between modern labour and slavery is the marginal payment that often keeps its workers living hand to mouth.
I never knew a burger was such a sin, so much that it cost one's freedom of speech and association. I never knew that feather boas and a well-knit blouse could take an intelligent girl and force her to refrain from admitting she agrees with everything in Das Kapital. I'm not a Marxist, or a communist, or an anarchist. Quite frankly I'm a bigger fan of Foucault, Said, Nietzsche and Max Stirner. I'm just well read with Marx. There is nothing in Marxist literature that would connote that those who disagree and awaken in class consciousness must reject modern society. Quite literally Marx tells people to embrace it, so much that they'd want to take the means of production for themselves so they won't have to settle for the enforced suffering of others to fulfill their need to not have to step barefoot on hot summer asphalt. The only question that the situation of buying actually poses is, "Is capitalism feeding those who will eventually change it, selling the rope in which it will hang itself with, or if in buying are we really only perpetuating the system?"
I'll say this from a rational-egoist's stand point: if hypocrisy and moral imperfection is the price I must pay to exist in this world where conveniences will allow me to excel in greater faculties because I no longer spend 12 hours a day providing myself with my necessities, so be it. In order to study what I know there isn't a book that hasn't cut down a forest, or a even stove or computer made by a manufacturer with a research and development department in military technology (And you'd think it absurd to accuse me of being a warmonger simply because I own a General Electric refrigerator). They my purchases will never change the fact that I disagree with the unethical practices of many who own the world who dabble in theft and murder, but are never called on it simply because they can afford to rename it. I'll commit the sin of hypocrisy this argument shortsightedly presents. But in the end, that burger will give someone the extra energy to pass their law exams and to participate in human rights groups. They will feed doctors who will go out and save the wretched poor from diseases. Go ahead and call all of those souls hypocrites. It's a lot better than eating the burger and going "Ah well...someone's gotta lose out."
Moral purity, perfect adherence to beliefs, is impractical and teaches no one how to live outside of a dream world where books rationally provide guidelines to a life that is never 100% in our control. Fear of losing moral purity and absolute avoidance of hypocrisy is a product of what Louis Althusser called "The ideological state apparatus". We must agree and never move against actions we blatantly disagree with out of fear that we will be impure in mind and beliefs. Here's what life is: We're all dirty. We're all hypocrites. All of us would never allow the treatment of a child labourer to happen to our own. The rioter running around in shoes made in Indonesia, no matter how cheap and unpopular they are, is a hypocrite. The one a step greater to them is the one who would also never let their own be treated the way others continue to be in the Free Market world, but do absolutely nothing because they ironically fear being called hypocrites. They may actually not be hypocrites. They may simply not even believe in the rights of others in a true sense. They are liars and coward sheep who'll only toe the popular sound of "Freedom! Rights for all!" because that is the mode in which the world will accept them.
As far as this argument's logic is concerned, the ground rules for existing in a capitalist world go like this: Don't say anything bad against it. If you use anything produced then agree that all is well and right.
Cliche Guevara....
It's because fascism doesn't exist here as it does in China, Cuba, etc. that people (yes, even rich white kids are entitled to voice their opinions) are able to protest.
Have you been to Cuba? I have. Most people, I believe, don't like it there and would love a touch more freedom. The poverty there was pretty bleak. I saw several guys who'd setup tables and were servicing disposable lighters for a living -- replacing the flint, replacing striker wheels and so on. I suspect that they pulled in $5 a day. On a good day.
And what's wrong with $5 a day in a society where you don't need to buy much. It's the greed and ideal of more for 'Me' that pushes people to be more like the West.
shareReally? Have you tried supporting your entire family on $5 a day lately? Can you make rent and buy enough food that your kids don't starve? Can you afford electricity and gas? Do you own a car? None of these are bad things so don't go there. I'm not criticizing you for being able to have those things. I'm saying you've got some balls sitting there typing on your computer with the high speed internet connection and saying it's not a problem to make only $5 a day.
shareI don't think you could have missed the point any worse even if you tried.And what's wrong with $5 a day in a society where you don't need to buy much.Really? Have you tried supporting your entire family on $5 a day lately? Can you make rent and buy enough food that your kids don't starve? Can you afford electricity and gas? Do you own a car?
PFFFT.....Who are YOU to say what NEEDS to be bought..and that they don't need to buy much??! How can u even say that Cuba is a society where u don't need to buy much LMFAO??!
It seems that ur assuming that $5 on their economic scale is that same as $100 on ours.
Besides, that was even $5 ON A GOOD DAY according to toe2toe6.