The expression is that “A picture is worth a thousand words”.
This one is the ultimate intellectual expression of the American Left. In it, one sees the contempt that they have for other people’s achievements, and those who help perpetuate society by safeguarding those achievements and keeping the peace. Any discussion of the inconvenient truth that no matter WHO leads it, Marx/Commu/Socialism will never work is wasted on people who can find eloquence in excrement. They are blind to a political and economic system that allows the individual to “pursue happiness” by taking responsibility for their own destiny, rather than being yoked to a collective standard chosen by other people.
I have had exchanges with some of the #OWS (Occupy Wall Street) supporters this week on Twitter. All condemn the “greed” of Wall Street, while being completely blind to their own envy and sense of entitlement to what these “evil” greedy people have. They rail against corporations for their lack of “accountability to the people”, and refuse to acknowledge that corporations answer to their shareholders and the government, and were designed that way, instead of focusing their attentions on the people who were always intended to be accountable to them: elected officials.
They tell their sob stories of hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt for their MFA degrees and living in parents’ basements, unable to get food stamps for their cats, or jobs that allow them to pay back their student loans. Each adds their plaintive voices to a chorus of whiney stories that call themselves “We Are the 99%” as opposed to the evil, greedy 1% of rich people who they feel entitled to “take” from. I’d call them “We Are The Falsely Entitled”. They talk about “new” economic models where workers have a say in how businesses are run, and how they have to “collapse the system” in order to build a society that is “fair” and doesn’t pick winners and losers, which is utter nonsense. If society didn’t pick winners and losers, then you should be able to go to the corner store and purchase an ice cold Chrystal Pepsi for yourself. They are immune to the suggestion that it is reasonable and understandable to be angry about a government that picks winners and losers, when its role is to act as referree.
This insistance on “firness” is the expression of the naive and those blinded by envy, both of whom are eminently willing to surrender a potential that they have been tricked into thinking that they do not have, or that they are too afraid to command for themselves, to people only too willing to harness for their own ends. In either event, their childish notion of “fairness” pervades their demands and beliefs. A fairness that betrays opportunity for a physical equality, doled out by beneficent “rulers” who decide what is best for all and make it the assigned task for society.
But what I find the most offensive is that this segment of society, clinging to their Noam Chomsky readers, talking about the need for greater Democracy everywhere, and approving of every new law made by activist federal courts over the last 40 years utterly rejects the Democratic apparatus we already have. It is urgent to “collapse the system” because “The Corporations” make all the choices for them, leaving the voter with only Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee when the time comes to cast the ballots. When you point out the flaws in this thinking, such as the success that the Tea Party had in backing and electing candidates in 2010, they only offer the electronic equivalent of a blank stare, followed by “That can’t be right. I saw all about the Tea Party is bad on MSNBC.”
When you suggest that if they really are the 99%, then it should be any problem for them to field and elect their own candidates, the only response is mumbling about corruption. And when you suggest that they simply don’t have the right to “collapse” a system that everyone else in society relies on, and has built their lives around, then they don’t have much to say at all, other than to condemn you as one of the 1% or as someone being led by the nose by that 1%.
As ridiculous as they appear to be, their ignorance and their appetites are dangerous. This is a mob that largely has no understanding of civics, of their political history, both the one that is their birthright, and the one they stupidly embrace, and yet believe that society can and should provide them with a life free from want, difficulty, or hard labor. They demonstrate no understanding that the democracy they cry out for is, at its core, only what 50%+1 wants, or that without safeguards for the minorities that are part of the system they want to collapse, they will inevitably be part of the 49%. While I don’t want to spare them the impact of learning that lesson firsthand, I do not want to live in the environment that would teach them, because revolutions are messy, and the temptation for the rest of the world to interfere is too great. That means that we HAVE to engage them, and let them know that they are nowhere near being 99%, and that the only reason this has gone on this long is because the rest of us had to get up and go to work in the morning.
More excremental elloquence for Rutherford:
Yes, Rutherford. By ALL MEANS, let’s hope they form a caucus.
That pic reinforces my belief that the only movement these people resemble, is a bowel one.
Great investigative reporting BiW … Twitter exchanges. Yup that’s the way to really learn about what is going on … 140 characters at a time.
The “movement” clearly threatens you. I know of what I speak because some of my prejudice against the Tea Party sprung from the same insecurity.
Everyone wants a participative democracy until the participants start saying things we don’t like. Then we find the worst videos and pictures available to discredit them. And then we self righteously pound our chest and call ourselves patriots.
Truly laughable.
Well duh, of course this ‘movement’ is threatening. To our way of life. Go read ‘their’ web site and demands.
And please, find us some pictures of those who marched on Washington and got themselves arrested or engaged in public indecency or demanded others take care of them.
I meant pictures of the ‘tea party’ getting arrested or crapping on police cars.
The objective of these groups has yet to be clearly defined – other than their tendencies toward anarchy. Your point is excellent BiW; if they are so overwhelmingly representative of America’s citizens, why do they not simply organize and implement their desires through our democratic process? Simple answer. They represent only a very small portion of the population. It would be interesting to poll them to determine who they voted for in the last Presidential elections. It the answer was they did not vote (or voted Democratic) then they have simply enabled the continuance of the problems that they now whine about. These are people who are easily manipulated, the “useful idiots” that the socialists have utilized for the better part of a century in their attempts to sow sufficient disorder and discontent to legitimize the rise of a totalitarian state to restore order while destroying freedom.
That, Rutherford, is why we have a representative republic as a form of government, not a “participative democracy”. As long as we still have a fragment left of the rule of law (presently under prolonged attack by the current administration) our Republic will stand. That is why these protests are both threatening and dangerous – they are destructive in nature, not constructive.
You’re kidding right? Why didn’t the Tea Party implement their ideas through our democratic process, whatever that means?
It’s real simple … you and others on this thread love first amendment expression and protest so long as you like the message and the aesthetics of the protesters.
Seems to me there are a significant number of new people in Congress who had the Tea party’s stamp of approval. Inconvenient truth? Your other antagonistic, flippant remark isn’t worth the time to respond to.
The OWS protests are barely one month old. How do you know this won’t evolve into a push for elected officials who favor the OWS agenda? Who knows, maybe Bernie Sanders will start the OWS caucus ala Bachmann and her Tea Party caucus?
You’re kidding right? Why didn’t the Tea Party implement their ideas through our democratic process, whatever that means?
You mean like showing up at town hall meetings of their elected officials and letting them know that “business as usual” wasn’t gonna get it done any more? And then supporting and electing candidates who reflected their views and desires for a smaller limited government?
Rutherford,
I want the representative democracy that we have, not one where ” workers have an equal voice in the use of and an equal share in the profits from the means of production.”
The difference is that I swore to uphold the first and defend it when I became an officer of the court. The second has failed everytime it has been tried, after bringing untold misery and death…something that both you and these sippycup bangers protesting against “greed” (you have too much, give it to me) and “corporations” ( as they use their Sony camcorders, i-phones, and macbooks to broadcast their revolutions from Starbucks) would KNOW if you were actually taught civics and history.
The rest of your insights about “participatory democracy” are laughable. It isn’t partipating if your goal is to “collapse the system”, and as Steely Dan long ago sang “Only A Fool Would Say That”.
And Rutherford, your prejudice against the Tea Party was rooted in their oppositition to the reckless actions of those who were elected to represent us, and your offense that someone would oppose and demand a stop to government buying more votes with more entitlements and spending.
It was and remains diametrically opposed to the sippycup movement because it consists of those who actually PAY THE BILL, and want government to remain within its limits, rather than have it deciding the minutae of their lives from start to finish
#ows wants to be relieved of the terrible burden of making their own decisions, and the consequences of them….the antithesis of what it means to be American.
#ows wants to be relieved of the terrible burden of making their own decisions, and the consequences of them….the antithesis of what it means to be American.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think Heinlein was on to something when he used the concept of making those who wouldn’t take responsibility for their actions wear brassards, so that everyone else knew that they were dealing with a child or someone who is feeble minded.
Come to think of it, maybe these people do it to themselves…”Welcome to the “movement”, Commerade! Here’s your sign.”
Rutherford, you truly are a useful idiot.
Let’s not involve ourselves in hyperbole. That last comment by Rutherford wasn’t even useful idiot worthy. Just idiot.
Look Rutherford. Like I read the other day, if these OWS folks which you empathize with aren’t protesting President Goldman Sachs, and Goldman Geithnerm then I don’t want to hear their reelect Obama campaign masked as rage, or whining, or cynicism.
😆
Got me!
Make that Geithner…
Did anyone here remember to remind Rutherford to breathe?
Oh shit!!!! He’s probably dead now… Too bad.
I really miss Dick, the Homicidal Clown. 😦
Launched a facebook war the other night, challenging the occupy this or that or whatever protestors to show their commitment to their cause…..as in, throw away their cel phones, laptops, mobile twitter devices, and anything else made and sold by corporations that they use so conveniently on a daily basis. None of them have the balls or the willpower to do that…..they’re hypocrites as well as useful idiots.
and they sure as HELL aren’t 99%.
Do you realize how bizarre that was? You launched a Facebook war at a bunch of people you resent for using Facebook. If it weren’t for their use of social media, you would have been arguing with yourself.
Too funny.
P.S. Being against corporate greed and being against corporations is totally different. Using Mitt Romney’s notion that corporations are people, it would be like saying that if I dislike greedy people, then I am a total misanthrope.
hey tell their sob stories of hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt for their MFA degrees and living in parents’ basements, unable to get food stamps for their cats, or jobs that allow them to pay back their student loans.
They can piss up a rope. My husband and I paid back student loans with me bartending and he working his arse off, while we had five kids, paid our bills, etc. Life is HARD. asshats.
As hard as life can be, it’s still easier than it used to be. We don’t have to salt meat for the winter and store apples in the basement. People are fucking soft.
What about not being able to find a job do you NOT understand. Your husband and you paid off your student loans in an economy where you both found multiple jobs. Now if you can prove to me that the graduates of today are whining without having tried to find work, than I can endorse your argument. Can you prove that?
can you NOT prove it? The 2.5 weeks these useful idiots have spent raising hell and turning city streets into sanitation hazards could have been spent LOOKING for a job……
I also had student loans, and paid them back in a bad economy, during the late 70’s. Didn’t work in the field that my degree was in due to no jobs being there, but I worked.
and you sure as hell didn’t see ME crapping on police cars, what a great face to put on your leftist “movement”……
You didn’t judge the Tea Party movement by one guy calling Obama a “Lyin’ African” or others bringing guns to rallies for no good reason. Yet you’re ready to write off OWS because of one disgusting assh*le.
The double standard is mind blowing.
Also I don’t recall the late 70’s being comparable to today’s economy.
You sound like the old man from SNL played by Dana Carvey, “I walked to school everyday barefoot in the snow backwards … and I LIKED IT!!”
I have been to two Tea Party rallies and we left the places cleaner than when we got there…..not so these bums on Wall Street. Also, it isn’t the first time one of your street soldiers has crapped on something.
So glad they’re on your side and not ours, and let’s see who gets the lions share of corporate money this next election cycle.
oh….and the 70’s were much worse, 14% unemployment, double digit interest rates, gas lines stretching for blocks and leading to gas rationing on odd or even days….I was in my mid 20’s then.
Yet you’re ready to write off OWS because of one disgusting assh*le.
The double standard is mind blowing.
No, I wrote off OWS because they are ALL assholes. I have yet to read a complaint from the group of sippycup bangers that doesn’t either have its roots in government action, or lead right back to these protestors and the choices that they made. And all are being used in a cynical attempt to sell us a warmed-over version of the failed idea that equality of condition, not opportunity, is an acheivable and desirable goal. It just isn’t so.
Also I don’t recall the late 70′s being comparable to today’s economy.
Google “Whip Inflation Now”, “gas lines”, and “inflation”.
Then google “GM” and “auto industry”, and “Flint, Michigan”.
I lived through it, R. You haven’t seen bad yet.
Now, now BiC, just calm down now. You’re getting into the specifics. Rutherford wants you to embrace it because like he did the tea party without addressing the message. Remember when he said of the tea party, “hey this is democracy in action — you shouldn’t criticize it man. There’s just exercising their right of free assembly.”
Remember that?
Me neither.
And then google the term “Misery Index” and see when it was coined.
OH, I can guarantee you the late 70s, early 80s was just as bad. 16% prime interest rates for starters, Iranian hostages, malaise speeches, and an economy in disarray, not including gas outages, our military in tatters from Vietnam, and little or no chance of being hired out of college.
And that was with legitimate degrees; not Art history, French literature, Afro-American studies, I AM WOMAN PHDs.
R, says, “Yet you’re ready to write off OWS because of one disgusting assh*le.”
Try addressing his post. There’s plenty there R. You’ve managed to avoid all of it by screaming “hypocrisy” at the top of your lungs with the same zeal you yelled “racist” at the tops of you lungs when the tea party was protesting.
BiC, you’ve been served. 😆 😆
Yeah, an anonymous comment to this post at Nice Deb thought he was scoring a similar point.
I suggested that he also had a problem with his reading comprehension.
The OWS protests are barely one month old. How do you know this won’t evolve into a push for elected officials who favor the OWS agenda? Who knows, maybe Bernie Sanders will start the OWS caucus ala Bachmann and her Tea Party caucus?
I’ll take “because they keep talking about “collapsing the system”” for $300, Alex.
Although, I admit, there are some striking similarities between the OWS stated goals and those of the Progressive Congressional Caucus, the OWS people have a bone to pick with issues that have their roots in Congress, such as lax oversight of Fannie and Freddie, and their roles in the housing bubble. So of course, they are going to protest against the “greed” by protesting against the banks, rather than ever doing anything that migh hold Bwarney Fwanks, Chris Dodd, Franklin Raines, or Jaime Gorelick accountable for their roles, among others in Congress or heading those entities.
You really should think hard before your next comment. Your elbows are leaving brusies where they are are hitting your face.
I think they should occupy Obama’s golf courses.
Thanks for the update BiW. Yup, two guys sh*tting where they shouldn’t does indeed condemn the entire “movement”.
Traitors and hooligans. Where are those cops with the fire hydrant hoses when we need them?
Comparing the activities of these mobs with the Civil Rights movement is downright offensive.
Save your outrage. I don’t know how old you are but I’d wager dollars to donuts you did or would have considered the civil rights protesters a “mob” back in the day.
Here’s some more for you Rutherford…
Come to think of it, I’m surprised that you haven’t subscribed.
http://billayers.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/occupy-wall-street-collective-statement-of-the-protesters/
Thanks for the link. Not a whole lot there to argue with really. A couple of items over the top. Otherwise, a pretty reasonable set of grievances.
BTW, did you even bother with the responses upthread, or are you ignoring those as much as the body of the post itself.
Reading IS Fundamental.
As my friend MJ said over at H2, “Please tell them [the protesters] that if they put the same amount of energy into succeeding that they do in trying to appear different, they’d be occupying a decent life, not a living colostomy bag.”
[…] Virginia, a mob. One of my fellow WordPress bloggers, Blackiswhite, Imperial Consigliere posted the most offensive photo he could find of an OWS protester getting ready to defecate on a police car. Reminded me of every […]
Save your outrage. I don’t know how old you are but I’d wager dollars to donuts you did or would have considered the civil rights protesters a “mob” back in the day.
Piss on your wager.
Maine is older than you, and unlike you, didn’t find his “political awareness” in the ascendency of a man-child to a throne that is three sizes too big for him.
The “Bang Your Sippy Cup While Occupying_____________” has little in common with the civil rights movement, which was directed and sought inclusion in the same national promise that everyone else enjoyed.
The Sippycuppers are bleating about “collapsing the system” when many of them, much like you, DO NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND the system, and in fact, rail against the wrong aspect of it, largely because they have confused the pursuit of happiness with having it handed to them.
[…] gathering where they told the participants how to get out of hand cuffs, or passed out condoms, “expressed” themselves with defecation, or the participants rolled over to people’s residences to […]
Retract your second picture BiW. It was taken in 2007. You were played.
Same union/”organized community”, different protest.
As I said over at my place, weak defense counselor.
Here are two articles demonstrating you were played. The first uses your justification, i.e. doesn’t matter if it wasn’t an OWS person … they’re all the same anyway. The second article expresses understandable disgust at the incident when it actually happened in 2007.
http://www.thenationalpatriot.com/?p=2313
http://www.portlandtribune.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=117459283544877600