I also am foreigner from post-communist country who was growing up in crappy communist system, and for the longest time I've held the same opinions expressed by boorack above. After witnessing what happened in my home country (years of peaceful civil disobedience against an ever more constricting politicians/mobsters/banksters association leading to no result) it got me thinking. It's a path to nowhere.
You watch, Occupy Wall Street is already yesterday's news and the usual tactics of adding "noise" to simple, clear and justified demands are in place and started to work (oh, OWS is now about global climate change, gay rights, abortion rights and imigration rights too!!!). Two months from now - if at all, since winter is coming - everyone's reaction will be "are they still there? Oh, the fools". I know it because I have seen it times and times again. The modern state has mastered the art of making any public protest meaningless through "freedom of expression" - if you want to protest against the upper class getting a disproportionate share of the wealth, you can do so but you need to allow a naked blue painted bozo to demonstrate right by your side for marijuana legalization.
I submit that we should instead join one of the two political parties and/or create a third one instead and rebuild this oh-so-eroded center. If you are well meaning, and I am well meaning, I submit we'll recognize each other - inside or across party boundaries - and we can work together for the greater good, something the current crop appears incapable of doing seeing that they are simply looking to get reelected. I submit that a political system like ours can be changed from within, democratically - it was designed to do so - far easier and especially far less traumatizing - then from without, via a revolution.
A few notes:
1) look back at the beginnings of the Tea Party ( I know the slashdot crowd tends to lean on the liberal side and the Tea Party is the butt of all jokes here but check out the early echoes) . Many of their ideas parallel those of OWS. That was , of course, before they got infiltrated and hijacked by the right wing christian fundamentalists. I liked their ideas of smaller government, smaller taxes and increased accountability of elected officials to their constituency. I was looking to join - with an eye towards doing my part in that change from the inside I was describing above - but found out I am not welcome because I am not of the "right" Christian provenance and I am an immigrant (although a citizen). That made me laugh a bit, I'll just use some other back door into politics, this country is too good to be let go just like that .
2) Consider that "We the People" is often stupid and greedy. Between an honest politician promising blood and tears and one promising free healthcare and free train rides, the latter will always get elected, never mind he's gonna have to indenture his constituency to bankers for years to provide those "free" services. See Greece's current situation if you don't believe it, generation of unwarranted entitlements accumulating till the breaking point - and oh, they all - electorate and elected alike - knew it. I frankly don't see a way around this known pitfall of democracy - so consider it next times you utter the "elected politicians should do what we, the people who elected them , tell them to" platitude.
3) Consider what thinning the middle class and accumulation of riches on top does to a country. The truths you knew about America are no longer true. This is not your parents or your grandparents US. A country with solid middle class tends to be right leaning and mildly conservative - a majority of the people have wealth and want to keep it that way - justifiably so - where us a country with few rich people on top and many poor one at the bottom - which I argue is a breach of social contract - tend to be left leaning as a majority of the people want their "missing" share of the wealth the top has - and justifiably so. The rich think they can
The intelligence of it all - how could the authorities allow the use on humans in the first place? I am fed up with this - no offense intended - American attitude of expecting the big man in Washington to protect them from everything and blaming everything on the big man too. Why did the employees allow themselves to be tagged in the first place? How could the management of the company conceive such a scheme in the first place? Surely the management is made up of born and bred US citizens to which the idea of tagging free live citizens is repugnant, isn't it? I come from a country that is not the pinnacle of freedom and democracy and I do find it repugnant. Finally, where was the community answer? The wifes, the friends , the neighbors, the local youth - "man we can't let them do that to you"...or were they all too busy shopping or watching the latest "American Idol"? What's going on deep down there in that strata?
Slashdot Mirror
I also am foreigner from post-communist country who was growing up in crappy communist system, and for the longest time I've held the same opinions expressed by boorack above. After witnessing what happened in my home country (years of peaceful civil disobedience against an ever more constricting politicians/mobsters/banksters association leading to no result) it got me thinking. It's a path to nowhere.
You watch, Occupy Wall Street is already yesterday's news and the usual tactics of adding "noise" to simple, clear and justified demands are in place and started to work (oh, OWS is now about global climate change, gay rights, abortion rights and imigration rights too!!!). Two months from now - if at all, since winter is coming - everyone's reaction will be "are they still there? Oh, the fools". I know it because I have seen it times and times again. The modern state has mastered the art of making any public protest meaningless through "freedom of expression" - if you want to protest against the upper class getting a disproportionate share of the wealth, you can do so but you need to allow a naked blue painted bozo to demonstrate right by your side for marijuana legalization.
I submit that we should instead join one of the two political parties and/or create a third one instead and rebuild this oh-so-eroded center. If you are well meaning, and I am well meaning, I submit we'll recognize each other - inside or across party boundaries - and we can work together for the greater good, something the current crop appears incapable of doing seeing that they are simply looking to get reelected. I submit that a political system like ours can be changed from within, democratically - it was designed to do so - far easier and especially far less traumatizing - then from without, via a revolution.
A few notes:
1) look back at the beginnings of the Tea Party ( I know the slashdot crowd tends to lean on the liberal side and the Tea Party is the butt of all jokes here but check out the early echoes) . Many of their ideas parallel those of OWS. That was , of course, before they got infiltrated and hijacked by the right wing christian fundamentalists. I liked their ideas of smaller government, smaller taxes and increased accountability of elected officials to their constituency. I was looking to join - with an eye towards doing my part in that change from the inside I was describing above - but found out I am not welcome because I am not of the "right" Christian provenance and I am an immigrant (although a citizen). That made me laugh a bit, I'll just use some other back door into politics, this country is too good to be let go just like that .
2) Consider that "We the People" is often stupid and greedy. Between an honest politician promising blood and tears and one promising free healthcare and free train rides, the latter will always get elected, never mind he's gonna have to indenture his constituency to bankers for years to provide those "free" services. See Greece's current situation if you don't believe it, generation of unwarranted entitlements accumulating till the breaking point - and oh, they all - electorate and elected alike - knew it. I frankly don't see a way around this known pitfall of democracy - so consider it next times you utter the "elected politicians should do what we, the people who elected them , tell them to" platitude.
3) Consider what thinning the middle class and accumulation of riches on top does to a country. The truths you knew about America are no longer true. This is not your parents or your grandparents US. A country with solid middle class tends to be right leaning and mildly conservative - a majority of the people have wealth and want to keep it that way - justifiably so - where us a country with few rich people on top and many poor one at the bottom - which I argue is a breach of social contract - tend to be left leaning as a majority of the people want their "missing" share of the wealth the top has - and justifiably so. The rich think they can