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Comment count is 26
baleen - 2011-09-28

How can Cornell West not be an active tag??


Anaxagoras - 2011-09-29

Well, you misspelled it both in the title & in the tags.


OldScratch - 2011-09-28

I see Dr. West is as coherent as ever.


chumbucket - 2011-09-28

he said something, and then they all said it back


deadpan - 2011-09-28

NYPD banned megaphones, so every speech is a pep rally.


kingarthur - 2011-09-28

It's the easiest way to make sure everyone hears what is being said. NPR remarked that this is "weird and strange" but in fact, this is how you did it before loudspeakers. Same with the show of hands: an early method of voting.


fatatty - 2011-09-29

If you don't think that's an awesome way to get around megaphone restrictions you have no soul.


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-28

This man is seriously comparing occupy wall street to the "Arab Spring". He should have taken the blue pill.


kingarthur - 2011-09-28

I'm assuming you think we have more than a nominal "democracy" in this country?


baleen - 2011-09-28

Fat and happy with your console video game system, Hank?


Toenails - 2011-09-28

Fat and Happy is no way to go through life son.

Wait...


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-28

Without trying to read into the deeper implications of my comment, explain how the plight of this largely white, middle-class, American, under-35-year-old group of protesters stacks up against Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Baharain, Lebanon, and so on.


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-28

^should have been a reply


baleen - 2011-09-28


Ok! I'll give it a shot:

It doesn't.

Cornel West wasn't saying that this was an Arab Spring, he was trying to infuse the moment with the importance of the Arab Spring. You have taken a comment by Cornel West, one that is mean to foment a growing movement who's demographics you seem eager to (incorrectly) point out as a way of excusing its importance.

Chris Hedges is there. In his interview he said protests were good for fighting cynicism and apathy. You should consider attending some, or at least rise above your utterly demolished spirit and blithe disregard for people who are trying to do good things, at great risk to themselves.


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-28

in any case, thanks for a well articulated and relatively nonhostile response


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-28

If he was trying to infuse the moment with importance he should have opted for a Howard Dean-esque shriek of triumph. It was a poor choice of words all things considered. It stripped every (potentially) valuable thing he might have said of credibility...not that I really consider any of this credible in the least. I see a group of malcontent social-justice-do-gooders (who, at least in terms of pure statistical majority are accurately represented by my above demographic) scrabbling to assign some kind of loftier meaning to what will end up being a quickly forgotten footnote in the annals of history. I'm not saying that I disagree with their cause, or that I want the fatcats to win, but I think at the end of the day this ends up looking like an absurd, childishly spectacular attempt to rebel against the system. There are more efficient ways to get things done.

I'll add several things as a coda. Regardless of what West may have intended, his audience is eating his shit up with a spoon. The crowd as a whole does not grasp the subtler meaning of what he said. If great risk is defined by getting pepper sprayed by the cops or spending a night in a Manhattan lockup, then my younger years were spent closer to the edge than I had realized. Finally, I do appreciate that they are trying to accomplish something notionally positive. Just because things could be worse does not mean they can't get better. That being said, its always important to remember that the road to hell is often paved with good intentions. And while I have the utmost of respect for people who are willing to keep working despite this grim aphorism, I truly, from the bottom of my heart, absolutely fucking hate communists.


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-28

I KNOW I clicked reply that time


kingarthur - 2011-09-28

I find too many colloquialisms in your argument.


simon666 - 2011-09-28

I find too many words in your argument.


Toenails - 2011-09-28

I too find many words, but not nearly enough replies.

But, to actually engage you, I would like some clarification.

1. Are you saying that pepper sprayed by a police officer on Wall Street != getting shot in the face by an Egyptian officer? I'm not trying to call you on any bullshit, I just would like to see if I'm actually following you're logic here.

2. Are you worried about "killing the messenger"? Does he really have communist ties that you simply can't empathize with? I get the feeling that you respect the message but you simply can't stand the orator. That's, as far as I'm concerned, perfectly okay with me (probably not okay with other posters, just a heads up).

3. If you reply to my comment but you somehow make a new thread; does that mean I can disregard your poor skills at interneting?

4. DID I USE THAT SEMICOLON CORRECTLY????


simon666 - 2011-09-29

Re #4, no not a correct usage of a semicolon.

Your 'but' clause is a parenthetical and isbest set off from rest of the sentence with commas:

"If you reply to my comment, but you somehow make a new thread, does that mean I can disregard your poor skills as interneting?"


baleen - 2011-09-29

I have a feeling some poe-news baggage is being posted here. The references are lost on me.


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-29

I was saying that in no way shape or form are the potential consequences of attending the occupy wall street rally remotely equal to being shot, tortured, strafed by an attack helicopter, imprisoned, raped, etc.

and West's message is so muddled with bullshit that its original meaning has become obscure and irrelevant


Hank Friendly - 2011-09-29

FUCK


fatatty - 2011-09-29

This entire protest was inspired by the Arab Spring. The whole point of staying in the park for weeks is based on the Egyptians staying in Tarhir Square for weeks.

Obviously our problems aren't as big as the Arab world but that doesn't mean we don't have problems. We have a corrupt financial sector, influencing a corrupt government to concentrate wealth in the hands of a group of oligarchs.

We sit in comfort eating the scraps they leave for us, and they are hearty scraps compared to most of the world, but still scraps. Consider the fact that we are the richest country in the history of the world, but we still have children dying from poverty and starvation. We have millions of uninsured and people going bankrupt to pay medical bills. Should we just be content with what we have?

Reform needs to happen, and if they do what they do with no reaction from the people then reform will never happen.

If I had more scraps and a more flexible job I'd join them.


fatatty - 2011-09-29

This was meant as a reply to Anaxagoras.


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