re; wanting arab style protests here.

just wondering your opinion on this.
really came up with ziltch during a search of ats.
basically, isn't what is happening in the arab world right now exactly what we hope for here in the u.s. of a.?
i'd assume that many would support protest and strikes that are aimed at ridding our country of corruption
and a possible overthrow of the government?
personally i'd love to see masses of people put down the remote and get out of their lazy-boys.
as i watch all this unfold i'm becoming more and more convinced that america just does not have the cahones
to stand up.
isn't just one of our wishes to watch the military and law enforcement stand up against the powers that be?

Sounds like fun. Something new. I guess if the revolt started here, I would log off and join in.
Although I would be against being shot, gassed or trampled.

The reason there are no protests here is because we all know why our economy is the way it is.

+70 million Baby Boomers needing SS/medicare
+50 million on Food Stamps
+45 million illegals needing free school for their kids/free healthcare under the EMTALA Act

If we all protested and shut the Govt. down....it would be a death throw to +70 million Baby Boomers, the older folks now on SS.......

Protesting won't fix anything. "Free Trade" is why our economy tanked. Now the average Chinese is making $800 a month. Global wages are close to matching. They brought China up dumping the US National Wealth into them to prevent a global nuclear war. It was Nixon's idea and pushed after him.

Now the whole world will suffer as we all try to survive equally. Pray countries don't start snapping an nuclear weapons fly. The Chinese haven't realized what we did for them. They have no idea the suffering going on in America. Protesting's out of the question. Pray we survive.

Originally posted by rubbertramp
just wondering your opinion on this.
really came up with ziltch during a search of ats.
basically, isn't what is happening in the arab world right now exactly what we hope for here in the u.s. of a.?
i'd assume that many would support protest and strikes that are aimed at ridding our country of corruption
and a possible overthrow of the government?
personally i'd love to see masses of people put down the remote and get out of their lazy-boys.
as i watch all this unfold i'm becoming more and more convinced that america just does not have the cahones
to stand up.
isn't just one of our wishes to watch the military and law enforcement stand up against the powers that be?

Pick an issue; find the bad guy; who will replace them? A business plan to run aone-truck/ one-driver porta-potti( z'heit) zucker truck business needs at least that much forethought and planning.


Reminds me of an old Carlin news bit:" A weston man barricaded himself inside his home today. He is not armed but refuses to leave : No one seems to care...."film at eleven.

Originally posted by rubbertramp
just wondering your opinion on this.
really came up with ziltch during a search of ats.
basically, isn't what is happening in the arab world right now exactly what we hope for here in the u.s. of a.?
i'd assume that many would support protest and strikes that are aimed at ridding our country of corruption
and a possible overthrow of the government?
personally i'd love to see masses of people put down the remote and get out of their lazy-boys.
as i watch all this unfold i'm becoming more and more convinced that america just does not have the cahones
to stand up.
isn't just one of our wishes to watch the military and law enforcement stand up against the powers that be?

Americans do have the balls to protest and stand up for their rights but stand up against what, exactly? How is your government doing you wrong (on a national scale, not personal)? People need a REASON to protest. They can't protest because it's the new trend happening in the Arab world. It seems like people want to follow more than lead.

Europe stage protests too but they are small and scattered about. When the Brit students protested, what happened? Camille and Charles just happened to "stroll" through the protest and were ALMOST "assaulted" by the "angry" young'uns. That little incident changed the entire protest, took attention AWAY from the issue.

It is not easy to protest in the West as it is in other places. The Arab world is filled with dictatorships and so the REASON for protest is simple and there. America is not a dictatorship and if it is, can you prove it? If you can't, there is no reason to protest.

reply to post by Pervius

"Free Trade" is why our economy tanked

Actually, it wasnt due to free trade, but more specifically, government intervention on the free market. Capitalism has, and can work remarkably, if the politicians allowed it too. But because we have so many isolationists, and not enough individualists, that is why the Free market tanked.

reply to post by DevilJin

How is your government doing you wrong

Are you serious?

For example, have you flown in the last decade and a half? Did you enjoy the blatant infringement of the 4th Amendment rights? Did you enjoy the ongoing molestation? That in itself is a crisis on the " national level"!

Bwahahaha....I can't believe you actually had the audacity to suggest that the US citizenry aren't being oppressed?

reply to post by Pervius


Those Baby-boomers wouldn`t happen to be your parents/Grandparents would they? You know - - the people who fought the Japanese/Koreans on your behalf while you whinged about the price of gas and how you couldn`t get the "right" brand of sneakers? The people who put you through School? That sort of thing?

And if you think the average Chinese person is earning $800 a month you are delusional. $80 is closer to reality.

Now climb back on your Lazee-boy (that the rest of the World doesn`t have), and grab what matters to you - - and PULL!

Originally posted by Whereweheaded
reply to post by DevilJin

 

How is your government doing you wrong

Are you serious?

For example, have you flown in the last decade and a half? Did you enjoy the blatant infringement of the 4th Amendment rights? Did you enjoy the ongoing molestation? That in itself is a crisis on the " national level"!

Bwahahaha....I can't believe you actually had the audacity to suggest that the US citizenry aren't being oppressed?

The question was rhetorical and you took it out of context. "How is your government doing you wrong? People need a reason to protest.

Just to clarify, I know the government has done many wrongs but there has to be an unifying reason that connects all people regardless of class, race, and other differences

reply to post by DevilJin


Ok, my misunderstanding, sorry for that.

What's missing right now is a concrete, positive view of an alternate way forward. Mere criticism alone is of limited productivity and ultimately means nothing. For the "ball to get rolling," there has to be a new "-ism," a new ideology, a new worldview. And it has to be truly different; minor variations and modulations of the old stale left-right paradigm won't cut it anymore. We've been working on that model since the 19th century and the world is groaning out for a new way.

To be effective, change must come with a new framework that does not just ask questions, but answers them -- and answers them more effectively and convincingly than the dying paradigm can. Until a unified ideology emerges and takes on the existing ideology it's all just talk in the first world.

Another point: in places like Egypt and so forth, what you are seeing is related but somewhat different. These upheavals are fueled directly by dire situations such as lack of food. Many other conditions are the same as in the first world: Lack of future prospects, no jobs, a highly educated but idle workforce, growing inequality, oppressive internationalist/globalist impact on specific localities, etc. These conditions pertain in both the first world and the third world. Where places like Egypt truly differ is that they have come up against the now-or-never desperation that comes with actual hunger. There is no such desperation in most of the first world, although in places and for many people it may in fact be much closer than most care to imagine.

interesting comments so far, thanx.

i'd like to see a start by the unemployed.
protest outsourcing and the loss of labor jobs to the illegal workers.
i think there are plenty of reasons to start.
the biggest problem is the fact that americans are still basically content with their situation.
in some demented way i hope things do get worse.

i do disagree with the notion that no one is hungry in america.
we just don't hear about it on the evening news.
i'm not a pro-union guy, but i do support those protests.
i hope they grow and expand to include others.