Hippies lying down in front of cars getting run over.

reply to post by Somehumanbeing


Headlinewise you are very correct, but as I stated in my first post I don't think people sit in front of cars with the intention to get run over, but just to hit society where it hurts... If only a little.
Furthermore I am not really promoting this kind of protest, I am merely pointing out that running someone over is something you should try not to do.. Even if he is very inconvieniently (not from US no idea how to spell it) standing in front of your car...

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Pedestrians have the right of way, but that does not give the pedestrian the right to jump into traffic and have the expectation that they will not be hit, nor if they are hit, have any grievance against the driver. Traffic protests have been effective in the past (Al Sharpton has used them several times) and they do not require the idiocy of laying down in front of a car, where someone, who is moving only a couple of miles an hour and likely not paying fantastic attention due to that speed from running over them.

While a sad event for all involved, a good day for the gene pool

What the videos showed me that people become highly irrational when behind the wheels of a car. It's common knowledge that driving is one of the most stressful things that people do on a daily basis. A lot of people simply are near their breaking point when driving. You can often see this at stop lights when one driver takes a few seconds to respond to a light change and the others start honking and yelling.

Not that I am supporting the protesters, just pointing out that drivers are not exactly a towering example of sanity.

I agree that its not the best form of protest however its actually kinda sad that these motorists dont realise that these brave people are risking death by protesting against issues on behalf of them too.
They arnet doing it for a dare or because they want a laugh, they are doing out of a love for the people who are harming them.

reply to post by SaturnFX

so, whats some good alternatives then?

Non acquiescence is a far stronger action than protest. It has been the so called "Personal Income Tax" that has facilitated this dubious military might of the United States, and most people have not even been made statutorily liable for any "income tax" and yet make themselves liable by filing a valid tax return and then signing under penalty of perjury that "all of the above is true and correct" which includes their liability. If most people are not even liable for the so called "income tax" then why the hell are they paying it? Stop feeding the beast if you don't want that beast to grow to uncontrollable proportions.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Yes, pedestrians do have the right of way. They also have the right to be stupid. That doesn't make it advisable. Strategy is key in many circumstances, and under this circumstance, I do not think the failed strategy should be lauded.

reply to post by j-man


reply to post by j-man


Ah, I see, well, I agree with that aswell. Sure the old man that ran them over probably did so out of frustration as Kaploink has stated but honestly, if some people blocked me as I was taking a loved one to hospital because I feared for their life, I would try to get around it, and end up running them over if they didn't move out of the way. As another poster stated, calling the man a "coward" is excessive, but sure he is not in the right either, but then again I still believe the protestors deserved getting run over for sitting in the middle of the road in peak hour traffic. Just as you or I deserve getting burnt if I put my hand over a flame for too long.

Wow I can understand being a little frusturated that people are lying in the road blocking your path, but is running them over really necessary? A minor inconvenience like that can seriously frusturate people to the point that they will attempt to crush them with their car, potentialy killing them? I don't see how running people over which could land you in prison for a few years is worth getting to work or wherever you need to be on time. The people doing that protest are definitely stupid though, I mean how could that protest possibly go well?

At least they were trying to DO something, which is more than can be said for many of us. Poor judgment, yes, they would have fared better "singing songs and carrying signs", but what do they get for their efforts?

Criticism. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't. If anyone intentionally ran over these kids, I hope they are charged with vehicular homicide.

reply to post by TupacShakur


Not the first instance of an Angry Old-Man going berserk

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


He got charged with homicide. I'm not defending the angry old man, i'm just indicating that i understand his frustration. I just hope the people he ran over were charged atleast with obstructing traffic too. It IS illegal.

reply to post by Somehumanbeing

Well, I suppose we don't have to feel the same about it...

reply to post by Beyond Creation


Did not happen, look it up was all B.S. Two wrongs do not make a right, put em all in jail protesters and drivers. Then do not publicise it because idiots will just do the same.

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
Protest has its place, but in the end is really just a limp wristed way of admitting that you are powerless to anything about the problem you are protesting.

Pft, tell that to the founding fathers....Tell that to the people of Egypt...

Tell that to the civil rights protestors of the 50's 60's and 70's.

Were these people powerless? Not at all.

Who said anything about Hippies? That's a term that should be understood before being used.

And yes, these PEOPLE should find another way but the amount of people on this thread laughing at the videos is sadly showing a lack of compassion or concern for people willing to get up from their computers and get out on the streets to fight for what they believe in.

There will come a time when we all will have to protest and do things that are deemed silly and ridiculous by others.

What then? Stay at home and watch it on youtube I guess. Same as always.

Maybe it's better that none of us say anything or do anything. Just let ourselves be run over by those that don't agree with our views.

At least these people have the balls to try and do something about what they believe in... instead of sitting on their lazy bums and bitching about it in the faceless world of cyberspace.

Originally posted by Michelangelo
Freakin' hippies always trying to protest things. This doesn't even make sense, they're protesting a war by laying down in front of people's cars who have some place to be so that they can contribute to society.

to a society that makes its wealth from WAR

you people with this frame of mind are disgusting;

you'd kill your mother for money, to "contribute" to this bulls*** society of yours

where are the humans ? not on ATS anymore; thank you facebook... (i've stopped reading the thread after that "michelangelo" post, this was too much shallowness, hard to bear - so sorry if any human had contributed to this monstrous opinion thread to try to raise the level of those sheeps laughing at those that try to make a difference)

reply to post by JudasIscariot


I doubt they care, they are probably just going with the flow that their friends provide. To "rebel" so to speak, to find something that they all can be a part of and have fun causing problems for other people in a manner that is seen as "brave".

This is how you try to cause change in a society that ignores protestors frequently:

Revolutionary Left Movement
Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front
American Revolutionary War
2011 Lybian Civil War



This is not the 60s or 70s where we were JUST introduced to the war footage from vietnam, when people lost their innocence and naivete regarding war. Now, people are indoctrinated and desensitized by War movies, television, history channel and video games to the point that war is not that "horrible" as it was before. With this prevalent mindset in people today, you cannot cause change by merely lying down on the road and hope to get run over.

reply to post by gimme_some_truth

Pft, tell that to the founding fathers.

The Founding Fathers did much more than protest, and if you honestly believe that England just backed off because a bunch of colonist sat their asses down in front of horse and carriages then perhaps you might consider working a little harder at studying the history of Revolutionary War of 1776.

Tell that to the civil rights protestors of the 50's 60's and 70's.

The so called "civil rights" protestors are as much a part of the problem today as are the apathetic. Unlike Dr. King, Malcolm X understood the profound problem with demanding civil rights and instead called for an assertion of unalienable rights.

Civil rights are legal rights and legal rights are rights granted to people by governments. What can be granted by government can be taken away by government. Make no mistakes about it, the arrogance of the Patriot Act, as well as the plethora of other intrusive acts of legislation, are directly related to the indoctrinated who proudly pat themselves on the back and demand respect because they "marched on Washington with Dr. King". Today, very few people talk about rights as being natural and unalienable, and those who do in the U.S. are branded "homegrown terrorists". Pfffftttt indeed. Thanks for all you've done to get us here, now pat yourself on the back and smugly tell more people how important their civil rights are.

Edit to answer this question:

Were these people powerless?

I never said anyone was powerless, and do not believe people are. What I did say that was in the end, protest is really just an admission of powerlessness. There is a big difference even if it is a nuanced one.

Originally posted by dolphinfan
reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux

 

Indeed. I find it no different than the Rachel Corrie business. You kneel down in front of a bulldozer and bad things are going to happen to you. Thats the thing with shields, including the human type. They get hit with things, thats kind of their purpose.

First thing I thought of.

She has got to be the stupidest protester of all time. Kneeling in front of a bulldozer? Every time I picture this I chuckle a little bit.

reply to post by Somehumanbeing


I personally thought these were hillarious.

You protest by laying down? You lay down to die. A long time ago saw some idiot stand in front of a tank and everyone has to jump off the bridge now. I am not a psychopath and would never lay down in front of a car. You want to protest peacefully? Grab the keys out of everyone's ignition and throw them as far as you can. Don't lay down in front of a ton+ machine.

I love when people are willing to lay down their lives for useless non-issues... while we can't even muster a holler at all the serious stuff. I would be seriously pissed off if I was trying to get somewhere and I had a bunch of ignorant piss-ants trying to be brave. I'm sure i'd be punching some faces.