Forum Post: Problem with OccupyWS?
Posted 12 years ago on Jan. 29, 2012, 1:29 a.m. EST by abcdef
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The folks that protest and/or gravitate towards movements such as this one seem largely to be "other-focused" rather than "self-focused". That is, their concern is with the behavior of others rather than their own. This isn't, generally speaking, a formula prosperity. If you're not happy with the state of the country, economy, or especially your own "situation" whatever that may be, asking the question, "What did I do to contribute to this situation?" and "What steps may I take to extricate myself from x, y, z?" is likely the best thing you can do for yourself and for others. Concentrating to any degree on the behavior of others or their power, etc, etc is akin to lacing-up a pair of cement shoes.
There are people from all walks of life in OWS. Personal success or lack thereof have almost nothing to do with one's political ideology. What does matter, I think, is one's sense of empathy, not mere sympathy. Solidarity proceeds from empathy and out of that comes the search for collective solutions rather than an attitude of, as the British say, "fuck you Jack, I'm all right." I've characterized opponents of OWS as mean spirited. Some people have taken exception to this, but the total lack of empathy expressed (even to the extent that the issue is not even addressed) is to me a working definition of mean spiritedness.
that's right - lacing up a pair of cement shoes . . .
and these would be on your feet.
Well part of problem solving is to first understanding and identify problems...
We are in a society and our behaviors and actions are interrelated, we are not just alone by ourselves... government policies, laws and many corporate actions often have direct effects on our lives and well-being...
If predatory interests are influencing the system to disadvantage others, then this is a problem, ignoring problems is non-constructive...
We should identify concerns, difficulties or areas we can improve that we personally have, and address those as we are able, but to have this mean that we just ignore all injustices by other influences is absurd...
If someone is polluting the river or manipulating our financial system, am I supposed to instead only think about patching my roof? These are totally different things, both should be addressed, but that does not mean we should ignore those things that are done to harm the public well-being or our fellow citizens...
Being concerned with public issues, does not mean we somehow are not engaged in other personal responsibities....
I'm a little surprised ths would seem confusing...
If you fall for such stupid, nonsense, RW talking points, BLAME YOURSELF!
If everybody just focused on themselves and just looked at the man in the mirror for solutions EVERYTHING WOULD BE GREAT!
The 1% of us gets exponentially richer as the 99% rest of us goes broke? If you're the 1% you ask, "Do I mind being stinking rich while everybody else goes broke? Hell no, as long as the bulletproof Rolls never stalls out driving through the homeless camps." If you're the 99% you ask, "Do I mind moving the family into a homeless camp after losing the house to foreclosure? Hell no, it serves me right for thinking I could take weekends off."
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They are "concerned" with everyone else because they themselves are unhappy with who they are and the choices they have made in life. Introspection makes them feel depressed. Anger and envy toward others makes them fell better temporarily.
An over-simplification, there are real issues in society that should be addressed, often at the government and corporate levels, and problems with how people are treated...
Interesting on how you seem to want to narrowly characterize activism, and then ignore the fact that there are many legitimate concerns and issues that protesters are trying to address...
Public activism against abuses and advocation for fair policy is what this country was founded on, and why there is freedom of speech in the first place...
It is actually hypocritically to criticize a movement for being "concerned with other's mis-behaviors", because criticizing a movement is itself actually "criticizing other's behaviors"...
All you will get from this post is a bunch of people reinforcing their outward focus, making excuses, and blaming others....
Those with that outward perspective are never changed from outside....it's only personal struggle that changes their perspective, and they will fight it till the bitter end...
"All you will get" ... "are never changed" ... quite some overstatement here...
Anybody can overstate an argument, how is that constructive... is more of a tactic than a real argument ...
'Activists will never change' 'nobody will ever change' 'people will never think for themselves'... nothing can be improved because never and ever and.. blah...