lol... i went back 5 pages to fig out what all the hubbub is about... still kinda in the dark... maybe need to go back 6 pages... lol
it seems to me the ows movement started on righteous ground... and i can't but help to think of parallels to gandhi... peaceful, nonviolent protests, taking the cane over & over & over until it drops u... it is impossible to not see the injustice in that situation... even on the part of the person holding the cane... draws nothing but admiration, respect & support from those that observe, be it a friend, ambivalent, or foe. it isn't an easy thing... requires control, commitment, sacrifice... along with beliefs. and yes, throwing bottles, though i sympathize w the intent & desire, is not helping... not in the immediacy of the situation w the riot cops, nor in the aftermath of the op eds. u take a bullet to the head, with no acts of violence by anyone in the group(s), anywhere... oh, watch the outrage & numbers grow.
now, who wants to be the ones to take those bullets? lol... right. we might not 'want' to be the person, but we all sure can recognize that in that sacrifice, much good can result, so we put ourselves out there, hoping for the best, but true to our ideals/beliefs/values... scared for sure, but resolved in our conviction to improve things, to make them better, to advance our society... for a greater good.
i've got a suggestion on how to actually improve things... rather simple, can work the details out from the top down... based on shit that we know to work already, insofar as driving behaviors is concerned. we change the base value(s) to that we strive for... something, anything other than money/personal economic gains. remove that reward system & give weight to something else entirely. then we also punish that set of behaviors... and really stick to it, from the top down. if we change/alter that universal 'goal' that we americans are so indoctrinated with... success, which equals great fortune... then we change the observable attitudes & behaviors of the individual players, and the overall system functioning of the group itself. it's really rather simple... we change the underlying values of the american dream, which certainly is a task, but certainly is one where we have the necessary tools at our disposal (& evidence of it's successes... think marketing... the american dream was created to begin with). if you change perceptions, you change attitudes, you change behaviors, you change the actual way the world operates.
right now, we need to change the perceptions of not only those that are taking actions to directly harm other people, in both material & bodily calculation, but to open the eyes of all of those people that walk this earth in a coma-like state, only to react if there is immediate & intense stimulation... the sheeple. with those numbers... so very much is possible... alter societies progression for the next hundred years or more. granted, i'm a cynical sob... but i do see that we are at a potential turning point. really hope we can make something of this moment, and not lose it to...??? not like any of these ideas are new or anything, not like people haven't had opportunities in the past... only to be squandered.
just putting another person in office, not changing the underlying value system on which it operates... good luck for any real, lasting change. this is just the realist in me.
it seems to me the ows movement started on righteous ground... and i can't but help to think of parallels to gandhi... peaceful, nonviolent protests, taking the cane over & over & over until it drops u... it is impossible to not see the injustice in that situation... even on the part of the person holding the cane... draws nothing but admiration, respect & support from those that observe, be it a friend, ambivalent, or foe. it isn't an easy thing... requires control, commitment, sacrifice... along with beliefs. and yes, throwing bottles, though i sympathize w the intent & desire, is not helping... not in the immediacy of the situation w the riot cops, nor in the aftermath of the op eds. u take a bullet to the head, with no acts of violence by anyone in the group(s), anywhere... oh, watch the outrage & numbers grow.
now, who wants to be the ones to take those bullets? lol... right. we might not 'want' to be the person, but we all sure can recognize that in that sacrifice, much good can result, so we put ourselves out there, hoping for the best, but true to our ideals/beliefs/values... scared for sure, but resolved in our conviction to improve things, to make them better, to advance our society... for a greater good.
i've got a suggestion on how to actually improve things... rather simple, can work the details out from the top down... based on shit that we know to work already, insofar as driving behaviors is concerned. we change the base value(s) to that we strive for... something, anything other than money/personal economic gains. remove that reward system & give weight to something else entirely. then we also punish that set of behaviors... and really stick to it, from the top down. if we change/alter that universal 'goal' that we americans are so indoctrinated with... success, which equals great fortune... then we change the observable attitudes & behaviors of the individual players, and the overall system functioning of the group itself. it's really rather simple... we change the underlying values of the american dream, which certainly is a task, but certainly is one where we have the necessary tools at our disposal (& evidence of it's successes... think marketing... the american dream was created to begin with). if you change perceptions, you change attitudes, you change behaviors, you change the actual way the world operates.
right now, we need to change the perceptions of not only those that are taking actions to directly harm other people, in both material & bodily calculation, but to open the eyes of all of those people that walk this earth in a coma-like state, only to react if there is immediate & intense stimulation... the sheeple. with those numbers... so very much is possible... alter societies progression for the next hundred years or more. granted, i'm a cynical sob... but i do see that we are at a potential turning point. really hope we can make something of this moment, and not lose it to...??? not like any of these ideas are new or anything, not like people haven't had opportunities in the past... only to be squandered.
just putting another person in office, not changing the underlying value system on which it operates... good luck for any real, lasting change. this is just the realist in me.
