Sorry USA, you don't get an "arab spring"

[mizzou]

I don't get it....well maybe I do. I really liked the movie "Red Dawn" when I was little. No....I LOVED it. It wasn't that it was a great movie, it was terrible. It was that the movie portrayed regular people like me, young people, fighting for a beautiful cause in a beautiful and gritty way.

So we all saw the Arab Spring. The sensationalized young and reckless youth, getting blown apart into bits and pieces by organized, militaristic, fascist governments. Qaddafi was the perfect villain (nevermind he was idealized by artists well into the 90's as some sort of rebel king), he fit the role perfectly as a tyrannical dictator.

Add in some social media, some 24/7 news coverage, some slick advertising, and now those movements which were otherwise ruthlessly quashed now had a lasting mark. Now we get to see the "struggle" the "david vs. goliath", and we see it in a beautiful and gritty way. Regular guys and gals, wearing dashing scarfs and facemasks, desperately fighting against tyrrany. God damn, these kids were living a real life Red Dawn and it was terribly exciting!

Well, now that Arab Spring has come and gone....we are getting antsy. We start to feel the outrage and imagine ourselves as an oppressed people. Starting to see more news stories pop up about our own government oppressing us, the POLICE oppressing us. That's right, we put up with their crap for years and now they are mowing us down in scores. 1,000,000's of people dying at the hands of our sworn protectors. Left and right, bodies falling everywhere. Although many of them are the same bodies and same deaths, they are replayed over and over until it seems like a vast unstoppable army is beating us down.

We take to the streets and start to draw lines in the sand. Not. One. More. An impossible ultimatum, but the only one felt acceptable. This is Red Dawn bitch, we are Wolverines! We don't ask or bend, we TAKE! Put on your headbands and battle gear. We are ready for the revolution!
---------------------------
And then I get yelled at by my mom for drastic over-reaction to why I felt I did not need to eat vegetables at dinner. NOW I have to go to my room

Sorry America, but you have nothing substantial to riot over. You are too perfect of a country compared to your peers, yet you want to see yourself as an impoverished 3rd world nation. No, you aren't allowed to act like an impoverished refugee, eat your green beans. No, you aren't allowed to act like you are getting killed in a mass genocide, eat your carrots. No, you aren't allowed to act like you are living under constant tyrrany, eat your corn.

Sorry America, but all you have is a decent meal in front of you. If you don't want to eat it and want to pout about it, then fine. Go to your room, don't eat dinner, and starve. At some point, you will come back and feel hungry again for what you've been provided with and maybe then you will be reminded that things aren't so bad here after all.

 

[doubledeluxe]

It's a slow boil.

Just look at voter participation numbers. Even in Ferguson the mayor ran uncontested to a 12% voter turnout. This last election only had a 40% turnout.

People are too lazy to do anything to change this country.

 

[mizzou]

It's a slow boil.

Just look at voter participation numbers. Even in Ferguson the mayor ran uncontested to a 12% voter turnout. This last election only had a 40% turnout.

People are too lazy to do anything to change this country.

We have a terrible political system. We all love to hate the politician, so who the hell wants to be one? I know I don't. So if our representatives all suck balls, then how could we possibly have a good government?

We should honestly promote more activism in schools. Get people more interested in the mechanics and operation of civil government.

 

[doubledeluxe]

It seems to me that if you want to get your voice heard you need to organize properly.

We don't do that.

These protests are stupid and really only show the dark side of America. They need to take a page from MLK and others and organize big and peacefully.

I still think that if 10,000,000 people marched on Washington people would be far more effective. Those of you complaining about traffic on the 110 or 405 or whatever imagine if a million people were on the freeway. You would pay attention then. Suddenly it's not 1000 annoying assholes but a million people making their voices heard.

They also need a clear message. The message coming out of ferguson is mixed and the loudest ones are stupid.

 

[mizzou]

.

They also need a clear message. The message coming out of Ferguson is mixed and the loudest ones are stupid.

:thumbsup:

 

[MongGrel]

Red Dawn was always a bit lame to begin with I thought myself.

Even when it came out.

Weren't they rebooting it? I probably don't want to know.

 

[MongGrel]

I don't get it....well maybe I do. I really liked the movie "Red Dawn" when I was little. No....I LOVED it. It wasn't that it was a great movie, it was terrible. It was that the movie portrayed regular people like me, young people, fighting for a beautiful cause in a beautiful and gritty way.

So we all saw the Arab Spring. The sensationalized young and reckless youth, getting blown apart into bits and pieces by organized, militaristic, fascist governments. Qaddafi was the perfect villain (nevermind he was idealized by artists well into the 90's as some sort of rebel king), he fit the role perfectly as a tyrannical dictator.

Add in some social media, some 24/7 news coverage, some slick advertising, and now those movements which were otherwise ruthlessly quashed now had a lasting mark. Now we get to see the "struggle" the "david vs. goliath", and we see it in a beautiful and gritty way. Regular guys and gals, wearing dashing scarfs and facemasks, desperately fighting against tyrrany. God damn, these kids were living a real life Red Dawn and it was terribly exciting!

Well, now that Arab Spring has come and gone....we are getting antsy. We start to feel the outrage and imagine ourselves as an oppressed people. Starting to see more news stories pop up about our own government oppressing us, the POLICE oppressing us. That's right, we put up with their crap for years and now they are mowing us down in scores. 1,000,000's of people dying at the hands of our sworn protectors. Left and right, bodies falling everywhere. Although many of them are the same bodies and same deaths, they are replayed over and over until it seems like a vast unstoppable army is beating us down.

We take to the streets and start to draw lines in the sand. Not. One. More. An impossible ultimatum, but the only one felt acceptable. This is Red Dawn bitch, we are Wolverines! We don't ask or bend, we TAKE! Put on your headbands and battle gear. We are ready for the revolution!
---------------------------
And then I get yelled at by my mom for drastic over-reaction to why I felt I did not need to eat vegetables at dinner. NOW I have to go to my room

Sorry America, but you have nothing substantial to riot over. You are too perfect of a country compared to your peers, yet you want to see yourself as an impoverished 3rd world nation. No, you aren't allowed to act like an impoverished refugee, eat your green beans. No, you aren't allowed to act like you are getting killed in a mass genocide, eat your carrots. No, you aren't allowed to act like you are living under constant tyrrany, eat your corn.

Sorry America, but all you have is a decent meal in front of you. If you don't want to eat it and want to pout about it, then fine. Go to your room, don't eat dinner, and starve. At some point, you will come back and feel hungry again for what you've been provided with and maybe then you will be reminded that things aren't so bad here after all.

After stopping and reading your whole post, stop bitching and do something yourself then.

No one is stopping you.

You're bitching that a lot of people that voluntarily try to improve other peoples lives on a daily basis can't eat green beans? or did I miss something there.

 

[JumBie]

It's a slow boil.

Just look at voter participation numbers. Even in Ferguson the mayor ran uncontested to a 12% voter turnout. This last election only had a 40% turnout.

People are too lazy to do anything to change this country.

People aren't too lazy, the government will continue to rig the elections and politicians will continue to follow and do what ever they are told.

 

[rommelrommel]

Red Dawn was always a bit lame to begin with I thought myself.

Even when it came out.

Weren't they rebooting it? I probably don't want to know.

Was done already, just as terrible as the original but somehow deader and dumber.

Eta... Somehow North Korea manages to ignore the Pacific Ocean and appears in Spokane WA. It's that good.

 

[mizzou]

After stopping and reading your whole post, stop bitching and do something yourself then.

No one is stopping you.

You're bitching that a lot of people that voluntarily try to improve other peoples lives on a daily basis can't eat green beans? or did I miss something there.

I've got nothing to bitch about, I been eating my vegetables for a long time. Just saying that most people who bitch and whine about the state of this country is equatable to a child who is a picky eater.

 

[Victorian Gray]

I've got nothing to bitch about, I been eating my vegetables for a long time. Just saying that most people who bitch and whine about the state of this country is equatable to a child who is a picky eater.

And you would know this how? You've met all of these people and know their individual circumstances/lives?

 

[BUnit1701]

The problem is even those marginally interested only want to come out on one Tuesday in November and vote. If you want decent candidates, you have to get involved with the local party and do your part to get decent candidates through the primary rather than the establishment approved hacks.

 

[zanejohnson]

would your attitude change if it was proved that every election has been systematically "rigged" since about the Kennedy era? what if you furthermore found out that 911 was indeed a false flag carried out by our own supposed "government."

just a hypothetical.

i'll tell you what changed it for me, when i learned how the federal reserve worked, and then i saw how our media was spinning the issue about our "deficit."

after i had learned about how the fed worked, and i realized that in fact, our debt, gives our money it's intrinsic value, and thus, our deficit actually works IN OUR advantage... but the conservative main stream media was pushing this idea that we needed to cut spending, and lower our deficit..... it seemed utterly.... backhanded, and actually an insult to the American people's intelligence.

that's when it all made sense to me why we DO have the largest, most advanced, military in the world... and why countries who are not trading with the dollar, are in fact our enemies... our military's main purpose is to destabilize working economys, destroy the infrastructure (usually oil or gas) that allows their economys to work without the dollar... and then to protect the global energy companies, while they rebuild said infrastructure, thus, putting said infrastructure under the control of the banks...

and how "foreign aid," is actually nothing more than a control mechanism as well...because of the way the fed and the IMF work, the aid can never actually be repaid, and by default, we gain control of the country... all with the dollar, and the federal reserve banking system.

after i learned all of this, it also became clear to me why China, is allowed to own our debt, and then....it became utterly clear why North Korea is the way they are, and why Israel is the way it is. and then i had this crazy idea, that maybe, just maybe....NK is actually, the last "free" country. the last not global corp/banking cartel controlled company., you have to look at the LONG CON here.

it's not moral.

 

[Karl Agathon]

Was done already, just as terrible as the original but somehow deader and dumber.

Eta... Somehow North Korea manages to ignore the Pacific Ocean and appears in Spokane WA. It's that good.

Don't remember all the details, but the original enemy was going to be China. Somehow, Red China used some kind of pressure and the movie makers changed the enemy to NK.

A little more realistic with them invading than NK. Not much more though, being that their navy would be obliterated long before reaching the West Coast.

 

[KeithP]

Eta... Somehow North Korea manages to ignore the Pacific Ocean and appears in Spokane WA. It's that good.

FYI, It was originally China. Before release the studio decided making the Chinese the villains might hurt the box office in China so they reworked the finished film and made North Korea the bad guys.

-KeithP

 

[Newell Steamer]

On the surface, America suffers from Movie-itis.

We want glory and think the path to it is by fighting. Fighting an oppressive force. Fighting an idea. Fighting the fighting.

Get over it.

Our last 3 wars were a colossal waste in life and money - and, we got nothing out of it. War is not the, nor an, answer.

But, of course, there are people that are so miserable in their own personal lives, that they are perfectly OK with sending off young men and women to fight and die - and even call to these actions on our own soil.

On that last point; over what?

A birth certificate? A cop gunning down someone who is reaching for their gun? A high cable bill?

These aren't "signs" for you to grab your rifle and fight. These are frankly stupid ideas to be pissed off at.

The US isn't some wasteland of torture and oppression, ruled by a dictator - to think it is, means you are an alarmist who doesn't have (and never will have) an off switch to you blaring cries of danger; you are defective, you are miserable,.. you should just keep it to yourself.

 

[Matt1970]

Most people who want to revolt do so because they are angry they can only afford a 50" TV when the guy down the road has a 60".

 

[HomerJS]

Most people who want to revolt do so because they are angry they can only afford a 50" TV when the guy down the road has a 60".

Was the hunt for TVs after hockey games, surfing tournaments or the firing of football coaches who turned a blind eye to child molestation?

 

[unokitty]

 

[mizzou]

https://twitter.com/red3blog/status/537082336228417537/photo/1

 

[doubledeluxe]

On the surface, America suffers from Movie-itis.

We want glory and think the path to it is by fighting. Fighting an oppressive force. Fighting an idea. Fighting the fighting.

Get over it.

Our last 3 wars were a colossal waste in life and money - and, we got nothing out of it. War is not the, nor an, answer.

But, of course, there are people that are so miserable in their own personal lives, that they are perfectly OK with sending off young men and women to fight and die - and even call to these actions on our own soil.

On that last point; over what?

A birth certificate? A cop gunning down someone who is reaching for their gun? A high cable bill?

These aren't "signs" for you to grab your rifle and fight. These are frankly stupid ideas to be pissed off at.

The US isn't some wasteland of torture and oppression, ruled by a dictator - to think it is, means you are an alarmist who doesn't have (and never will have) an off switch to you blaring cries of danger; you are defective, you are miserable,.. you should just keep it to yourself.

You might want to read about the revolutionary war and why it was fought

 

[Matt1970]

You might want to read about the revolutionary war and why it was fought

The Redcoats are coming again?

 

[Linux23]

would your attitude change if it was proved that every election has been systematically "rigged" since about the Kennedy era? what if you furthermore found out that 911 was indeed a false flag carried out by our own supposed "government."

just a hypothetical.

i'll tell you what changed it for me, when i learned how the federal reserve worked, and then i saw how our media was spinning the issue about our "deficit."

after i had learned about how the fed worked, and i realized that in fact, our debt, gives our money it's intrinsic value, and thus, our deficit actually works IN OUR advantage... but the conservative main stream media was pushing this idea that we needed to cut spending, and lower our deficit..... it seemed utterly.... backhanded, and actually an insult to the American people's intelligence.

that's when it all made sense to me why we DO have the largest, most advanced, military in the world... and why countries who are not trading with the dollar, are in fact our enemies... our military's main purpose is to destabilize working economys, destroy the infrastructure (usually oil or gas) that allows their economys to work without the dollar... and then to protect the global energy companies, while they rebuild said infrastructure, thus, putting said infrastructure under the control of the banks...

and how "foreign aid," is actually nothing more than a control mechanism as well...because of the way the fed and the IMF work, the aid can never actually be repaid, and by default, we gain control of the country... all with the dollar, and the federal reserve banking system.

after i learned all of this, it also became clear to me why China, is allowed to own our debt, and then....it became utterly clear why North Korea is the way they are, and why Israel is the way it is. and then i had this crazy idea, that maybe, just maybe....NK is actually, the last "free" country. the last not global corp/banking cartel controlled company., you have to look at the LONG CON here.

it's not moral.

Robert Reich, is that you?

 

[biostud]

I think that "the winner takes it all"/two party system is hindering a slow change where people can protest vote on other parties. So instead of doing that people just stay home. Politicians should fear the voters, but they don't since their campaigns are funded by big business and not the people.

Here in Denmark parties comes and goes as voters get fed up with the larger parties and decides to vote for smaller/new parties. If a party gets at least 2% in total votes, they're guaranteed seats in the parliament. Also the voter turnout at the last election was 87,7 percent.

 

[doubledeluxe]

The USA has never had turnout that high. At least going back to 1828