OCCUPY WALL STREET

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Diavolo

We have to be vigilant and we have to understand what this is about.

Yes, I agree we have to be vigilant. And as I mentioned in 1933 when Hitler became chancellor of Germany it was a democracy.

It doesn't hurt to pay attention to history.

I certainly don't expect to have someone with Hitler's ideology become President and make himself a dictator. However, I am saying Germany's economic vulnerability brought about by WWI left it susceptible to fear tactics. Which is how Hitler rose to power. I don't think it is beyond the realm of possibility that human rights in the U.S. will continue to deteriorate over time if conditions continue to worsen. And while I wouldn't expect the U.S. to fall prey to the same kind of ideological crap that Hitler spewed, it is an unarguable reality that we have an unlimited amount of ideological crap just waiting for it's time in the sun. No harm in noticing the changes in our basic human rights.

That's all I'm saying.

[persiphone]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Yes, I agree we have to be vigilant. And as I mentioned in 1933 when Hitler became chancellor of Germany it was a democracy.

It doesn't hurt to pay attention to history.

I certainly don't expect to have someone with Hitler's ideology become President and make himself a dictator. However, I am saying Germany's economic vulnerability brought about by WWI left it susceptible to fear tactics. Which is how Hitler rose to power. I don't think it is beyond the realm of possibility that human rights in the U.S. will continue to deteriorate over time if conditions continue to worsen. And while I wouldn't expect the U.S. to fall prey to the same kind of ideological crap that Hitler spewed, it is an unarguable reality that we have an unlimited amount of ideological crap just waiting for it's time in the sun. No harm in noticing the changes in our basic human rights.

That's all I'm saying.

also i keep seeing people repeating the "history repeats itself" mantra in terms of genocide and yet we forget that it's already repeating itself in Africa. just cuz it hasn't happened in America yet, doesn't mean it's not happening anywhere. because it is and has been.

[Corkey]

http://morallowground.com/2011/11/17...rotesters-mom/

Just in case someone thinks it can't happen here.
She should have taken the cops names instead.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Corkey

http://morallowground.com/2011/11/17...rotesters-mom/

Just in case someone thinks it can't happen here.
She should have taken the cops names instead.

It is getting out of hand. My concern is that it will continue to get worse. No one seems to know what to do to stop it.

[MsMerrick]

This a n event, hopefully you can read it , its on FB.. If you are anywhere near the NYC area, join in...
All Women's Assembly to End Violence Against Women + March to OWS!

[Cin]

Originally Posted by persiphone

also i keep seeing people repeating the "history repeats itself" mantra in terms of genocide and yet we forget that it's already repeating itself in Africa. just cuz it has happened in America yet, doesn't mean it's not happening anywhere. because it is and has been.

Yes, but it's so surprising when it happens to you. The U.S. government has been doing it to everyone else for years but when they turn on you it's always a shock.

I posted an article entitled "OWS, Police Brutality, and the War on Terror: An Empire State of Mind" that talks about when them chickens come home to roost.

[persiphone]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Yes, but it's so surprising when it happens to you. The U.S. government has been doing it to everyone else for years but when they turn on you it's always a shock.

I posted an article entitled "OWS, Police Brutality, and the War on Terror: An Empire State of Mind" that talks about when them chickens come home to roost.

i know. i read it. and very good points btw. i'm actually not as shocked as some others.

[Diavolo]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Yes, but it's so surprising when it happens to you. The U.S. government has been doing it to everyone else for years but when they turn on you it's always a shock.

I posted an article entitled "OWS, Police Brutality, and the War on Terror: An Empire State of Mind" that talks about when them chickens come home to roost.

That's what I never understand. If we allow our government to do it to someone else what makes us think they won't do it to us?

Where can I find your article? Is it the one on Common Dreams?

[persiphone]

Originally Posted by Diavolo

That's what I never understand. If we allow our government to do it to someone else what makes us think they won't do it to us?

Where can I find your article? Is it the one on Common Dreams?

post #1106 on page 56

[kannon]

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/11...rate-monarchy/

[SoNotHer]

"I wrote back suggesting that I am a happy dude, and its not Anger — its closer to an ineffable sadness that comes once you realize you have lost something dear. I am old enough to have grown up when this nation was a Democracy, but that era has passed. We now live in a nation no longer run by the citizens — it is a Corporatocracy — and that makes me sadder than angry ..."

Great piece, Kannon. Thank you for posting it.

Originally Posted by kannon

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/11...rate-monarchy/

[Slater]

http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst...r/?page=entire

Norm Stamper certainly made mistakes as Chief of Police in Seattle, but he was willing to learn from them. I think he offers a few important insights in the article linked above:

1) That although the 1999 "Battle in Seattle" should have served as a primer of what NOT to do for law enforcement agencies, the opposite has happened. It has ushered in an era of increased militarization of law enforcement. He writes: "The paramilitary bureaucracy and the culture it engenders—a black-and-white world in which police unions serve above all to protect the brotherhood—is worse today than it was in the 1990s. Such agencies inevitably view protesters as the enemy."
2) That militaristic policing causes violence. "My support for a militaristic solution caused all hell to break loose," Stamper says. He's right. It did.
3) That 9/11, or more specifically the government's heavy-handed response and exploitation of public fears, has fueled the current crisis in law enforcement. "[T]he federal government began providing military equipment and training even to some of the smallest rural departments ... Everyday policing is characterized by a SWAT mentality, every other 911 call a military mission."

The whole article is worth a read. One thing I have been thinking about that he didn't touch on is the way that the proliferation of non-lethal (or really, less-lethal) weapons has made police forces considerably more aggressive and considerably less concerned about consequences, even in this day when almost everything is captured on video. These tools that were supposed to allow officers to defend themselves without killing people have instead become offensive weapons deployed to secure compliance (or, it seems, sometimes just as a show of dominance) rather than to secure the officer's safety.