Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeBass
A few pages back we had this disscussion and yes there where numerous organizations and messages all trying to hitch their wagon to a movement at the beginning. Their was everything from anti Macarthy to no nukes it was a mess of competing messages but eventually one message was the unifying force. We don't know if this group will find one or fade away. I will reserve my judgement for now.
I have no idea where this will go nor do I think it is on par with the peak of the Nam protests but every protest starts with one person.
I think my biggest issue is with the comments generalizing a group of people looking to practise democracy. I am guilty of doing it with the Tea Party this summer too.
What I am going to do this weekend is go down there. I may not agree with a lot of them but I am going to give them a shot and decide for myself. I may walk away shaking my head, grab a sign or a hot dog from a cart then get in my luxury sedan and drive home.
They may be a bunch of unwashed tools to some but in some way they are practising democracy more than I and perhaps a lot of you have in our lifetime.
|
I have a problem with this comment. I believe that the political discourse and sharing of political opinion, the changing of minds in some cases, and even the encouragement to vote or become politically active in a campaign - all of this on CalPuck, no less - is far more active participation in democracy than what you're seeing at Olympic Plaza / St. Patrick's Island.
Why confuse civil disobedience with active participation in democracy? If you changed "democracy" to "freedom of assembly", you may be correct in your statement. But democracy, no. Democracy enables freedom of assembly and freedom of assembly may support democracy by voicing the will of the people. But there is no discernible voice, the people are representative of no obvious or coherent cause, and the majority which are homeless (I presume) would be better served (literally and figuratively) at the homeless shelters or kitchens.
I feel insulted that the tenor of discussion regarding Occupy Calgary, in particular, is that these Alice-in-Wonderland characters are afforded some vaunted position of great participators in democracy rather than the pathetic violators of bylaws and rights of others to the public locations of their makeshift shanty towns.