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In reply to the discussion: Protesters again take to uptown streets (of Charlotte) [View all]limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)Judging the manner in which something was said...can't that mean judging the way it is being used? Somebody said around here they could discern the "demeanor" of a police officer based on a quote from the newspaper.
Anyhoo, my cell phone is limiting me. I see those pictures and captions when you paste them, but not in the article. I could take your word for it that some of those demonstrators are against voting. You're right that not voting is stupid. I've been to occupy assemblies and events in 3 different cities and never once did anybody suggest I should not vote or even express anything related to not voting.
That said, I could easily see myself standing there with a "stop fracking" sign or "Stop TPP" or "Stop Keystone" or something like that, and some idiot could walk up next to me with a "stop voting" sign. It doesn't mean everybody there agrees with it.
Nextly, even if they do stupidly advocate not voting, they have a right to protest. So as long as they are non-violent, I think the criticism about them costing money for police overtime is spurious. It's fair for you to raise the issue (unlike the body odor issue). But I think we need to expect that some people are going to protest and it's nothing unusual, considering that our government has largely been bought by big money special interests.
Nobody in those photos has their face covered. They look like fairly clean-cut, good smelling, patriotic Americans. Why use the body odor of a few demonstrators to discredit the views of all demonstrators?
I believe you are refering to the sign in the photo which reads "There is no ballot we can cast to set us free?" What's wrong with that? I just interpret that to mean that if we want major systemic changes, it will take more than voting. Don't delude ourselves into thinking that voting means more than it actually does. Voting is important, but all the really big positive changes in American history have started with movements which never achieved formal political power, if they participated in politics at all.
So the need for fundamental systemic changes seems to be one of their points. I noted some good points that they made, based on these quotes:
Another good point:
So it's really unfair I think to lump all the demonstrators together, or to paint a picture of the whole thing as anti-voting, or to play the body odor card, or to say that they don't have any good points.
I don't get the "anhedonia" reference. Looked it up in the dictionary but still don't get it.
They should be glued to their TV's crying tears of ecstacy while the "leaders" speak? That's not for everybody. Non-violent protest on these issues is a worthwhile activity, in addition to voting.