Occupy': Does the movement reflect of a lack of Western
conviction?
Voxpublica, Romania
'Occupiers' Betray
Western Bankruptcy and Lack of Ideals
"Westerners no longer have reason to fight
revolutions.All of their great pains
have passed, their injustices have been resolved, their freedoms won and their ideals
lost.All that's left are frustrations, but these are ephemeral.'Occupy' is an expression of these and
perfectly expresses the hypocrisy: a wish to bring down the banks and major
corporations, but to secretly run to the shopping mall and buy products at half
price!"
A Black Friday shopper holding his prey: Does the juxtiposition of Occupy Wall Street with the bahavior of shoppers looking for Christmas bargains betray the inherent hollowness of the West?
It's already hard to recall how many times the
“occupation” movement has been invoked alongside images of young and old across
the world storming supermarkets on Black Friday as if it were their last.Retirees standing in line to buy
plasma and HD TVs because they have become considerably cheaper - from 1000-1490
lei [$306-$457]!In America,
millions of people are actually trampling over one another to grab the most
products at the lowest prices.Not
free, but at a discount …
There is a basic hypocrisy in these images. It is a
bigger hypocrisy than that which characterizes man in general.They betray the frivolousness of every
anti-capitalist slogan.And they reflect
the paradox through which the West is living.It is the product of a consumer society that indulges every whim.How to revolt against a system that has
created democratized luxury?
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
One cannot revolt unless the system has been taken
from you - or if you feel that it's about to collapse.Then you try to find those responsible: the banks, one ideology or
another or the politicians.It is
never "us," the 99 percent. It is always "them," the 1
percent.Just looking at the news is
hilarious.
Westerners no longer have reason to fight
revolutions.All of their great pains
have passed, their injustices have been resolved, their freedoms won and their
ideals lost.All
that is left are frustrations, but these are ephemeral and within the context
of the moment.“Occupy” is an expression
of these and perfectly expresses the hypocrisy: a wish to bring down the banks
and major corporations, but to secretly run to the shopping mall and buy products
at half price!
The movement to "Occupy Wall Street," an
angry protest of several tens of thousands of young people against the system, whatever
kind of system it may be, has too quickly become part of the system itself.Fear that the movement might fade has resulted
in a few catch-phrases and an ideal that no one shares.The real frustration is the pain expressed by the adolescents who set
fire to London just a few months ago.They
revolted purely and simply because they lacked the latest audio and hi-tech
products.
People
wait in line for 'Black Friday' bargains: Is there an inherent
contradiction
between bargain-mad shoppers and the 'Occupiers'?
The current “occupation,” even if it has exceeded Wall
Street's borders and crossed the ocean to the Old Continent, is just a more
civilized form of the vandalism that occurred in London just a few months ago.If there were a “Black Friday” for banks
when credit was extended at a quarter of the usual interest rate, how many of
those busy with the “occupation” do you think would remain on the street?
What's happening in Romania is a carbon copy of the
above.Here, protestors can be
counted on the fingers of one hand, even if everyone says they're dissatisfied.Street movements are seen as an
obligation - not a necessity. And the absence of conviction is betrayed by the
songs, poems and dances exhibited at every rally.
So better to sing a song and have no ideals, no hardship
and no freedom, so we fight one another in the streets.Just a few frustrations - all to be resolved with some abusive
language …
