Saturday, June 15, 2013
Trying to decode Occupy
One constant theme pops up among Occupy types in America, Germany and Turkey. The invariant slogan is Transforming the conversation. When expanded it often sounds like this:
"Democracy doesn't mean the winning side gets to impose their agenda. Democracy really means that the losing side should dominate the discussion."
I'm not sure of the underlying purpose. It resembles good old Alinskyan Dialectic, but I don't think it's quite the same. My rusty old Hippieshit Decoder Machine doesn't have a symbol for this concept.
Assuming the saying means just what it says, it's completely pointless for America. Already happened a long time ago. As my father used to say, "If you want Republican policies, vote Democrat. If you want Democrat policies, vote Republican."
More recently and specifically, those who voted for Bush The Son got pure Teddy Kennedy. Those who voted for Obama got pure McCain/Romney.
Maybe this crossover isn't obvious to the 70% of the population who are totally blinded by TV, but it's hardly a mystery.
Is this new slogan an attempt to discourage those delusional people who think voting makes a difference? If so, it's a welcome acceptance of reality. If not, I simply can't parse it.
¶ 9:38 AM 
Assuming the saying means just what it says, it's completely pointless for America. Already happened a long time ago. As my father used to say, "If you want Republican policies, vote Democrat. If you want Democrat policies, vote Republican."
More recently and specifically, those who voted for Bush The Son got pure Teddy Kennedy. Those who voted for Obama got pure McCain/Romney.
Maybe this crossover isn't obvious to the 70% of the population who are totally blinded by TV, but it's hardly a mystery.
Is this new slogan an attempt to discourage those delusional people who think voting makes a difference? If so, it's a welcome acceptance of reality. If not, I simply can't parse it.
¶ 9:38 AM
