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Old 11-30-2011, 05:11 PM   #204
CuckooTuli
 
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Join Date: Dec 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Versus View Post
I disagree with this. If the vast majority of people couldn't find it within themselves to fight for what they believe in, or simply for their lives and their future, then nothing would have gotten accomplished from the passing fancy of a few people. If this isn't the case, then Occupy protesters might as well pack their shit and go home.
Not necessarily. My argument is that the majority of people are most interested in issues which directly affect them and theirs (which is exactly how the present-day white middle class domination of western culture came about in the fist place). Now everyone’s in the shitter; hence, massive protests, the spread of Occupy to other countries, etc.

Honestly, do you really think there’d be Occupy camps in London & Melbourne if the recession only affected America? I don’t. But I don’t think that renders the protests worthless either.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Versus View Post
And further,

Don't talk to me about circumstances, consequences, or results achieved. I have a very vivid memory of killing people.
You know what? I don’t doubt that an experience like that gives you a huge appreciation for the weight of violence, even if it’s a very different kind to the kind I’m talking about. But it doesn’t mean no one else can possibly understand or have experience of it; it may not be the devastation of war but as a frequent protestor and volunteer support worker in some pretty scary places, I can assure you I’m familiar with what “not pretty” looks like up close.

In any case, it certainly doesn’t mean your moral judgments are above debate or criticism. Your life experience does not obligate people to accept the principles it has led you to and neither does anyone else’s. That’s why anecdotal evidence alone is seen as a shaky defence if any argument.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Versus View Post
It is completely asinine for you to call me morally naive because I, more then anybody on this forum, know about the shades of gray and justification of violence. The difference is that I condemn it, regardless of all of that, while YOU justify one form of violence and condemn another. It is hypocritical beyond explanation.
Dude, aren’t you in the military? So, you condemn all forms of violence… while serving in the US army?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Versus View Post
Like the monk that sets himself on fire and is willing to die for what he believes in, the protesters should take inspiration and at least recognize that they can't believe in something only so far as their comfort is assured.
Very much agreed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Versus View Post
Like the monk that sets himself on fire and is willing to die for what he believes in, the protesters should take inspiration and at least recognize that they can't believe in something only so far as their comfort is assured.
Yes, you did. But I guess I felt like you took a very blasé attitude towards violence against the protestors (yes, using pepper spray counts as violence in that using it on someone without due cause can result in prosecution for assault), then went capslock at the suggestion that violent protests in France had achieved positive results. Seemed like a double-standard to me.
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