I am a peace-loving individual.
When Patrick Henry says, Give me Liberty, or Give me Death, I say, I have a strong allergic reaction to that death thing, can you just give me the liberty?
Our nation does not dole its freedoms out lightly. Most have been traded for some serious pounds of flesh. Things you think would be easily granted like ending child labor, improving workplace conditions. People had to die to win these freedoms. Then you look at slavery, the most ignominious, 700,000 lives lost (and that just from the Civil War), all for values and principles that should have been granted freely.
NO ONE should have to die for equality.
NO ONE should be shot down for protesting an ill-conceived foreign war.
NO ONE should take a rubber bullet to the head, just for trying to improve the lot for 99% of his fellow citizens. (including the officer who fired the bullet for he certainly is in the 99%).
First, let me get out of the way that I think Governor Brown should call out the National Guard to protect the citizens of Oakland from that crazy mayor and their police force.
Now, let me follow with my strong reservations about Occupy placing itself in the cross hairs of every yokel mayor in America. I'm not getting a good feeling about that.
Occupy Wall Street is a meme. A call to action, not necessarily a call to Occupy Peoria.
The first image of Occupy Wall Street was a poster of a ballerina poised on one foot upon a raging bull. In the background there is the fog of maybe a more violent revolution. I would like to think of the ballerina as the non-violent warrior with two battles to fight. The first, on the foreground, is to tame the destructive influence of capitalists run amok on our society. The second, is to do so while keeping those in the background off of hallowed ground.
Question at the fold.
How can Occupy Wall Street succeed as a bloodless revolution? Thoughts please.