International Protests

[Taoistguy]

The worldwide protests are one aspect of the new coming Age. As this old system of living changes, it has to manifest through evety area of the physical. Governments are one of the barriers that hold us back from change. The protests, or rather the sentiments behind the protests have been building up for decades now as people have evolved and no longer feel the need for governments and the dameage and harm they do, The protests will themselves adapt from being 'anti cuts' to pro a new way of living for us all.

[personalreality]

that reminds me of something my boss said to a customer who wanted to make her troubles go away.  my boss told her not to think about what she wanted to get rid of, but instead consider what she wanted to bring into her life. 

i agree that this will be a big change in the way "protesting" happens, the motivation behind it will become about creating something beautiful, not destroying something that we don't think works.

[CFTraveler]

The worldwide protests are one aspect of the new coming Age. As this old system of living changes, it has to manifest through evety area of the physical. Governments are one of the barriers that hold us back from change. The protests, or rather the sentiments behind the protests have been building up for decades now as people have evolved and no longer feel the need for governments and the dameage and harm they do, The protests will themselves adapt from being 'anti cuts' to pro a new way of living for us all.

Protests have been going on at the very least before I was born.  I grew up amongst the Vietnam War protest, the Women's Liberation movement, and they really didn't change much, or the change didn't last, as the present 'protesters' are the ones who want their power back.
I do believe that PR is right in that if any change is going to be done, it is not going to be done by putting energy on the problem, so that focusing on a good outcome may be the answer- not anger and violence- that only perpetuates it.
Will it work?  Only if we all want the same outcome.  That may be the solution, let's see what happens.

[personalreality]

i'm actually really against protesting because as you say, it perpetuates the problem.

this is why i can't stand people like feminists and racial equality people.  the intention may be pure, but what they're doing is just giving more power to "difference".  the only way to overcome inequality is to forget it exists.

here's a good example.  i go to a city college, very urban.  what this means is that we have a highly diverse population of students, especially black and asian.  so i was in a class about two years ago called "intercultural" something or other (the goal was to bring students to intercultural competence, not just being accepting of other cultures, but having a genuine desire to understand other cultures and accept them because you know them, not because you're supposed to) and we got into a heated debate about racism, specifically racism between blacks and whites.  i think it was instigated by this picture:



i tried to express to the class that we were the generation that had the ability to forget about all this civil rights struggle and move on.  my generation is one of the first that has grown up with more or less equality among whites and blacks.  in my world, a black man has just as much chance as a white man to get a job or live in a certain neighborhood (this may not be entirely accurate, but the difference is that my generation came up after the significant events in civil rights history).  i asked the black students why they would want to pass the pain of "inequality" on to their kids.  i told them that we had the chance to change things, we could teach our kids that everyone is the same and we are far enough from the events of the civil rights movement to actually start something new, a new paradigm.  the other students weren't very receptive to this idea.  when it came down to it, they told me that growing up as a black person, you have instilled in the back of your mind that white people aren't trustworthy and when it all comes down to it you can only trust fellow black people.  i asked if they really felt that way and most of them said no, they had never really experienced anything but acceptance from their white peers (notice i say peers and not just white people, some of the older generations are still biggoty).  so i asked why they wanted to perpetuate that kind of distrust in their fellow humans and they said because white people deserve it.  there is still a lot of resentment being held on to and that is what fuels debates over things like race and gender.  it's cultural pride and it's poisoning the global society.  this kind of thinking perpetuates the problem.  people think they're fighting for all kinds of equality, but what they're really doing is attacking what they don't like and forcing something different.  you might say "well it gets things done" but it obviously doesn't.  because of the way "equality" was achieved, there is a lot of anger on both sides.  the better solution would be to just raise a generation of kids who aren't indoctrinated with the "achievements of civil rights leaders" (sounds awful right?).  instead, just teach them what the civil rights leaders taught.  it's like the buddha.  don't worship the buddha, follow his example.

anyway, i just find protesting in the current form to be counter-productive and full of anger.

[Stookie]

anyway, i just find protesting in the current form to be counter-productive and full of anger.

It's placing blame more than it is accepting responsibility.

[Taoistguy]

But this is changing, It's not 'us and them', it's just 'Us'.

[personalreality]

but don't you still just hate 'them'

[Taoistguy]

No.
There is NO them.
It really is us.
We are all in this together.

[NoY]

Something

[personalreality]

yea yea, and blah blah blah, more buddhist stuff.  "who is the other" "I am the other master", and blah blah.

i still hate 'them'

lol.  jk

[Stookie]

IMO everyone just needs to be an example and truly live by their ideals. The problem is that many don't even think it's possible to live by their ideals and just follow the status quo.

And if we'd ignore "them", they'd get bored and go watch Frazier.

[personalreality]

i love frasier.

but yea, a little more practicing what you preach would be awesome.

[Naykid]

i love frasier.

but yea, a little more practicing what you preach would be awesome.

That would be totally awesome.

[personalreality]

passive aggression noted.

[Naykid]

What are you talking about?  I think it would be totally awesome if people would practice what they preach... 

Ummm....unless you are trying to instigate an argument, in which I hope you aren't because that is against the rules and I'd hate to see you banned for a week. 

[personalreality]

lol. 

cool.

[CFTraveler]

I still say the whoa went before the bang.