My last list of “serious” protests and their aftermath was something of a downer. There is nothing glorious about pain and misery. Thinking about the human costs, even of the ones that came out well (like the American Revolution) isn’t lighthearted.
So in my best attempt to focus on the positive, I decided to paste a Curmudgeonly Gem of insight as both a shot at, and a lifeline to, “hobby protesters” like the Occupy Wall Street children:
“If you think the student loans you voluntarily accepted are a the worst of all possible tragedies, life has been very kind to you. Be thankful.”
Furthermore:
“Adults endeavor to pay the goddamn bill for their choices; especially their unwise choices. Those who succeed (and most can) earn a measure of self esteem beyond what is artificially attached to any college degree.”
The OWS protesters are milling around in perpetual adolescence pretending not to see the ladder that’s waiting for them. Some, perhaps most, will eventually climb it. I heartily welcome those who make the effort. Reality is it’s own reward.
With that I’ll quit harrumphing about hobby protesters for a while. (Though I’m not entirely done, I have a prediction to make before the weather gets warm.)
What do we want?
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle!
When do we want it?
Ummm…
I remember this from 20 years ago, physics and chem and engineering students counter-protesting (between classes) the standard campus leftists having their little march-and-chant against whatever got their panties in a wad that week.
From this I took a valuable lesson: people who actually have Things To Do don’t join mid-afternoon protest marches. They make phone calls and send money to People With Influence. They publish letters and essays and do research on the issue after work. Or they go back to class, graduate, and get jobs that allow them the time and resources to do so.
People who join protests during the working day are the useful idiots the Communists wanted.
– Max