# Protests happening around the world **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 4, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554 "2011-10-04T14:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/21 "2011-10-04T19:12:39Z")
> [@Consensus](#): > > I think wind, solar and hydro fits the bill alot better than nuclear does. Did you miss the part about “that can meet our needs”? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/22 "2011-10-04T19:31:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > May I ask who or what gives you (or your group) the authority to speak for all the people protesting on Wall Street? I dunno. Who speaks for the Tea Party? Nobody and everybody. And its apparent success is a model to emulate, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/23 "2011-10-04T19:37:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I dunno. Who speaks for the Tea Party? Nobody and everybody. And its apparent success is a model to emulate, isn’t it? _Hell_ no. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/24 "2011-10-04T19:59:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Hell no. Well, they’ve successfully helped derail one of the most popular and promising Presidents of all time, while a political party which was virtually annihilated back in 2008 has recovered to the point where they are once again on the cusp of becoming America’s dominant political force by piggy-backing on their success. I’m sure they don’t care that you think they’re a bunch of idiots. Their MO has worked pretty damn well, all things considered. And even though they’ve started to lose popularity _now_, they’ve had a much, much better run than anybody expected. I think the secret to the Tea Party’s success has been their single-mindedness. They’ve picked a cause (“Small Government, or else”), devised a strategy (“Vote ‘No’ to everything”), and they’ve stuck to it rigidly, systematically overcoming political and financial impediments as they’ve arisen. The Wall Street protestors need to do likewise. You’ve got people out there protesting about deregulation, campaign financing, alternative fuels, Big Oil, Big Pharma, media bias, tax rates, higher education fees, and all manner of other stuff. I’m sure if you looked long enough you’d find a contingent of devoted fuckheads banging on about Building 7 or freeing Mumia. It’s all just _too much._ If I were in charge of the protests, I would have organised it around two specific issues, deregulation and campaign financing. A great many other problems can be traced back to them. Get the money out of politics, and get rid of too-big-to-fail, and you’ll be in a much better position to tackle everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Consensus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@Consensus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consensus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/25 "2011-10-05T11:10:08Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Did you miss the part about “that can meet our needs”? That’s a bit short sighted considering that all fossil fuels are stored solar energy from the past. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/26 "2011-10-05T12:14:39Z")
> [@Consensus](#): > > That’s a bit short sighted considering that all fossil fuels are stored solar energy from the past. Yep, a very concentrated store of solar energy built up over millions of years. Your point? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/27 "2011-10-05T12:15:42Z")
> [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > Well, they’ve successfully helped derail one of the most popular and promising Presidents of all time, while a political party which was virtually annihilated back in 2008 has recovered to the point where they are once again on the cusp of becoming America’s dominant political force by piggy-backing on their success. > > I’m sure they don’t care that you think they’re a bunch of idiots. Their MO has worked pretty damn well, all things considered. And even though they’ve started to lose popularity _now_, they’ve had a much, much better run than anybody expected. > > I think the secret to the Tea Party’s success has been their single-mindedness. They’ve picked a cause (“Small Government, or else”), devised a strategy (“Vote ‘No’ to everything”), and they’ve stuck to it rigidly, systematically overcoming political and financial impediments as they’ve arisen. The Wall Street protestors need to do likewise. Yes and no. Yes they’ve had success in winning some lower offices, but they’re going to run into an issue if/when they succeed in taking executive office: namely, that making small government happen, and certainly balancing the budget, are going to mean making hard choices. The budget doesn’t get balanced unless you cut defense and entitlements, and I suspect a significant number of Tea Party types do not fully grok that yet. Frankly, ISTM that we’ve had a series of ill-focused protest seasons: This current leftist crowd, who says things like “end corporate personhood” or “down with pharmaceutical companies” without really knowing what that means, the Tea Party on the right, angry about government spending in general but unsure of which specific things need to be cut … and frankly, I’d include the Obama campaign itself, seeing as so many people voted for “hope” and “change” while being fuzzy on any details. The next Republican candidate will almost certainly do the same; really, they already are. The entire country, right and left, lacks the mental and emotional wherewithal to deal with hard choices, so we’re embracing slogans and marches in lieu of any actual plans. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/28 "2011-10-05T12:21:55Z")
> [@rozzybear](#): > > Corporations run our government and the media. Just look around and think about things a bit, do some research on Dr. Brzynski… You mean the quack? > [@](#): > > … and Monsanto… You mean the company that made it possible for the world to have enough food and not starve to death? > [@](#): > > …natural gas drilling… You mean the substance that heats our homes and helps to grow more food? > [@](#): > > … pharmaceutical companies. You mean the companies that made it possible for us to live much longer lives than a century ago? And freed us from the scourge of many deadly diseases? That’s the best you can do, complain about what you don’t know about? ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/29 "2011-10-05T13:18:20Z")
Gosh, almost all those people in the pictures are white. Looks like Occupy Wall Street is as racist as the tea party movement. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/30 "2011-10-05T13:21:04Z")
I am on your side, **rozzybear** ; honest! When I heard about these protests my heart lit up, and I allowed myself some rare optimism. But the diffuse, wrong, and sometimes self-contradictory demands are a great disappointment. If you want to reduce use of carbon fuels, nuclear power is an important part of the solution, not the problem. :smack: Looking at the linked-to page: I’m probably at least as “greenish” as most progressives, but is the animal torture part a self-parody? And even if you’re serious, doesn’t this diffuse the protest too much? “held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt” :smack: :smack: Is this a joke? Most Western countries have various scholarship subsidies already. Do we want to make some important reforms within a capitalist system, or call for a Marxist revolution? Et cetera, et cetera. Reading that list of demands makes me lose my optimism for this protest movement. I think you guys need some adult supervision. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/31 "2011-10-05T13:23:50Z")
> [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > Well, they’ve successfully helped derail one of the most popular and promising Presidents of all time … :rolleyes: Yeah, Obama’s failure hasn’t got anything at all to do with his spectacular Carteresque incompetence. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/32 "2011-10-05T13:25:54Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Gosh, almost all those people in the pictures are white. Looks like Occupy Wall Street is as racist as the tea party movement. ::Puts on a pot of coffee, waiting for **LonesomePolecat** to link to the pictures that show the Wall Street demonstrators holding up signs of Obama as a witch doctor.:: ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/33 "2011-10-05T13:29:38Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > :rolleyes: Yeah, Obama’s failure hasn’t got anything at all to do with his spectacular Carteresque incompetence. That isn’t true. There is still a chance his ineptitude and desperate attempt to win bipartisanship and approval from people who revile him and want him to fail really is an 11 dimensional chess strategy none of us will understand until it is too late. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/34 "2011-10-05T13:38:00Z")
> [@rozzybear](#): > > Pharma companies with the help of government, hides the truth about alternatives, and make new laws to hinder the progress of safer treatments in cancer and other terminal illnesses. Find out about Dr. Brzynski and see what they tried to do to him…Corporations run our government and the media. Just look around and think about things a bit, do some research on Dr. Brzynski Dr. Burzynski actually is a good example of [capitalist success at the expense of the masses](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=612109&highlight=burzynski). This is a guy who for decades has been trumpeting his “antineoplaston” cure for cancer, running a clinic that charges $7500-9000 per month for treatment that has never been demonstrated effective against cancer. He also got a million bucks from the National Cancer Institute to run a research trial (which he pulled out of after problems including some patients developing serious side effects). The Evil F.D.A. even granted him orphan drug status to aid his research, which to this day has failed to prove his theories valid. So I don’t see how the Corporate Overlords have blocked him. He’s gamed the system quite effectively. Drug companies, rather than “hid(ing) the truth about alternatives”, have jumped on the bandwagon to sell unproven supplements. It’s a multibillion dollar a year business in this country, from small fly-by-night firms to large corporations. Quackery is not being hidden. It’s flourishing. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/35 "2011-10-05T13:42:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > ::Puts on a pot of coffee, waiting for **LonesomePolecat** to link to the pictures that show the Wall Street demonstrators holding up signs of Obama as a witch doctor.:: Helps himself to a cup and waits for Marley to link to Sandra Bernhard’s rant about black thugs gang raping Palin and Christopher Titus’ rant about assassinating her. Hey, don’t you have any doughnuts to go with this coffee? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/36 "2011-10-05T13:52:40Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Hey, don’t you have any doughnuts to go with this coffee? I take it you haven’t found pictures of the Wall Street demonstrators doing any of the stuff that people complained about the Tea Party doing. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/37 "2011-10-05T14:09:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I take it you haven’t found pictures of the Wall Street demonstrators doing any of the stuff that people complained about the Tea Party doing. No, you may take that I haven’t looked and will not bother. The left’s lunatic hatred for Sara Palin is pretty much all that’s needed to rebuff any charge of “hate” from progressives. And portraying Obama as a witch doctor is entirely appropriate, given the cargo cult mentality of Obama, his supporters, and the left in general. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/38 "2011-10-05T14:17:38Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > And portraying Obama as a witch doctor is entirely appropriate, given the cargo cult mentality of Obama, his supporters, and the left in general. I admire your conviction in seeing this absurdity through to the bitter end. What is it that makes the left’s mentality like a _cargo_ cult specifically? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/39 "2011-10-05T14:18:41Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > The left’s lunatic hatred for Sara Palin is pretty much all that’s needed to rebuff any charge of “hate” from progressives. Not even you believe that. > [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > And portraying Obama as a witch doctor is entirely appropriate, given the cargo cult mentality of Obama, his supporters, and the left in general. :rolleyes: “Cargo cult”? Like, we’re trying to copy the health-care system we saw the Canadians using when they passed through here to fight a war? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554/40 "2011-10-05T14:24:13Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > No, you may take that I haven’t looked and will not bother. The left’s lunatic hatred for Sara Palin is pretty much all that’s needed to rebuff any charge of “hate” from progressives. > > And portraying Obama as a witch doctor is entirely appropriate, given the cargo cult mentality of Obama, his supporters, and the left in general. Please tell us what witch doctors have to do with cargo cults? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protests-happening-around-the-world/598554.md?page=3)