It seemed odd to have a free speech area because then the corollary was that all the rest of the campus was a non-free speech area. In any case nobody ever demonstrated there because, who would notice them there?
If you demonstrate you want people to notice you. One, you want to bring your issue to people's attention, and two, you want to show that a lot of people feel the same way.
Snarling traffic is just a side effect, but it is a lot of fun. I was having this conversation with a friend of mine about BLM (I notice that it has become an acronym), and he was saying that he felt good that young people took the effort for something they believed in. Isn't that what democracy is all about?
I supposed so, but what I was thinking was it's not like those demonstrators were making this sacrifice, just look at them, they are having a ball. Well not all of them, some of them are all earnest and polite, but a lot of them are having a ball.
It was widely believed, especially among us young demonstrators that it was our efforts that ended the Vietnam war. But as time passed I began to hear other opinions, that the war ended because basically we weren't winning and it looked like it would go on forever. But didn't we demonstrators bring that to the attention of the public? I'm not so sure. The thrust of our argument was that the war was evil, but what did the war effort in was that it was stupid.
And as time passed looking back at our demonstrations they didn't seem so noble anymore, they seemed kind of annoying, smartass punks who acted like only they knew the truth. If we really wanted to end the war we should have been enlightening people rather than calling them evil.
And then there is that whole matter of police. Back in the day, they were our enemy. Well they were an arm of the state. It was widely assumed that they hated us, and I have to admit that we weren't very likeable. The BLM demonstrations are by their nature anti-police, well maybe bad police, but how to distinguish.
When I was talking to my friend I said something about a couple of cops who had killed people and I said well these guys are on trial and they are off the force. And he said they aren't off, they are suspended and they are still getting paid. They are? I didn't know. Probably. Police unions. I don't like police unions when they stand up for every bad cop, but I guess I like them when they stand up in solidarity with other unions. And as a good liberal, shouldn't I always back unions?
Well I don't know. I am usually pretty clear cut about what I am for and what I am against, but in this Black Lives Matter thing, I am just not sure, the reason I go on about it.
But I'm pretty sure about Santa Claus. Big fan as you guys may know. Guys that badmouth the jolly old elf, I just don't know. And I don't know if it's true or not but I'll wager you guys, when you first began to wonder about Santa kept your big yaps shut lest that gravy train of loot dry up, and now that you are a couple grumpy old men you are trying to deaden the delight in every wide-eyed little moppet on Santa's lap, for shame.
I went to the wiki for that world giving index. Apparently Gallup takes polls in every country asking them
Gallup asked people which of the following three charitable acts they had undertaken in the past month:[2]
- helped a stranger, or someone they didn’t know who needed help?
- donated money to a charity?
- volunteered your time to an organisation?
I don't know maybe that just proves Americans are bigger braggarts than other people, except for the shamelessly self promoting former Burmans. I just don't see how you can measure an abstract idea like generosity to the precision where you can rank countries on it, so I am dismissing it out of hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment