Quote

"For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach." -- J.R.R. Tolkien

Friday, November 4, 2011

The Occupy Movement

I find this movement both appealing and disturbing.  I very much appeal to their overall message, that greed is destructive and that our nation and world are going down a long and slippery slope towards economic disaster, but I have a very difficult time comprehending what they plan on doing about this issue.  It seems in the current political environment, many people (ala Tea Party and now the Occupy movement) are extremely adept at pointing out the flaws in our society and economy, but no one seems to have any hint of a solution.  This lack of solubility makes the Occupy Movement a difficult thing to throw any real support behind, because they have no goal and no purpose other than protesting that which is inherently evil naturally.

Over the past few months, and Occupy Movement has begun adopting the Guy Fawkes' masks as a symbol of rising up against the tyranny of the wealthy bankers and corrupt politicians who propagate a system that favors their own personal gain.  The symbolism also holds some deeper and more troubling aspects from the past.

I didn't know much about Guy Fawkes until a year or so ago when the Anonymous online group adopted the mask.  The real Guy Fawkes has a very violent and unsavory past; and by all reasonable modern translation, he would be akin to an Osama bin Laden of the 15th century.  Although the imagery of the mask has shifted over time, this new adoption by the Occupy Movement could mean a move into a more violent stage of protest.   I am going to hope that the Occupy Movement continues to remain dedicated to peaceful protesting, as long as is required.  Sadly, I also cannot see any way that this protest, as dedicated as they may be, will actually effect any real changes to the system.  Maybe we will be able to evoke some fundamental shift in the politics of our nation, but I am not going to hold my breath.

Below is linked another curious article from the Associated Press that touches on this topic also.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111104/ap_on_en_mo/us_occupy_vendetta

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