Mon Apr 30, 2012, 07:06 PM

TheWraith (24,331 posts)

Prediction: The May 1st "general strike" is going to be an enormous flop.

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'll get called a capitalist imperialist running dog lackey for this. But I'm right. There's a good reason that you can count the number of general strikes in the US in the last century on one hand and still have fingers left over--it's a practically nonexistant phenomenon, and pretending that you can summon one out of thin air would be funny if it weren't so egomaniacal.

And this is, pretty much, why I have so little tolerance for the fringe people, the third-partiers, the revolutionaries, the Naderites, etcetera, etcetera. If they had bothered to study history, they would know that what they want to try has been tried, and failed, and tried again, and failed again, ad nauseum. But every generation, somebody comes around with the idea that they really know better than every other person who's ever tried to make a difference in the history of the world.

There's a good reason that King said that the moral arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice. It's because he knew that real, lasting change is accomplished the same way it always has been: with determination and a chisel, not outrage and a machete.

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337 replies	Author	Time	Post
Prediction: The May 1st "general strike" is going to be an enormous flop. (Original post)	TheWraith	Apr 2012	OP
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revoluton inevitable” -JFK	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#1
As true now as it was then, and the latter of the two is overdue. eom	tledford	Apr 2012	#11
Those who seek violent revolution	MineralMan	Apr 2012	#72
Those who are able to convince a majority that peaceful revolution	LadyHawkAZ	Apr 2012	#65
Violent revolution is so messy..	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#70
Good points but I don't know that MLK was correct.	former9thward	Apr 2012	#2
The statement that Martin Luther King made was distilled from ages of history.	bluestate10	May 2012	#213
As a student of history I certainly don't agree with your analysis.	former9thward	May 2012	#219
That doesn't mean, though, that Dr. King was ok with gradualism	Ken Burch	May 2012	#226
I agree. If it gets 5 minutes on the evening news, I'll be amazed.	badtoworse	Apr 2012	#3
I'll bet you $10K it will make the news :)	pinboy3niner	Apr 2012	#8
So what?	Marr	May 2012	#121
It has to do with getting your message out	badtoworse	May 2012	#157
Getting your message out is important.	Marr	May 2012	#175
So you agree with The Wraith and want us all to give up.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#141
Turning OWS into an ideological purity test isn't going to change anything either.	hack89	May 2012	#142
How about defing some specific objectives?	badtoworse	May 2012	#156
Has "99% Spring" done any of those things?	Ken Burch	May 2012	#228
Not surprising since the corporate media's biased against us.	backscatter712	May 2012	#154
Then you'd just be preaching to the choir.	randome	May 2012	#155
Once you get a "leader", you lose the radicalism.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#229
Even if someone noticed the "strike" they won't know what they are striking for	banned from Kos	Apr 2012	#4
Have you seen what it's like on the Occupy Underground forum?	randome	Apr 2012	#9
Let's see...	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#10
Doomed I tell ya!	bvar22	May 2012	#144
I don't think that the organizers believe it is going to be a huge deal media wise.	CTyankee	Apr 2012	#5
That is pretty much correct. It is an opportunity to support other actions beign called by allies..	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#14
We shouldn't forget the impact of the teach ins by college professors about Vietnam that	CTyankee	Apr 2012	#20
Yes, things change.	randome	Apr 2012	#23
"There is nothing new under the sun" as the saying goes.	CTyankee	May 2012	#146
And once the Civil Rights movement was absorbed in to the Democratic Party in the early Seventies	Ken Burch	May 2012	#287
Whoa. I was thinking of posting something along those lines, too.	randome	Apr 2012	#6
Bold prediction, lol	tritsofme	Apr 2012	#7
That depends entirely on what you're expecting........	socialist_n_TN	Apr 2012	#12
The same Dr. King who called for a general strike in support of the Memphis Sanitation workers?	Morning Dew	Apr 2012	#13
I think it is both hilarious and depressing that a general strike	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#15
I'd say the 'machete' part is more about the 'in-your-face' attitudes of many Occupiers.	randome	Apr 2012	#19
Yes because kissing the asses of the owners is working SO	TBF	Apr 2012	#30
I didn't say kiss their asses.	randome	Apr 2012	#38
There are several methods - and they can happen simultaneously	TBF	Apr 2012	#43
According to many Occupy reps, they can't happen simultaneously.	randome	Apr 2012	#47
Well my perspective is that we can do both -	TBF	Apr 2012	#55
If we get the government we deserve...	randome	Apr 2012	#62
why?	RobertEarl	Apr 2012	#75
Like the way Occupy pisses on 99% Spring?	randome	Apr 2012	#81
And what about you	RobertEarl	Apr 2012	#88
I think this is a good article that details a few of the tensions.	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#108
Bravo RobertEarl!	Tace	May 2012	#199
Everybody in 99% Spring should just have joined Occupy	Ken Burch	May 2012	#207
99% Spring pisses on OWS and the people by even existing	Ken Burch	May 2012	#227
Does the 99% Spring have ANY workers or poor people in its ranks? Does it HAVE ranks?	Ken Burch	May 2012	#269
Be a leader.	randome	May 2012	#271
I'm willing to do that.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#275
If OWS is so powerful, then I would think they'd absorb 99% Spring.	randome	May 2012	#277
I was trying to take a less-confrontational tone in that last post.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#278
It doesn't make sense, that's what is wrong with it.	randome	May 2012	#279
I doubt it would mean anything.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#283
I'll start that dialogue...but need a link.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#288
No idea what 99% Spring has going for it, if anything.	randome	May 2012	#291
Perhaps the German Green party notion of rotating spokespersons might work.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#293
I honestly don't think anyone hates OWS enough to assassinate someone.	randome	May 2012	#295
The problem is, anytime a "leader" emerges, even if OWS didn't have one now	Ken Burch	May 2012	#302
Since you like to look at history as an example...	randome	May 2012	#311
It's partly due to the fact that the Democrats had become as pro-corporate as the GOP	Ken Burch	May 2012	#205
Is it not possible in smaller occupies especially that they have been co-opted by anti-Obama	patrice	May 2012	#131
Nobody on the inside is ever on OUR side.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#136
wrong	got root	Apr 2012	#79
"In-your-face" like the 504 protests	suffragette	May 2012	#127
But they had a coherent focused message and leader	mythology	Apr 2012	#16
It's way too early for legislative change. The Tea Party has recently changed its focus from	CTyankee	Apr 2012	#25
Jeeeeeeesus. Do you know how many decades it took to produce lasting legislative change?	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#26
So legislative change was tried early on, then.	randome	Apr 2012	#28
That doesn't even make sense. Congresscritters in 1875 or 76 introduced the 1st Civil Rights Act...	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#46
Not to mention 100 years of VIOLENCE, state violence and organized private violence, to	HiPointDem	Apr 2012	#93
what a joke.	HiPointDem	Apr 2012	#89
What's the point in introducing legislation	Ken Burch	May 2012	#320
Just because you don't understand flat leadership	TBF	Apr 2012	#27
No, 'flat leadership' means no one is in charge.	randome	Apr 2012	#31
It means that there is a democratic method to making decisions -	TBF	Apr 2012	#35
Here we go.	randome	Apr 2012	#41
I can only discern from your comments -	TBF	Apr 2012	#44
Not sure how I can prove that.	randome	Apr 2012	#49
does the existence of occupy prevent you from your work toward legislative change? i don't think	HiPointDem	May 2012	#126
Of course Occupy is not preventing anyone from taking other approaches.	randome	May 2012	#152
"...are often derided..." = sob	HiPointDem	May 2012	#191
Go to the Occupy Underground forum in Activism and you'll see what I mean.	randome	May 2012	#193
They did those tactics because the kind YOU would favor	Ken Burch	May 2012	#266
You appear to be guilty of the very thing you indict others for...	LanternWaste	May 2012	#170
Once any Left group has a specific leader	Ken Burch	May 2012	#262
The current model OWS has is also not working.	randome	May 2012	#264
Depends on the group dynamic.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#276
Wins the thread.	ellisonz	Apr 2012	#21
+99%	pinboy3niner	Apr 2012	#36
+1. now that king is dead he's the saint of the bourgies, most of whom reviled him when he was	HiPointDem	Apr 2012	#83
Yep-- they promote people like MLK and Ghandi as icons of passivity and	Marr	May 2012	#122
The same Dr. King who helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott?	intheflow	May 2012	#118
Define "enormous flop".	TBF	Apr 2012	#17
Union weakness isn't an excuse...	brooklynite	May 2012	#181
The fact that we have anyone protesting in this police state	TBF	May 2012	#184
I've been offline. What general strike? thanks.	uppityperson	Apr 2012	#18
LINK: May Day Directory: Occupy General Strike In Over 135 Cities	pinboy3niner	Apr 2012	#22
Thank you, off to read it	uppityperson	Apr 2012	#33
Here you go:	ellisonz	Apr 2012	#24
Thanks, off to read	uppityperson	Apr 2012	#32
I can't do it. I need the money.	knitter4democracy	Apr 2012	#29
we understand that	2pooped2pop	Apr 2012	#57
Really, your situation is understood and Occupiers certainly are sympathetic...	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#60
Thank you.	knitter4democracy	Apr 2012	#100
Do what you can.	backscatter712	May 2012	#158
Occupiers understand that better than most -	TBF	May 2012	#185
So now striking is like wielding a machete?	Cali_Democrat	Apr 2012	#34
So you think a strike is like wielding a machete? Well then civil disobedience must be like	Zalatix	May 2012	#204
What would it take..	Triloon	Apr 2012	#37
+1	TBF	Apr 2012	#39
+2 and welcome to DU, Triloon!	pinboy3niner	Apr 2012	#52
...	SammyWinstonJack	Apr 2012	#96
i think they know it is not going to a an actual general	2pooped2pop	Apr 2012	#40
I agree	NoMoreWarNow	Apr 2012	#45
so no point in even bothering to protest, eh?	NoMoreWarNow	Apr 2012	#42
I'm retired so I have an excuse!	MoonRiver	Apr 2012	#48
Um, excuse, me, retired?	randome	Apr 2012	#50
Why did you try to insult MoonRiver?	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#51
It was a joke.	randome	Apr 2012	#54
Sorry about misinterpreting.	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#56
Never a problem.	randome	Apr 2012	#58
It's Amazing to Me....that you are Predicting! Why is this "Flop" so imortant to you?	KoKo	Apr 2012	#53
My guess is that since Occupy claims to represent damned near everyone...	randome	Apr 2012	#61
Bunch of Gobbledygook	ellisonz	Apr 2012	#67
Ewww. Soda?	randome	Apr 2012	#69
Umm...?	ellisonz	Apr 2012	#73
fail	got root	Apr 2012	#90
aim at the problem, not the symptom	got root	Apr 2012	#84
But we have no hope of getting a progressive government	Ken Burch	May 2012	#323
It's a typical hit and run post.	myrna minx	Apr 2012	#71
T	Flying Squirrel	Apr 2012	#59
There is a general strike planned?	Taylor Smite	Apr 2012	#63
LINK: May Day Directory: Occupy General Strike In Over 135 Cities	pinboy3niner	Apr 2012	#86
Thanks	Taylor Smite	Apr 2012	#92
I believe a time will come when such actions will be successful...	jimlup	Apr 2012	#64
Couldn't agree more- Register to vote, occupy the polls. Simple solution. nt	cecilfirefox	Apr 2012	#66
If the MSM ignores it then how would most people know?	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#68
not surprised you'd say so. but painting king in some kind of opposition to occupy = the	HiPointDem	Apr 2012	#74
it is just another absurdity in the OP	quinnox	Apr 2012	#82
Oh my LORD.	woo me with science	Apr 2012	#104
Well, you know, "some say" that King was really a Republican.	Luminous Animal	Apr 2012	#110
Obviously, MLK would have counseled caution, do not go into the streets to protest...	pinboy3niner	May 2012	#115
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.	got root	Apr 2012	#76
a strike is not a violent action and is protected by our constitution	quinnox	Apr 2012	#77
to the new world order it is	got root	Apr 2012	#85
Where are strikes mentioned in the Constitution, and how .....	oldhippie	Apr 2012	#103
They aren't protected in the Constitution...	white_wolf	May 2012	#129
...and you'll be here uncontrollably cheering on it's demise the entire day!	Earth_First	Apr 2012	#78
How is a general strike "outrage and a machete" ?	marmar	Apr 2012	#80
yeah, it's slander by folks parroting the memes of the elite	got root	Apr 2012	#87
general strike = rwandan massacre. isn't it clear? don't you agree?	HiPointDem	Apr 2012	#95
That's the sort of rhetoric you get	woo me with science	May 2012	#123
I'm with ya. If you want change history shows the best thing	raouldukelives	Apr 2012	#91
I predict if they are arrested for nothing and die in jail cells	stupidicus	Apr 2012	#94
We are expecting minimal impact on our campus	ProgressiveProfessor	Apr 2012	#97
which campus?	got root	Apr 2012	#98
Agreed.	MrSlayer	Apr 2012	#99
This thread is the first I've heard of it (nt)	Nye Bevan	Apr 2012	#101
You Damn Hippies, Get off my Lawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!	Vanje	Apr 2012	#102
Since you fail to define your terms ("flop" vs. "success"), this	coalition_unwilling	Apr 2012	#105
So what. I'm getting together and meeting up with some cool like-minded people.	limpyhobbler	Apr 2012	#106
This is the first I've heard of it	treestar	Apr 2012	#107
And It Is Obvious,That That, Is EXACTLY What You Want...	WillyT	Apr 2012	#109
So, in your opinion, rather than getting out in the streets, what should we do?	MadHound	Apr 2012	#111
And I predict you would call it an enormous flop no matter what.	girl gone mad	Apr 2012	#112
Bwaahaahaa! Thanks for that, totally made my night as I plan for tomorrow.	Zorra	Apr 2012	#113
+99%. Many of us here will also be with you in the streets for MayDay, Zorra	pinboy3niner	Apr 2012	#114
And for that reason alone, I will kick this thread!	lonestarnot	May 2012	#116
That is a great post, Zorra...	Luminous Animal	May 2012	#117
Glad you think so, LA. Some things are just so very....	Zorra	May 2012	#237
I'm running across a pretty high incidence of "Don't feed the beast. Let it ALL crash & burn." BUT	patrice	May 2012	#119
What's the alternative	Ken Burch	May 2012	#135
Please, don't try to claim King as some kind of moderate milquetoast.	Marr	May 2012	#120
I don't think OP is saying that. That long arc that King told us about requires MUCH more	patrice	May 2012	#124
Considering he/she flatly stated that strikes don't work,	Marr	May 2012	#128
Occupy Denver	donheld	May 2012	#125
Thanks for the opportunity to post this link to MayDay events around the country :)	pinboy3niner	May 2012	#130
Oh, and my prediction: Come MayDay, this OP will be proved to be an enormous flop	pinboy3niner	May 2012	#132
This OP was right on the money....	Joe the Revelator	May 2012	#162
You wish	Cali_Democrat	May 2012	#203
It has not endured in the slightest....during the winter when it died....	Joe the Revelator	May 2012	#239
You must live in a cave somewhere	Rex	May 2012	#273
What's 'funny' is you laughing at people who want to be on your side.	randome	May 2012	#274
Oh are you sure...those OWS people could turn	Rex	May 2012	#307
And you were proven to be correct, Pinboy. You are a far better predictor than the OP. I'll put	sabrina 1	May 2012	#313
Look, you've always had your cards on the table.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#133
Why don't you just admit your're essentially a conservative and be done with it?	Ken Burch	May 2012	#134
So not supporting OWS = RW? Really? nt	hack89	May 2012	#143
Trashing OWS is what the RW does.	bahrbearian	May 2012	#153
"Trashing" is in the eye of the beholder	hack89	May 2012	#159
Following ineffectual stupidity is what the RW does....thinking for ourselves is what the left is	Joe the Revelator	May 2012	#161
So how left are you? Obama left, Pelosi,left. Not really left are they.	bahrbearian	May 2012	#164
This is a question our "relativistic" leftists NEVER answer.......	socialist_n_TN	May 2012	#232
Does Marxist count?	bahrbearian	May 2012	#233
Half the people on this forum who call themselves leftists...	white_wolf	May 2012	#236
Dissing OWS is...telling people that OWS isn't worth shit is.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#169
I believe Hack89 has done a lot in Wisconsin during the current 'difficulties'.	randome	May 2012	#172
criticism, yes...dismissal, not so much.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#201
The ones that want war are neocons that ran for deferments when the time to fight	bluestate10	May 2012	#216
Is 99% Spring right wing? nt	hack89	May 2012	#186
Those who built the 99% Spring should just have joined Occupy	Ken Burch	May 2012	#202
There does not appear to be a place in OWS for those of us that	hack89	May 2012	#245
There are a lot of people who support specific parties within Occupy	Ken Burch	May 2012	#247
Well, you just put your finger on why OWS has some competition.	hack89	May 2012	#249
I support the Democratic Party and I wasn't pissing on you.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#251
Is this contradictory?	WinniSkipper	May 2012	#195
What else would you call supporting a totally unjustified splinter group	Ken Burch	May 2012	#210
So you reject members of the Democratic Pary	hack89	May 2012	#246
What an utterly nonsensical claim. Where did you get the idea that OWS doesn't want democrats? Do	sabrina 1	May 2012	#248
Why don't you read the post that I am replying to.	hack89	May 2012	#250
I AM a member of the Democratic Party and a supporter of Occupy	Ken Burch	May 2012	#254
So then 99% Spring is for those of us that do endorse Democrats	hack89	May 2012	#256
You weren't forbidden to individually work for Dems as a member of OWS.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#260
You have all these established organizations with many of the same goals of OWS	hack89	May 2012	#265
Then the 99% Spring shouldn't have come in with the attitude that "we can do it and OWS can't"	Ken Burch	May 2012	#267
OWS should not defer to anyone. I certainly don't defer to them.	hack89	May 2012	#296
There has to be SOME independence	Ken Burch	May 2012	#298
And yet there was no progress on those issues	hack89	May 2012	#322
It comes down to giving the "leaders" no alternative but to do what's right.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#324
The only leverage you have over these leaders is the ballot.	hack89	May 2012	#326
Which organizations are those?	Ken Burch	May 2012	#268
MoveOn.org, Rebuild The Dream, AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers, CODEPINK: Women for Peace,	hack89	May 2012	#294
And Occupy wasn't dissing those groups-nor was I,actually.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#300
Wraith seems to be a moderate, with some progressive tendencies.,	bluestate10	May 2012	#215
You can't have progressive tendencies and devote ALL your posts here to bashing the Left	Ken Burch	May 2012	#224
You've never offered a good alternative-in fact, you've never offered a POSITIVE message at all	Ken Burch	May 2012	#137
You use YOUR chisel on the people, not the oppressors	Ken Burch	May 2012	#138
Bookmarked.	lamp_shade	May 2012	#139
slow change ISN'T change	Ken Burch	May 2012	#140
Gradualism doesn't mean surrender and defeat.	Arkana	May 2012	#149
There's a huge difference between gradualism and expecting a long struggle	Ken Burch	May 2012	#168
The only victories that mattered in the Civil Rights movement were the 1964 and 1965 bills	Ken Burch	May 2012	#208
No other claim you made in this thread shows how blind you are.	bluestate10	May 2012	#217
I salute all those who struggled for justice	Ken Burch	May 2012	#223
We don't even have gradualism.	woo me with science	May 2012	#321
The failure is not to try.	mmonk	May 2012	#145
The Status Quo: You're one of the "fringe people" if you don't go with the flow! nt	Romulox	May 2012	#147
Lmao.	EFerrari	May 2012	#148
Whatever	lunatica	May 2012	#150
My, aren't we concerned today? n/t	backscatter712	May 2012	#151
No, actually I'm not.	HappyMe	May 2012	#163
You're not characterizing "general strike" properly.	Robb	May 2012	#160
Social Security was originally a third party idea	Lydia Leftcoast	May 2012	#165
The country was younger then.	randome	May 2012	#166
Um, most European countries have at least three parties and they're a lot more than 230 years old.	Chorophyll	May 2012	#171
Good point.	randome	May 2012	#176
What then is the precise and relevant cultural modifier ?	LanternWaste	May 2012	#174
Hell, I don't know.	randome	May 2012	#177
The large-and-unwieldy argument	Chorophyll	May 2012	#182
Didn't realize it was an 'attitude'.	randome	May 2012	#188
Well, after you hear it from enough people it feels like an attitude.	Chorophyll	May 2012	#194
I think the people can do damned near anything if they are organized and determined.	randome	May 2012	#200
Well, that would be cool!	Chorophyll	May 2012	#211
Premise built from little more than a post hoc ergo prompter hoc foundation , then.	LanternWaste	May 2012	#183
Okay, Nostradamus.	Chorophyll	May 2012	#167
What strike?	WI_DEM	May 2012	#173
Yeah, really... been off DU for a few days and this is the first I've heard of a "General Strike"	OneTenthofOnePercent	May 2012	#178
Well, this is true to form.	TriMera	May 2012	#179
I've never met other dems that hated their fellow dems	Rex	May 2012	#190
Yep. n/t	TriMera	May 2012	#192
I can't imagine why anyone responds to this OP...ever.	Puglover	May 2012	#196
Based on your expectations or that of the strikers themselves?	LanternWaste	May 2012	#180
What strike?	FreeJoe	May 2012	#187
This thread is so phuny	Rex	May 2012	#189
This message was self-deleted by its author	HappyMe	May 2012	#197
Prediction:	whatchamacallit	May 2012	#198
But he really loves Obama.	girl gone mad	May 2012	#206
Oh!!!	bluestate10	May 2012	#218
He may own my vote due to lack of choice	whatchamacallit	May 2012	#222
Occupy Is The Top Headline On Bloomberg At 6 p.m.	Tace	May 2012	#209
A general strike is sucessful if it is sucessful.	former9thward	May 2012	#221
How dare you!	randome	May 2012	#261
That neither of you have either mushy numbers or statistics is not lost on anyone.	EFerrari	May 2012	#280
That would be proving a negative.	randome	May 2012	#282
I too favor persistence and patience.	bluestate10	May 2012	#212
Huge turnout for OWS May Day march	Tace	May 2012	#214
+1. Hate to kick this hit and run POS, but... n/t	Egalitarian Thug	May 2012	#231
Prediction: May Day marches that have been going on for years will now become OWS May Day Marches...	SidDithers	May 2012	#220
!!!	Tarheel_Dem	May 2012	#234
Said the guy who probably never marched on May Day in his life	Ken Burch	May 2012	#327
...	SidDithers	May 2012	#328
Yeah right, Sid...like you were EVER on the Left.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#329
...	SidDithers	May 2012	#330
Go ahead...you're just laughing at the truth.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#332
I'll stop laughing when you stop posting personal attacks...	SidDithers	May 2012	#333
Nobody claimed that Occupy was the inventor of May Day, or anything remotely like that.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#335
Wildcat strikes are illegal thanks to efforts by FDR.	joshcryer	May 2012	#225
Not the flop many had hoped....	Zax2me	May 2012	#230
LOL	Joe the Revelator	May 2012	#241
The best was yet to come 8 months ago, too.	randome	May 2012	#263
Not a flop at all	HarveyDarkey	May 2012	#235
Lol! A hilarious thread! I hope you didn't bet money on this! Flop! Lol!	sabrina 1	May 2012	#238
What world do you live in?	Joe the Revelator	May 2012	#240
What was accomplished?	WinniSkipper	May 2012	#243
'What did they accomplish'? What they set out to accomplish.	sabrina 1	May 2012	#244
Pinboy's flyer	WinniSkipper	May 2012	#253
Hurting them with whom? The OPD -- who is under threat of sanctions?	EFerrari	May 2012	#284
No, not the OPD	WinniSkipper	May 2012	#301
Wait, let me get this straight.	EFerrari	May 2012	#303
No, that's not right	WinniSkipper	May 2012	#304
Um, if there's no "Joe Average", why do you invoke him?	EFerrari	May 2012	#305
Let's start with Joe	WinniSkipper	May 2012	#308
I think you need to put some time in reading	EFerrari	May 2012	#310
And I respect your	WinniSkipper	May 2012	#314
The accomplishment was 'success'?	randome	May 2012	#255
They set out to accomplish success and they succeeded!	4th law of robotics	May 2012	#258
Um, the action went global. That's success.	EFerrari	May 2012	#285
Yeah, you may want to reassess that	4th law of robotics	May 2012	#257
Sad thread really, hating on ordinary people	Rex	May 2012	#272
Very revealing thread. n/t	EFerrari	May 2012	#286
241 replies and nobody has stepped up yet	guardian	May 2012	#242
Typical hit-and-run concern troll bullshit	RetroLounge	May 2012	#252
Pointing out that something is likely to fail doesn't mean you necessarily oppose . . .	4th law of robotics	May 2012	#259
With the OP, though, it is.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#281
Let it go. My 80 year old Mom didn't bank or buy yesterday.	EFerrari	May 2012	#289
Glad to hear that. La Lucha Continua!	Ken Burch	May 2012	#290
No one can stop this.	EFerrari	May 2012	#299
Sorry but May 1st was May Day, not Occupy Day.	randome	May 2012	#292
OWS has global support. Sorry.	EFerrari	May 2012	#297
"keep it real"	Rex	May 2012	#306
Nobody SAID Occupy invented May Day.	Ken Burch	May 2012	#316
Post #289 implies that Occupy is the driving force behind May Day.	randome	May 2012	#318
Shhh...	SidDithers	May 2012	#334
It is sad ain't it?	Rex	May 2012	#270
How about some candle light to counter the dark?	suffragette	May 2012	#309
So did the family not respond to offers for modification?	randome	May 2012	#312
Looks like the last person they helped was able to renegotiate and stay in his home	suffragette	May 2012	#315
I would always hope for that, as well.	randome	May 2012	#317
+1	harun	May 2012	#319
to quote Nelson.."ha-ha!!!"	U4ikLefty	May 2012	#325
Has it started yet?	slackmaster	May 2012	#331
bump for the laughs	U4ikLefty	May 2012	#336
Capitalist imperialist running dog lackey.	Fire Walk With Me	May 2012	#337

Response to TheWraith (Original post)

Mon Apr 30, 2012, 07:11 PM

Fumesucker (45,851 posts)

Prediction: The May 1st "general strike" is going to be an enormous flop.

1. “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revoluton inevitable” -JFK

11. As true now as it was then, and the latter of the two is overdue. eom

72. Those who seek violent revolution

65. Those who are able to convince a majority that peaceful revolution

70. Violent revolution is so messy..

2. Good points but I don't know that MLK was correct.

213. The statement that Martin Luther King made was distilled from ages of history.

219. As a student of history I certainly don't agree with your analysis.

226. That doesn't mean, though, that Dr. King was ok with gradualism

3. I agree. If it gets 5 minutes on the evening news, I'll be amazed.

8. I'll bet you $10K it will make the news :)

121. So what?

157. It has to do with getting your message out

175. Getting your message out is important.

141. So you agree with The Wraith and want us all to give up.

142. Turning OWS into an ideological purity test isn't going to change anything either.

156. How about defing some specific objectives?

228. Has "99% Spring" done any of those things?

154. Not surprising since the corporate media's biased against us.

155. Then you'd just be preaching to the choir.

229. Once you get a "leader", you lose the radicalism.

4. Even if someone noticed the "strike" they won't know what they are striking for

9. Have you seen what it's like on the Occupy Underground forum?

10. Let's see...

144. Doomed I tell ya!

5. I don't think that the organizers believe it is going to be a huge deal media wise.

14. That is pretty much correct. It is an opportunity to support other actions beign called by allies..

20. We shouldn't forget the impact of the teach ins by college professors about Vietnam that

23. Yes, things change.

146. "There is nothing new under the sun" as the saying goes.

287. And once the Civil Rights movement was absorbed in to the Democratic Party in the early Seventies

6. Whoa. I was thinking of posting something along those lines, too.

7. Bold prediction, lol

12. That depends entirely on what you're expecting........

13. The same Dr. King who called for a general strike in support of the Memphis Sanitation workers?

15. I think it is both hilarious and depressing that a general strike

19. I'd say the 'machete' part is more about the 'in-your-face' attitudes of many Occupiers.

30. Yes because kissing the asses of the owners is working SO

38. I didn't say kiss their asses.

43. There are several methods - and they can happen simultaneously

47. According to many Occupy reps, they can't happen simultaneously.

55. Well my perspective is that we can do both -

62. If we get the government we deserve...

75. why?

81. Like the way Occupy pisses on 99% Spring?

88. And what about you

108. I think this is a good article that details a few of the tensions.

199. Bravo RobertEarl!

207. Everybody in 99% Spring should just have joined Occupy

227. 99% Spring pisses on OWS and the people by even existing

269. Does the 99% Spring have ANY workers or poor people in its ranks? Does it HAVE ranks?

271. Be a leader.

275. I'm willing to do that.

277. If OWS is so powerful, then I would think they'd absorb 99% Spring.

278. I was trying to take a less-confrontational tone in that last post.

279. It doesn't make sense, that's what is wrong with it.

283. I doubt it would mean anything.

288. I'll start that dialogue...but need a link.

291. No idea what 99% Spring has going for it, if anything.

293. Perhaps the German Green party notion of rotating spokespersons might work.

295. I honestly don't think anyone hates OWS enough to assassinate someone.

302. The problem is, anytime a "leader" emerges, even if OWS didn't have one now

311. Since you like to look at history as an example...

205. It's partly due to the fact that the Democrats had become as pro-corporate as the GOP

131. Is it not possible in smaller occupies especially that they have been co-opted by anti-Obama

136. Nobody on the inside is ever on OUR side.

79. wrong

127. "In-your-face" like the 504 protests

16. But they had a coherent focused message and leader

25. It's way too early for legislative change. The Tea Party has recently changed its focus from

26. Jeeeeeeesus. Do you know how many decades it took to produce lasting legislative change?

28. So legislative change was tried early on, then.

46. That doesn't even make sense. Congresscritters in 1875 or 76 introduced the 1st Civil Rights Act...

93. Not to mention 100 years of VIOLENCE, state violence and organized private violence, to

89. what a joke.

320. What's the point in introducing legislation

27. Just because you don't understand flat leadership

31. No, 'flat leadership' means no one is in charge.

35. It means that there is a democratic method to making decisions -

191. "...are often derided..." = sob