Reply #16: My apologies, Imajika.

[Zorra]

There is a lot of very insincere opposition to OWS going around, and various insincere criticisms as well, and I took your post the wrong way.

A lot of people are hurting because greedy banksters found a way to circumvent or remove the regulations that formerly prevented them from causing this damage. They are currently circumventing all attempts to re-regulate them, and regulate them even further, to prevent them from doing it again. They have so much wealth and power that our legislative and judicial systems appear to be powerless to control them and prevent them from causing further damage and assuming more control.

Having engaged in numerous protests for different reasons over several decades, I'm kind of burnt on people complaining about it when we take direct action on things that desperately need to be addressed, and will never be addressed unless direct action forces the issue.

It happens every time. The status quo gets in our face and uses every possible avenue to try to destroy the movement before it can begin to effect the changes in the national dialogue that lead to changes in the collective consciousness and ultimately to the practical implementation of the critical changes that we seek to bring about.

But there are a lot of people out there that have no idea about all this. They get stuck in traffic because of a direct action, and all they see is what they perceive as a bunch of stupid hippies with signs that don't make much sense to them, like Rush Limbaugh is so vehemently explaining to them as they sit there stalled in traffic.

The irony in this is that these people are partly responsible for the direct action that they see as keeping them from whatever is more important to them than understanding and subsequently possibly supporting the reason for the direct action. If enough of them had been paying attention over the years, it is very possible that the banksters could have been prevented from compromising our legislative and judicial system. But it is what it is, and it is frustrating.

So it comes down to this: Do we just sit there and watch and do nothing as things continue to get worse, because we might make some people temporarily uncomfortable, or do we take action and do what is necessary to force the changes that will inevitably result in more equality and justice for almost everyone?

The founders of this nation had to have asked this same question to themselves. As did Gandhi, Lincoln, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, etc., and all the faceless nameless people that ever engaged in direct action tactics on behalf of a sincere struggle to bring about equality and justice for themselves and others.

All that said, after further reflection, I recognize now that your post was genuine and sincere, and meant as positive constructive criticism.

I was out of line with my post, and I so totally sincerely apologize for this and for my thoughtlessness as well.