Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011:
Subject: Anatomy of an Occupation
October 26, 2011
Anatomy of an Occupation
By Robin of Berkeley
If you're wondering whether I was at Occupy
Berkeley on October 15, the answer is no. I didn't have to attend;
every day around here is Occupy Berkeley.
Because every moment of every day, I am
surrounded by people who believe the insanity spewed by the occupants
of Occupy. When I listened to the well-crafted video
produced by three intrepid, Bay Area tea partiers at Occupy Oakland,
none of what I heard surprised me. I thought, "Just another day in
Berkeley or Oakland.
Around here almost everyone thinks like
these Marxist spewing militants. While in your neck of the woods
random strangers may comment, "Nice day if it doesn't rain," around
here the words would be, "Nice day for a revolution."
While the video didn't shock me, it did
disturb. What troubled me wasn't just how widespread is the diatribe,
but that up until a few, short years ago, I believed all of it.
Before Obama came on the scene, I could have been interviewed, mumbling
and bumbling, just like those other frothing-at-the-mouth leftists.
I would also have parroted the Third-World
loving party line. I too would have angrily and self-righteously
proclaimed that the US was the root of all evil in the world.
To me, capitalism was bad, communism good
(which I discovered after watching the handsome Warren Beatty in the
sweeping thriller, Reds). I envied Cuba, home of the finest health
care system in the world (thank you, Michael Moore). And I, like our
current occupiers, ranted and raved about the racist, patriarchal,
capitalist system with its millionaire fat cats (which I learned from
reading books by those millionaire fat cats, Noam Chomsky, Al Franken,
Gloria Steinem and the late Howard Zinn.)
I believed all of this despite the now
glaring inconsistencies in my argument. For one, I (like most leftists)
had mutual funds that invested in the horrible corporations. While I
was never flush with money, I wouldn't have minded being so. And just
like those demonic capitalists, I got a kick out of procuring a
big-ticket item, such as a car with that wonderful new car smell.
So how did I fall so deeply into the
progressive chimera? Given that I am (I hope) an intelligent person,
with the potential to see the light, why did I drink the Kool-Aid for
so long? In the service of shedding some light on our current
occupiers, I offer the following observations:
Monkey see, monkey do: Leftists
follow the leader. Since most progressives believe the anti-capitalist
nonsense, the majority will follow in lock step. In liberal areas,
there is groupthink -- cult-like behavior, where people must chant the
same old tired mantras. To step out of line will undoubtedly bring
social condemnation and shunning.
Indoctrination: While I thought I
was an independent thinker, it never occurred to me to look outside the
moveon.org box. All of my media was leftist; the so-called independent
bookstores (the ones that celebrate "Banned Books Week") ban
conservative books. So while Noam Chomsky is always welcome to give a
book reading, Ann Coulter would never be invited within 50 miles of
here.
The programming is particularly acute in
the schools. In Berkeley, we have Malcolm X Elementary School and
Malcolm X Park. Just to make sure that the kiddies get the message to
emulate Mr. X, public school students (and all city employees) get Malcolm X's birthday off
(same with Indigenous People's Day, aka Columbus Day, and International
Women's Day).
While most areas aren't so extreme, there
are hard-core activists all over this nation's school systems with
union jobs for life. It's not a coincidence that Bill Ayers is a
tenured professor of education; he knew the power of brainwashing kids
when knee-high. With youth and their parents subscribing to the Party
Line, it's not difficult to lead the progressive sheep to slaughter.
Of course, leftists are badly misguided
about what a revolution actually entails. They weren't told, for
instance, that Che Guevara, whose handsome face is emblazoned on their
fashionable t-shirts, was actually a psychotic killer. Che got such a
thrill from watching executions that he had a picture window installed
in his office, and had the butchery conducted below.
And then there's another historical fact
that eludes our gullible revolutionaries. After a revolution, the
activists and militants themselves often get offed. Of course this
would be the case; why would the regime want troublemakers and
insurrectionaries in the populace?
The Cool Factor: Obama was
elected, in part, because he was viewed as cool (though most of us on
the right saw him not as cool, but cold). Being a
leftist/revolutionary/radical type is viewed as hip and trendy. Simply
consult your thesaurus to see the negative words associated with being
a "conservative" versus a "liberal." And aren't we a society enamored
by anything and anyone who is considered cool?
Alienation and the Search for
Meaning: People of all ages, but particularly youth, have an
inherent need to find meaning. With spirituality shunned, people look
to the secular religion of progressivism to fill the existential void.
By fighting against "The Man," capitalism, and America, the radicals
believe that they are good people who live lives of value in an
otherwise nihilistic world.
An increasing number of people feel
alienated in this culture. They are Americans, yet are told that
America is bad. They may have a hunger for God, and yet turn away
because believers are mocked.
This sense of alienation from God and
country compels many people to look to political movements for their
raison d'etre .
Being leftists offers the lost souls a sense of belonging and identity.
60s Fever: There's a hunger to
relive the 60s, even though the Hollywood, sanitized version didn't
exactly happen. I've heard young people bemoan the fact that they were
too young to enjoy San Francisco, adorned with flowers in their hair.
Of course, the Bay Area in the 60s was
besieged by drug overdoses, rapes, the gangster Black Panthers, and
radical terrorist bombings. But given that the Baby Boomers wax
rhapsodic about the good-old days, both grey haired and youth take to
the streets to relive a reality that never happened.
Delusion: The radicals
misunderstand the nature of reality. They believe that life should be
fair, that hierarchy and differences among people shouldn't exist. It
is a form of delusion to embrace utopia and perfection in this human
realm.
But, again, this secular society has
trashed religion and deconstructed history, the realms of which would
explain the way life works. Instead, people on the left live in a
fantasy world; and they go ballistic on opponents because truth
threatens their dreamworld.
Control: Occupying the streets
allows participants to feel good about themselves, noble, as though
they are saving the world. In contrast, it's a buzz kill to realize
how little control one has over this life. To feel insignificant, like
a little cog in the wheel, is depressing. How much more exciting to
elevate oneself into the role of some revolutionary involved in a
movement to radically transform America.
Generation Me: Scores of studies
show the same thing: that today's youth are more narcissistic than ever
before. While previous generations of the l8 to 24-year-old crowd
prioritized family and meaning, today's young want six figures and they
want it now. They have been raised to feel special and entitled,
particularly those in supposedly disenfranchised groups (which,
incidentally, is most of the American population). And if they have to
take some of your hard earned dough to live the good life, no problemo.
Greed: Despite the leftists'
lofty claims about fairness, isn't socialism all about greed, about
coveting thy neighbor's house? Can't the essence of progressive
politics be distilled to this: wanting money, money, and more money?
While those on the left profess to be
anti-capitalists, they are the real capitalists. They are so
preoccupied with capital, and envious of those who have it, that they
want it through any means necessarily. Even billionaire Warren Buffet
must be less obsessed with cash and the things it can buy than these
love-of-money leftists.
The Need for a Scapegoat: Human
beings know instinctively that there is both good and evil in the
world. But the moral relativism inherent in liberal education tells
people that everyone is good. When people are robbed of the knowledge
of good and evil, they will create scapegoats.
Of course, Obama, Pelosi, and the left are
masters at pointing fingers rightward, and insinuating that
conservatives are racist/Nazi-like subhumans. Whenever there's a
lunatic out of control somewhere in the world, the left impugns
conservatives. It's no wonder that there's such anti-American,
anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and anti-conservative vitriol all over
the airwaves. Not surprisingly, a mob mentality ensues, with angry,
violent, and demonic
mobs taking to the streets.
****
As for me, I somehow snapped out of my
leftist trance a few years ago, and, since then, have realized that
everything that I thought (and I mean everything) was wrong. I thank
my lucky stars every day that I finally saw the light.
But will others wake up as well...will
people get a grip and get a clue? Will they realize that while
imperfect, capitalist America is the best around -- which is why so
many people are desperate to become citizens here?
Sadly, I doubt it. I think that the
indoctrination is way too far gone. Further, we have a President who
will stop at nothing to keep the masses in an enraged, hypnotic trance.
The best we can do is to dislodge the
militants from the streets and restore order. But more than this: we
need to expel the number one militant, the one with the secret cabal of
Czars and obvious disdain for the Constitution.
Because the biggest danger isn't Occupy
Chicago or Occupy Wall Street -- it's Obama himself. What we're seeing
is: "Occupy The White House."
Our greatest peril isn't the mobs on the
streets of Manhattan; it's having a President who thinks he's above
the law. It's having our head of state support violent
insurrections here and abroad.
The United States doesn't need any more
occupations; what we need is a new occupant in the White House. And
hopefully, prayerfully, we will have a new one come next November.
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