The Sacred and The Profane:
E-Mail from the masses
12-2-99: A devoted reader sent in the following:
(He is also the first and only person to e-mail me)
Billy,
Have you noticed that civil unrest (protests that end in looting) directly
coincides with the popularity of new home entertainment devices?
1. Rodney King provided VCR's and color TV's to thousands of
Californians.
2. The WTO is filling the Seattle Christmas stockings with DVD players.
Did you notice that use of rubber bullets by the Seattle police seemed
to concentrate on the members of the crowd with Press credentials and
$5,000 camera's? And they said the police don't know how to have fun.
Just trying to feed the flames,
Dave
I think the L.A. rioters should show appreciation for the L.A.P.D. and their Rodney King Brain Massage Baton-A-Thon. Those officers' professional enthusiasm facilitated the riots that subsequently provided badly needed consumer electronics to impoverished inner-city residents. Of course, many of those same people were burned out of their homes, but you can't break eggs without making a few omelettes. Or is that break omelettes without making a few eggs? Perhaps it's you can't make omeltees without breaking a few heads - which would fit quite well with the subject matter.
Whereas the L.A. looting was a charitable event, the Seattle episode represents a class struggle. The Seattle protesters are demonstrating for stronger environmental safeguards, and worker's rights in Third World shitholes. The looting is not motivated by greed or a desire to watch The Matrix - the Seattle protesters are stealing in a display of solidarity with their oppressed brethren, many of whom are employed by the companies manufacturing the stolen goods. This also strikes a blow against the ruling class exploiting the workers of the world. Perhaps this will ignite the working class to take a stand against corporate oppression and revolt against for profit tyranny. As Karl Marx wrote, "A class struggle is a political struggle", so the events in Seattle represent more than just looting - the global ramifications are greater than observed viscerally.
Uh...sorry about that. I took a Poli Sci class years ago. I am not a Communist, but you must admit, they have the coolest jargon of any political ideaology. Sometime I get carried away with it.
The Seattle Police? Shit, with all those pinko-commie bastards running loose, I'd turn that protest in a live fire exercise - screw the rubber bullets.
Number of vsitors who need to get out of the house more often-->
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