Paul Anderson:
"A cynic remarked that the Occupy Wall Street movement only wants the 99 percent to become the 1 percent. If that were so, they would be occupying the White House with pitchforks and flaming torches instead of city parks with tents and placards.
The occupiers' revolution is nuanced by their quest not to destroy the corporate-political infrastructure but to temper the greed and selfishness of Wall Street by spreading egalitarian virtues through peaceful cultural evolution.
Never mind that capitalism is antithetical to the idea or that human nature seems hardwired for scarcity and entitlement. And while spreading the wealth is a great idea, the 99 percent also should realize that they too must pony up for the Third World's share, not just the 1 percent. They might feel impoverished, but they're still richer than most.
I'm all for the viral spread of fairness, but I wonder if the disenfranchised 99 percent is compromising its message through social media. Marshall McLuhan warned about this in 1967 — “The medium is the message.”
Social media are incredibly popular and supposedly breathing new life into civic and political participation. Perhaps one day they will even stitch together a deep human connection instead of spamming the world with minutiae.
To my thinking, a different kind of revolution is needed before social networks rise above the superfluities of chat to take on real significance.
Rather than Occupy Wall Street, dissenters first ought to Occupy Ourselves. Inner resources should be developed before social networking can propel us into the new realms of altruism the 99 percent stridently endorses......" (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
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