It's 1968 Again

[unionworks]

I was hoping it wouldn't happen, but after seeing CNN footage of D.C. Park Police beating peaceful protesters so viciously that OTHER COPS PULLED THEM OFF, there is no doubt. And like 1968, another generation of Americans is being radicalized by police brutality.
I was in D.C. in the early 70s and witnessed some of the major anti-war protests. The D.C.. Park Police, then as now, were sadistic hateful s.o.b.s. They seemed to recruit them based on their hatred and intolerance of dissent. You can forget the "you are the 99% too" stuff with these people. Which is why Issa specifically wanted them to do the eviction.
It's going to be a rough year.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Yes, it's going to be rough. But therein lies the path to victory.

Note that your own comments show how these violent responses to nonviolent protest already contain the seeds of ultimate success:

CNN footage of D.C. Park Police beating peaceful protesters so viciously that OTHER COPS PULLED THEM OFF

There are two things to pay special attention to here--the first is that CNN carried the video, and a portion of the police force itself has now become alienated to violence.

Now, CNN would not have carried that footage 8 years ago. I think they did it this time because they didn't want to be scooped by YouTube.

The one necessary (and nearly sufficient in itself) condition for change is sunlight, and, thanks to the Web, Anonymous, Wikileaks, and the social media, there is more sunlight in the world now than at any time in the past.

This, I predict, will lead to more rapid and far-reaching social change than anyone has yet contemplated.

[Fumesucker]

4. Hence the rush for SOPA and similar restrictive legislation..

They'll have something through before long that will allow them to crack down on dissent online, it's really starting to become a major problem for TPTB.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Yes, they're certainly trying to do that. BUT

I think there's a whole new game afoot here. The creative forces unleashed by the Web will not "go gently into that good night," but will find ever better ways to circumvent attempts to control them. The Creative Commons is becoming a force unto itself, and by its very nature will always be able to out-innovate those in the old hierarchies who are attempting to regulate it.

Case in point--Anonymous is proving that the Powers an no longer keep secrets from us. They are losing deception as a tool.

[Fumesucker]

9. I think the kid gloves are coming off the mailed fist fairly shortly..

They will be making examples of peons who dare to challenge their authority, I think it's going to get really ugly, power never gives up without a fight.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. I can't disagree.

But the cat is out of the bottle, the genie is out of the bag. Neither is going back in. The oligarchs will lose.

[Fumesucker]

12. May you live in interesting times, eh?

I could be a lot more sanguine or feckless about a lot of this crap if I didn't have grandkids.

I prefer my dystopia in a novel, much more fun to read than to live.

[woo me with science]

15. SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and the Internet ID is moving ahead quietly and swiftly.

SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and the Internet ID is moving ahead quietly and swiftly. They are working fast to get mechanisms in place for control of the internet.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002257531
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002257541


Align this with recent news reports showing that protesters and those who seek privacy on the internet through proxies are being identified as "potential terrorists" by our government. We have a very serious situation here.

Call, write, and raise holy hell about these measures. Occupy Now, because they are rushing to put structures into place to prevent occupation later.

[mick063]

2. You don't have to be extreme

You don't have to be extreme to be sympathetic with many OWS views. Populist movements bring in a spectrum of people and some are very radical even by OWS standards.

Most people understand that most radicals are not representative of middle class America. On the other hand, such radicals will not necessarily cause middle class folks to "disown" the concept of gross wealth inequality or government corruption by the wealthy elite.

The message has been sent. OWS has performed a great service. Current politcal discussions, including those in the GOP, all reference messages, by some measure, brought forth by OWS. OWS could disappear completely and it still would have had impact on the political process.

I don't think an idea is so easily killed. As long as the idea is alive, OWS is alive.

[socialist_n_TN]

3. Well, '68 radicalized me..........

And 44 years later I'm STILL radicalized.

That's the thing that a lot of people don't get. Once you peek behind the curtain of "democracy" in this dictatorship of capital, you can't unsee it. You might go dormant for decades even, but it's always there, ready to reerupt when the timing is right.

A lot of the youth involved with the Occupy movement have now seen behind the curtain. It's a life changing experience.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. That's pretty much my story.

And you're right about the old "genie in the bottle" thing. Those kids will never go back.

[Cleita]

5. A good fictional book about this is James Michner's "The Drifters".

It's about the police brutality to protestors at the Chicago Democratic convention and how it changed the kids caught up in it. I don't know if it's still in print but I'm sure libraries have copies.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. I just found it used on Amazon. Lots of cc. there. Thanks.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. ...without all the results.

Good and horrible.

[corkhead]

13. We ended up with Nixon in November

an independent candidate helped him win. I don't think the result would be the same now however. George Wallace split the Racist-Fuck vote. Compared to '68, most Racist-Fucks vote republicon these days.

[socialist_n_TN]

14. You've also got to remember the times.........

Nixon won because most of the country (the infamous "Silent Majority&quot was still propagandized into supporting the system that was in place AND propagandized AGAINST supporting the alternative system (Stalinism in the USSR). For some of us on the left it was a "devil or the deep blue sea" conundrum also. Most of the American youth, ESPECIALLY the active antiwar youth, were Left, but not STALINIST left. Which means we had no real representation in the election of '68. And the majority of the Silent Majority didn't turn against the war until a year or two later than '68. And even with that, Nixon didn't win by much.

In spite of Reagan or maybe because of the economic failure of Reagan's policies, I think that the true "Silent Majority" of today is center left rather than center right like in Nixon's time. Today's Silent Majority just needs to be given the alternative. Occupy is starting that alternative narrative.