Radicalism is in the air and the rage is palpable

[n2doc]

Zoe Pilger:

Yesterday 50,000 people marched in London against the proposed Coalition cuts to higher education. In the bright November sunshine, the atmosphere was largely peaceful and exuberant. As Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), told the crowd, this was the biggest march by students in a generation.

What brought everyone out on to the streets? The general consensus was anger. The rights afforded by education are not simply the reserve of the elite, a claim implied by some commentators. As an excellent film by the UCU showed, colleges such as Goldsmiths, University of London, where I am studying for a PhD, do more than merely smooth the progress of middle-class students into the corporate job market.

The film showed a man who had been released from prison walking into Goldsmiths' programme of adult learning. The reoffending rate is three times lower for ex-prisoners who participate in higher education. Precisely such progressive and imaginative resources will shortly be slashed.

The biggest cheer came when speakers made the connection between the "eye-watering" price of proposed tuition fees and the banking scandal. Radicalism is in the air. The rage is palpable.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/zoe-pilger-radicalism-is-in-the-air-and-the-rage-is-palpable-2130866.html

[villager]

1. why is it that Americans, then, are so bovine in their acceptance of being pillaged by the ruling...

...class? :shrug:

[Hannah Bell]

4. Here's one reason: Most americans work in "middle-class" jobs in which

they're trained not to make waves, to play nice & be yes men, & to fight amongst each other for the boss's favor. They're trained to tattle on each other & not to show solidarity. They're trained to behave "professionally," which means to behave like inhuman robots.

That bleeds into every aspect of their existence, including an inability to fight back as a class. Their instinct is to hunker down, try to ride it out, try to save themselves by throwing others overboard.

imo.

[yurbud]

6. I always wondered by white collar dilberts don't unionize

[durkermaker]

8. i occasionally talked with other tech workers about this

when working ungodly UNPAID overtime, and the brainwashing really kicked in - the response was generally some form of 'YOU'RE NOT A TEAM PLAYER - LIKE ME!!!"

so i said screw it, if i cant bargain collectly, i'll bargain individually, and became in independent contractor. for a few years, it seemed too good to be true, but i knew that we were setting a dangerous precident. Either what I/we was doing would spread, or we would be smashed into bits. I didnt know how, but I was sure we would be

within a year, came the massive H-1b visa increases

that nagging bad feeling was proven right beyond my worst nightmare

[AndyTiedye]

20. Often the Impossible Schedule is of Our Own Making

The #1 cause of unpaid overtime in the places I have worked is inability to estimate how long it will take to finish the project.
Most engineers tend to be somewhat (or even wildly) optimistic, so often the impossible schedule is of our own making.

[AndyTiedye]

14. White Collar? More Like "What Collar?"

The suits are management. Tech workers are more likely to wear t-shirts than suits.

Unions offer zero protection against offshoring unless we can also unionize the workers over there.

[NNN0LHI]

16. "always wondered by white collar dilberts don't unionize"

Because sucking ass doesn't do any good when there is a union.

Everyone gets treated equally whether they suck ass or not. So all the ass sucking gets them is brown lips.

And some people are born to suck the bosses ass. I have known some.

Don

[AndyTiedye]

19. Those Types End Up in Middle Managment Anyway

so a union would have no effect on them.

[dflprincess]

21. Because many of my fellow cube rats honestly believe that because

they wear Dockers to work and pound a keyboard all day they are not "labor" - they are "professionals".

It's not until they get their severance packages that might include a few weeks pay that they figure out they're expendable and have very few protections.

[durkermaker]

7. you nailed it, as true as it is sad

you just described people who will accept anything, as long as it doesnt happen to them

years ago as a tech consultant, i pretty much made a rule against making friends at work for this very reason, that the factors you mentioned would take precidence over any 'friendship', period, and that i would need me strength when i was down, instead of a kick (although i sometimes made friends with people AFTER i or they moved on)

it also allowed me to see others not as enemies, but just obediant drones

you're right about 'being professional', that phrase is the biggest con job there ever was. working massive unpaid overtime for free without complaint doesnt make you a 'professional' (your doctor serve you at night for free?) it makes you a CHUMP

once i went independent, i never thought of myself as a 'professional' ever again, but an ethical tradesman

[AndyTiedye]

5. Because We Are Much More Spread-Out

We aren't likely to even know if a protest is going on in the area,
since the news won't report it, and everything is so spread-out that
only a handful of people will see it.

Grass roots protests are at some level a critical-mass phenomenon.

"Taking to the streets" is a city thing.

Most Europeans live in cities, most of us don't.

[Confusious]

9. Most of us do

The United States has been mostly urban since the turn of the 20th.

The other part of your post is correct though. I don't have the money to participate in a protest in Washington.

The majority of Americans probably don't.

[AndyTiedye]

18. "Mostly Urban" Only If You Lump Cities and Suburbs Together

The stats that say we are "mostly urban" have "rural" as the only alternative.
They are grouping the suburbs with the cities.

While some of the older suburbs may have similar characteristics,
the newer ones tend to lack the sort of central public spaces
where protests historically have tended to happen.

Where in the melange of subdivisions and strip-malls does one protest?
Even if you can avoid the mall security (this is all private property you know),
your protest will not be particularly visible.

[Kievan Rus]

11. Three simple words: bread and circuses

As long as people have food and Dancing with the Stars (or any other vapid "reality TV" program) is on, people here just don't give a shit.

[Waiting For Everyman]

17. Stockholm Syndrome - identifying with the abusers.

It's a mass mental illness. Most of the electorate is captured, just like most of the government.

[OHdem10]

2. The irony which contributes to the anger. Most of MPs had their

tuition paid by the Government.

[old mark]

3. Maybe in europe, but everyone here is watching TV and drinking beer.

Ain't never gonna be no revolution here - it's too inconvenient.

mark

[durkermaker]

10. it's more than that, I've had europeans tell me that Americans are more optomistic

that in europe people believe they will die in the class they were born in, but Americans believe the future will be better, and there is a small amount of truth in it (but not much)

so europeans will fight for the class they are in, because they think they cant leave it, whereas Americans think "why put effort into saving the class, when I've moving up and out anyway"?

it's a lottery ticket mentality, it's the same reason people will pour money down the hole on lottery tickets ever week

it's a matter of europeans beeing more alligned with their reality

in stages of grief, who is more likely to make final plans - someone in acceptance, or still in denial?

it's exactly the same thing

[daleo]

22. There is actually more social mobility in Europe than the U.S.

Many studies have borne this out.

Myths tend to outlive the reality that they were initially based on. So it is with the myth of American social mobility.

[old mark]

24. Denial certainly plays a major role in US politics and society in general...nt

[Poboy]

12. recommend.

[AndrewP]

13. K&R

[felix_numinous]

15. I think one obstacle to Americans effectively channeling their rage

at abusive policymakers is that our voices are fed into the filter of the partisan politics game. Even tea baggers who are genuinely disenfranchised, have been manipulated into channeling their rage against their fellow Americans. The racism and bigotry were certainly there to begin with, but Beck and Limbaugh brainwashing is effectively pulling the wool over their eyes and waving the red cape so they go in the direction of the least resistance.

We on the left are intimidated even within our own party by those who are afraid that if we express real anger a monster will be released that would harm our own party, the executive, and the next election, which are real concerns. However I think that we should plan for the time our anger erupts, because it is only a matter of time. How can we best channel our anger against the powers that be without it backfiring?

There are many issues that could spark rage, things are hitting critical mass and I think going after the big corporate theft and coup is one effective way to channel our anger. If we are smart about it, we can still win in 2012--IF we channel our rage at corporations, and not allow this issue to be partisan. It is not.

I want to add that there must be sane republicans, sane Americans out there that want this county to recover from corrupt domination. Corruption is destroying this country and the issue is hiding behind rhetoric that is spending millions of dollars into making it look like a giant cartoon game of sports. Part of our national paralysis has been caused by a deflection of these issues into this 'Colosseum', where all of our angst gets aimed at each other for their entertainment.

[daleo]

23. You make a good point

People get diverted into (mostly irrelevant) culture wars, while global capitalism grinds them down.