Read this post by a good friend in NYC earlier today on FB:
“Did anyone see the spot this morning on CBS News with Shane Smith of VICE Media? He answered the question, “Why are young people so angry?” by reminding the CBS news team that young people world wide are disenfranchised and have been affected by the economic downturn more than anyone else. He said they are arming themselves now, training and getting ready for the next downturn which they know is coming. Then he said what we’ve seen with Occupy and other protests is going to seem like a picnic compared to what’s coming. Charlie Rose responded by asking him what he thought about Dennis Rodman going into North Korea.. THERE YOU HAVE IT; old people and mainstream media don’t even want to address the real issue. Rose so blithely swept the bomb that Smith dropped into the space off the table and completely ignored the issue. No wonder young people are angry, no one is listening.”
I immediately Shared it to get some feedback. I found it to be a near perfect illustration of what’s happening currently. Though I don’t think it’s just “young people”; plenty of folk of all ages see the coming collapse and ensuing battle that’s coming. Essentially a truth/justice versus lies war. People are just sick of a system that is founded on and rampant with untruths and injustice.
I found the feedback interesting. Some folk simply agreed with the aspect about the old “mainstream media doesn’t report on valid news anymore, only celebrities” idea. I wholeheartedly disagree. There are plenty of journalists in both underground/alternative AND mainstream media who could care less about celebrities and care deeply about the same issues that we do. One Commenter who agreed then added a list of names I felt was worth copying here (along with some other valuable ideas she offered):
Charlie Rose looks so uncomfortable on network TV. He isn’t a talking head or even a journalist…He’s an intellectual…accustomed to extended conversations on PBS…He would never have raised such a stupid non sequitor question on his own show… Network news has always been limited… That said, Fareed Zakaria (sp?) is deep and worthwhile, as is Christiane Amampour (sp?) … Charles Blow in the NYTimes, lots writers in the Daily Beast, New Yorker, C-SPAN…Every generation of young people gets angry… That’s how change happens… That’s how monarchies have been pushed into irrelevance … Through similar protests, young people are pushing dictatorships to fall and embrace difference frameworks of democracy…from Argentina to Singapore and Thailand to the Ukraine and Arab Spring…
Another well-meaning commenter offered that “all young people feel angry. We did. That’s how we are able to change things for the better in society. I assume she’s referring to earlier decades, long before our generation, when the police they ran up against were just that, police. But these days we aren’t running up against police anymore, but rather full on storm troopers with helmets and shields and knee guards, covered in metal and heavy plastic and carrying tazers, mace, clubs, stun guns, rubber bullet guns, and even real guns. I responded:
Carol – you’re right in your general thesis. True. But the country has changed tremendously in the last twenty years. This is no longer a free society where the people can enact change as easily as they once did. I’ve been on the front lines of the activist movement for over a decade for a variety of causes. This is a full-on police state now. Women, the elderly, children, teens get arrested, beaten with clubs, sprayed w tear gas and shot w rubber bullets or worse for no reason than just assembling or protesting. Young people — being prone to attend such demonstrations — see these things and realize that there’s not much they/we can do to affect change other than a full on revolt — so they drop out completely. The system is so corrupt and filled with lies and and ass backwards-unfair that they don’t see a choice. So patiently they/we wait for the opportunity when enough people reach that same boiling point. As Smith said this morning, it’s going to be brutal and make Occupy look like a picnic. More akin to Tienamen Square, Egypt or the current protests in Venezuela I’d say.
I can’t say for sure what the first impetus of it will be. Could be anything. And yes, the majority of people in America DO seem to be asleep, totally unaware of the major problems we face as a nation. But there are also plenty of folks who are fully awake and as Smith says above “planning and arming themselves.”
More later. We’re still in the studio recording.
– Posted by The Ambassador using BlogPress on an iPhone 8s Custom