Stephen Colbert tries to occupy the Occupy Movement

I've talked before about the Occupy Wall St. protests. Personally, as long as it remains generally non-violent I think the overall goals are eminently reasonable & are helping to guide the national discussion toward relevant issues.

The 99 Percent Declaration

Of course, nothing is sacred when it comes to the satirical genius of Stephen Colbert. This segment was really unfair to the motivations of the movement, but it's hysterical.

He demonstrated the power of absurdity & cynicism to these young idealists- by expertly playing the part of the self-absorbed, plutocratic a-hole.

Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street

   

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Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street Pt. 1
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A State of Occupation

 This weekend, the growing Occupy Wall Street protests spread to cities around the world. It seems that a large number of people have finally had enough with the crooks & buffoons that have been acting as overlords.

In my opinion, this movement is our country's progressive answer to the misplaced priorities of the Tea Party- which was fueled by fear & anger toward the government, but with a blind eye to Free Market abuses & no realistic approach to generate solutions.

Speaking of the Tea Party, this is an insane video of possibly the most empty-headed teabagger out there, actress Victoria Jackson. She's mingling with people in the Occupy Wall St. crowd & boldly displays her insufferable ignorance. I don't know how anyone can talk to her seriously. Could it possibly be performance art on her part?!? I'd recommend forwarding to about 2 min in. Her voice is hard to take, despite the excellent answers by the people she interviews.

The Tea Party has attracted (rightfully) angry Americans looking for alternatives to the 2 party system. However, that movement has mostly been a pawn of big industry, namely Koch Industries, & big media, namely Fox News. That's why the Tea Party's main stated goals are cutting government programs, lowering taxes & reducing regulations. Their desired policies mostly benefit multinational corporations, not the average person.

However, the knee-jerk reactionaries raising hell in the Tea Party were actually ahead of the curve in openly expressing general frustration with a system gone mad. These Occupy Wall Street protests are the result of everyone else in America finally reacting en masse to the many dysfunctional elements of society that have metastasized into systemic failure.

The driving vision of this recent upwelling is not to just initiate reform, but to fundamentally change in the way society operates. Everything is so screwed up, maybe this kind of organized, widespread nonviolent protest this is the only way to start the wheels turning toward real progress.

After reading through the '99% Declaration' policy points, I think these are definitely the right issues to be focusing on. These groups of people are trying to effectively address the problems at their root cause. This is actually a rational & pragmatic platform... not the stoned ramblings of bongo-playing hippies:

The 99 percent Declaration

Traditional apologists for the elitist tendencies of the status quo are having a hard time adopting the reality of this popular movement into their worldview. America's biggest knucklehead, Fox News' Sean Hannity, is the standard bearer for being wrong on every single issue.

These two U.S. Marines have the right advice for anyone like him, who is foolish enough to dismiss the growing unrest in this country:

Crazy Greed

I think this trader is being honest to the extent that he's giving a clear glimpse into the mind of a sociopathic financial parasite.

He's also right that without checks on their power & influence, Goldman Sachs and the other 'too-big-to-fail' banks & investment firms are an unstoppable cancer draining the wealth from society.

I don't enjoy working with numbers, so I would never work in the financial industry. Trading stocks & managing investments would be like my nightmare job, it just seems so crazy. Maybe, to some extent, it is:

Daily Mail:

City Traders Can Be More 

Reckless and Dangerous Than Psychopaths

Obviously, not everyone who works for a bank is a greedy lunatic out to pillage mankind.
However, the fact that the looting of our country by these corporate vampires has gone completely unpunished has given rise to the 'Occupy Wall Street' protest in NYC that has been going on for almost 2 weeks.

Occupy Wall Street

The great populist of our time, Michael Moore, was on MSNBC live from Wall St. earlier & stood up for all the working people who are preyed upon by the nation's banking institutions. He's right on the money, so to speak.

Here's Part 2

of the interview

The only thing I've ever been a part of that could be a considered a protest was the awesome huuuuuge rally in DC organized by Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert.

"The Rally to Restore Sanity" 10-30-10

I've got a good job & need to pay my bills, so I've got nothing to get really pissed off about. However, I'm glad there's all those activists who are there. They are helping to bring awareness to the massive injustices happening on in our county, so people feel empowered to speak out and take action against them.

Political Infographics

Since I posted about the Death & Taxes chart, 2 more political graphics have caught my eye.

The first one was actually put out by The White House, comparing the proposals in Pres. Obama's Jobs Act to the consequences of the GOP's plan.

I'm no mindless Obama drone, but I think he's clearly a helluva lot better than Dubya was. If you watch speeches by the 2 presidents & you still think Obama's the worse one, then you've got problems. Obama's not nearly progressive enough for me, but I would much rather have him stay office than ANY one of the Republican candidates... even that half-genius/half-idiot Ron Paul.

Some critics would argue that this chart's just another piece of Obama Marxist propoganda, but it seems to correlate w/ the news I've been seeing coming out of Congress.

People could use more graphics like this that outline policy differences in a clear way, as long as they are accurate.

What a Jobs Plan Looks Like

 click for larger

I also saw this well-made infographic on iab.com, outlining the percepual and factual differences of the Occupy Wall Street protests & the Tea Party political movement:

Faceoff: Occupy Wall Street vs. Tea Party Movement

click for larger

Violence vs. Silence

People love to complain about the government, Wall St. & how "The System" as a whole is corrupt.

When people actually get out, organize, & try to do something about it, there are inevitably critics who feel like the status quo is better than actually trying to make major changes.

I think the Occupy protests are, overall, an effective force to initiate social and political change. I'm old enough to fondly remember the massive Iraq War protests during the Bush Dark Ages. The broad, sustained nature of the current Occupy protests are now having a large impact on the nation & the world.

Although the movement is fueled by future debt slaves, aka. "college students", there's also alot of labor unions & public workers involved, too. It's more than just a bunch of kids sleeping out in tents in parks. Like any large movement, there are bound to be wackos along with the people who are trying to do the right thing...

What should be the focus, are the stated goals of the movement-at-large:

The 99 Percent Declaration

The basic ideals that the people want to address are: democracy, justice, & freedom from oppression in it's many forms. 

Most people don't expect a free ride in life, but we should all expect to have some protection against being exploited or preyed upon.

So, it's very disturbing to see the bizarro world we live in- where the forces that are supposed to protect the people are violently used against peaceful citizens & students who are trying to assert their rights as citizens and human beings.

Why are the victims  (The protesting, debt-saddled American people) being criminalized instead of the perpetrators- (the financial & corporate players who have defrauded the country)?

To have any credibility with people interested in the nation-wide movement, President Obama needs to emphatically condemn violence against peaceful protesters. He's publicly sympathized with the sentiments of the protesters, even if he is a partial Wall St. beneficiary. Regardless, he should take action, or at least speak out, to prevent this kind of extreme assholery. It should not be tolerated from any law enforcement in this country, especially against unarmed students & innocent civilians.
 
This officer is basically a grown-up version of South Park's Eric Cartman- "Respect Mah Authoritah!!!!!"

UC Davis Protestors Pepper Sprayed

Later on, the chancellor of the school finally emerged to a creepy walk of shame by a silent mass of students staring her down.

It was a powerful, silent reaction to a petty, violent action:




Of course, nothing is sacred... so anything that causes outrage is now also a target for all the ridicule that The Internet has to offer:

The Fusion of Mind & Machine

From Paul's Portrait

Technology has always been one of my favorite topics. Although, I consider myself to be deeply connected to nature, I am also comfortable with the many powerful uses of computers & the Internet. 

Many people are afraid of the relentless progression of technological development, and worry about the potential loss of "human-ness" that will result from our dependence on tech. I see all technology simply as a set of tools- with the potential for good, bad, & even neutral, consequences.

Humans have always had an integral, & often dependent, relationship with our inventions. There have been countless mind-augmenting technologies over the millenia, in the realm of communication. Spoken language, written symbols, the printing press, and the World Wide Web are all creations that have allowed the human mind to better connect with other minds.

Email, text messaging, social media, and other electronic systems are slightly more advanced steps toward a form of technological telepathy. The fundamental goal of a human being, in relation to other beings, is simply to connect. What digital devices are allowing us to do is make these connections in increasingly novel ways, at instantaneous speeds.

TechCrunch:

 Digital Telepathy 

Is The Future Of The Human Species

Right now, there is a Occupy Central protest in Hong Kong, advocating for representational democracy. The protesters are using the FireChat app to bypass the Internet & cell coverage, allowing peer-to-peer "mesh networking". This type of connection is extremely difficult for authorities to stop, since it is not reliant on a central or common network that can be blocked.

This demonstrates that technology is a source of evolution, that is every bit as real as biological mutation. Technology is a transformative aspect of the human experience- adapting & changing to fit the situation, and much more rapidly than natural selection.

As much as I truly appreciate the many positive uses for digital tech, there are just as many potentially hazardous outcomes. Unfortunately, I don't think humans will outgrow their capacity for maliciousness & desire for control of others before this technology develops.

In addition to humanity's flaws, perhaps the machines themselves could be a subtly invasive force. Sometimes I imagine electronics as silicone creatures, that are evolving to latch on closer & closer to humans, trying to merge into us like some kind of parasite. Computers are getting smaller, and moving closer to our bodies, via smartphones & wearable devices. Eventually, they will be embedded in our brains and incorporated directly into our biological systems. Then, we will become as dependent on the benefits of our iThink brain implant as we are on our mobile devices today.

If this ultimate symbiosis between mind & machine happens, could it be a source of cognitive liberation, through limitless mind-expansion,... or a virtual trap for our consciousness?

Earth. We are One:

The Transhumanism Trap: 

Why Biohacking Chains Consciousness 

to the Material World

Regardless of the possible consequences, both science & the technologies it produces will continue to ceaselessly advance. This year, scientists have achieved direct brain-to-brain communication, so the era of truly interlinked minds is rapidly approaching. Then, perhaps instead of sending clumsy symbolic communications such as text or even the primitive monkey grunts of our voice, humans will be able to directly share thoughts among minds.

As the late, great philosopher and psychonaut Terence McKenna said,

"It is not what we thought telepathy would be, 

which, I suppose (if you're like me) 

you imagine telepathy would be hearing what other people think... 

It isn't that. 

It's seeing what other people mean."

Video Treasure Trove

I came across this extensive list of links to awesome Google videos that could occupy me for weeks on end.

MIND EXPANDING VIDEO LIST

There are documentaries & lectures by visionaries such as Terence McKenna, Alex Grey, Alan Watts, and many more. Videos about Mysteries, Consiousness, Alternative Science, & Conspiracies! There are also music videos from the Doors, Bob Marley, Tool, etc....

It pisses me off that I'll never be able to watch all these great videos in their entirety, but the fact that such an interesting collection can be electronically compiled and shared around the world is pretty astonishing.

Psychedelic Science