Friday 18 November 2011

The fat lady sings

Jon Stewart turns on the Occupiers.  How sad that it took him two months to notice what the rest of saw on the first day.

3 comments:

eon said...

Oh great Ghu. Talk about a target-rich environment for satire. I'm not sure which is more tempting, the silliness or the hypocrisy.

Three things I noticed were;

1. They had the guy pedaling the bike "powering their laptops" o prominent display, but made no mention of the portable gas-powered generators that actually carry most of the load.

2. The guy at the "downtown" end estimated that 15%, or about one out of six, is making all the decisions. As Colin Wilson relates in "A History of Murder" (excellent book on sociology in general, in spite of its title), when Stanley met Livingston, he asked the good doctor what percentage of his men could command if something happened to him. "Five percent", Livingston replied. "Is that an approximation or an exact figure?" Stanley queried. "Exact" said Livingston.

This indicates that OWS has roughly two extra "decision makers" for every one who actually is competent to do so.

3. I absolutely loved the guy who claimed that his laptop was "personal property", but that he was opposed to the concept of "private property". A distinction without a real difference is evidence of confusion, deliberate obfuscation, or both.

As for Stewart finally rounding on the OWSies, I suspect he has finally realized two things;

A. They are displaying the true "progressive" philosophy ("Seize power, grab everything, and beat up anyone who disagrees with our innate superiority") for all to see- thereby "harming the brand"; and

B. He has finally realized that their very honest form of "progressivism" looks absolutely ridiculous in the real world. Thereby also "harming the brand".

Progressives like Stewart own OWS. They signed on to it, and they got it. Now, they don't know what to do with it.

cheers

eon

Sergej said...

The shark has been jumped. And taught to perform tricks and played leapfrog with. A long time ago, actually. If even Mr. Stewart makes funnies about it, then this thing must truly have lost its shine among the his set. Man is a professional clown, not a leader: he makes a living reflecting his audience's opinion and acting like he's leading the parade. The audience understands this, and is amused by his antics.

eon, your 3.---of course he's like, against private property, but that doesn't mean he can't own a laptop. It's like, if you own a laptop, you gotta like, share it with him. Because that's like, only fair, you know? But this laptop is different. This laptop's got like, his games on it and his music and stuff. You see what I'm saying? Please pass the spliff; I feel reality reasserting itself.

Anonymous said...

If Jon Stewart is mocking them, that means they have become a political liability and will gradually be shoved down the memory hole. By next summer Stewart and others will be talking about the filth and craziness of the "right-wing Occupy movement" in Zuccoti Park.