hushpoint

So, how does policy get made? Who does write it? What separates a “policy writer” from a “protester” (who shouldn’t, according to the above statement, engage in such activity)?

More significantly, should those people writing policy be The Ones? 

How should “protesters” access the power of the pen to compose new policies? 

You disparage OWS as people who have no solutions and therefore refuse “to do more than camp and get assaulted by the police,” but I’m not sure that “they” need a roadmap to some as yet undefined destination. They *do* have a clear diagnosis. There is a pretty clear operation to cure this sickness. Why do they need to articulate more than that? Why do they, why does anybody, have to accept the machinations of a broken system to change that system?

In Egypt there was a really clear call. Was there an equally clear plan to achieve the ouster of Mubarak and the implementation of Democracy? No. Have they been successful? Yes. Have they achieved everything, absolutely not, which is why they’re back out in Tahrir now. The point is, the eschewed the notion that in order to “complain” one must offer “solutions.” They complained, and they toppled their government.

~hushpoint

ows and the downfall of the smartest guys in the room - bookforum.com / daily review (via ronmarks)

If protesters can’t offer up possible solutions how do we know that they’ve correctly identified the problems? Further, why on Earth would you trust the powers that be to come up with solutions when those powers have been content with the problem-filled status quo? Better to offer them your solutions than trust them to come up with proper ones on their own. Frankly, I’m really tired of the endless defenses of OWS refusing to do more than camp and get assaulted by police. So is America, according to more than a few polls. — Ryking

(via ryking)