Can anyone make sense of these G-20 protests? There must be something I’m missing. “Abolish money..?” I wish I had more time to explore this ignorant deadbeat phenomena but I simply don’t have the time. Mostly because I have to work…..you know……in order to pay my bills… and eat. With the world falling deeper into recession and fear of a possible depression, I’ve made an effort to break free from my daily commute induced coma and try and pay more attention to the world and what’s driving it. Unfortunately, after closer observation, I now understand less than I did before.
Greenpeace was at the G-20 protests in force. Greenpeace? Does this make sense? Have the bankers now set their sights on the endangered beluga whales? Are they there because industrial pollution is hurting the environment? What the fuck is going on? Do communist, fascist and other forms of government not build factories or drive cars? Does a capitalist emit more emissions that a socialist? So I conceded that I just wasn’t smart enough to figure out what environmental alternative Greenpeace was considering. While we’re on the subject, I think it’s wonderful that Leonardo Di Caprio wants to build a completely green town, but aren’t those movies he stars in funded, promoted and distributed by the corporate machine? Arent the studios a part of the anti-christ Capitalistic structure?… OK, now I was getting a headache.
I decided to move on and read some more articles. Hey look – there’s a picture of Russel Brand in the crowd…Wait…Russel Brand?…. isn’t he a recovering alcoholic and sex addict? Now I am completely confused. The next article I read focused on the violence that accompanied the protest. How do you justify attacking cops and destroying property? You don’t. It completely amazes me how people will show up in massive numbers to violently protest. If the same number of people actually show up and put their minds to work, there’s a good chance they show some resolve . We can add Suicide protests, people lighting themselves on fire, muslims who arent afraid to die in order to overthrow the U.S presence to the list of shit that will forever befuddle me. I don’t get it, if the Iraqi people were so eager to die for their freedom, why didn’t they just try to overthrow Saddam? The Afghanis who opposed the Taliban… why not pick up their weapons instead of handing over their land and way of life. Its pretty clear to me, that people love protesting violently against the people, concepts and governments they know are not likely to strike back. Lets demonise the bankers, U.N peacekeepers or the U.S soldiers who have no interest in staying your country any longer than they have to.
Getting back to this G-20 bullshit and the ecomomy. I think we are all starting to get into protest mode ourselves. I am guilty myself of throwing up my hands at times, complaining how I make less money than I used to and that I sometimes feel like I’m the only jerk off making his mortgage payments. I’ve got debt. Why isnt anyone helping me? Lets take a lesson from our past. Maybe the short answer is to stop bitching and actually work harder. I am pretty sure most of our grandfathers worked two jobs somewhere along the line. They didnt complain about having to possibly work the same weekend that the Masters is on. And, amazingly enough they did all this without 2 cell phones, the Wii or a live-in au pair. Maybe we’re a bit spoiled. We’re starting to believe we cant wake up without our Starbux coffee, “I cant watch that game unless its in HD” and god forbid she should miss her pilates class. What the fuck is a pilate anyway?
So times are getting tough and maybe we are headed into a depression.. But if we do, I certainly wouldn’t want to compare scars with anyone who lived through the first one. There is a big difference between waiting on a breadline and having the annoying inconvenience of being stuck with a 2nd generation iPhone when there’s new technology out there. We all need to complain and protest less, and work more.
Myself included.
-Six Gun
