… thou doth protesteth too much.
so, yesterday afternoon outside the BofA building downtown there was a group of protesters that were upset, i believe, with the BofA acquisition of a company that didn’t have the greenest of histories. as a matter of fact the company was involved with mountain top mining for coal. ouch. not pretty.
there was about a dozen of these protesters with there well crafted, obviously visited kinkos for the larger posters, banners and posters which displayed their discontent. there was one guy i think that probably came in at the last minute with his poster board and sharpie. he must have been trying to hook up with one of the protesters. i am half tempted to just lump them into a pachouli stinking granola eating tree huggers, but that wouldn’t be fair. some of them looked like they partook of more than just granola…
here was (one of) the part(s) that irritated me… these people were screaming at people just walking out of the building for their lunch break. innocent cube dwellers like myself. dude comes out of his hole to get some fresh air on a nice day. wants to just readjust his eyes beyond his computer screen. he walks out the door and… “you are the cause of global warming!” what the fuck?!
this comes back to one of the major problems with people who protest. they don’t research. maybe one of the pack does. he feeds them all the quaint little slogans and gives them pamphlets to hand out. the rest of the people are just people that he smokes pot with.
and i am all for being heard. i think that these freedoms are what makes this country great. the right to assemble peacefully. it even sounds nice. makes you feel like your government has your back.
here is the thing though. there really aren’t any governments anymore. yeah, those fat pudgy bastards in washington can sit there and make laws all the live long day, but what does it really amount to? not much without some sort of corporate backing. because, let’s be honest, corporations are what rule the world anymore.
think i am wrong? wait for the summer olympics.
all the assaulting of poor people who went through some sort of rigor or trauma or had a special achievement so that they could be one of the torchbearers for the olympics isn’t doing a thing. again, like the poor guy walking out of his office, your statement is misdirected. you want to put a stop to the olympics because of the social injustices in china? talk to coca-cola. talk to mcdonald’s. talk to chevrolet. those are the ones that have the clout. not your senator. and certainly not some poor lady or guy that felt honored to carry a torch that has been a symbol of peace and sportsmanship longer than you have been sucking air.
oh, and by the way, what did you do before assaulting that torchbearer? i mean, you have had eight years or so to prepare your protest and the best you could come up with is, “i think i will knock the torch out of the hands of somebody when they run close to me. yeah, that will stop what is going on in china.”
another hot button for me lately is the people protesting the building of coal fired power plants. yes, there are alternative power generating sources out there. you can power your calculator with a solar panel. now lets think of the size of a solar panel that is going to generate enough power to fulfill the needs of a city the size of maybe charlotte, NC. and you there with the picket sign, do you have solar panels on your house? do you have a windmill in your backyard to generate electricity? no? hmmm…
if you read a little more, you would find out that what these power companies are doing is actually putting in units that are at least ten times cleaner than the ones that are currently powering your home thanks to the standards that are being set for carbon capture. we could go nuclear. but you would protest that too huh? because with all the smart people on this case, none of them have fingered out that whole crazy nuclear thing since three mile island huh? seriously people.
oh, and by the way, these greedy power companies are just trying to keep you from dealing with same style rolling blackouts that california went through. (side note: i am all for cutting down on emission with hybrid cars. but do you know where your electric cars are going to be powered? that is right, off the power grid provided by your local power plant.)
and then there is the absolutely ridiculous. the guy here in charlotte that doesn’t want the city to build a baseball stadium for the triple A team because he thinks it is short sighted and we could get a major league team. this guy has the legal system involved which means his stupidity is costing me tax dollars.
let us take a snap shot of charlotte sports over the last ten years. you have a minor league baseball team that plays in rock hill, SC… the CHARLOTTE knights. must be a reason they play down there. hmm. then you had the charlotte hornets. they are in new orleans. the charlotte sting? folded. the charlotte bobcats? continually struggling and i am not quite sure, but they are not really setting attendance records. the carolina panthers? by midseason, you can you can usually get tickets for two dollars and a jawbreaker. the charlotte checkers? okay little hockey club.
and so you want to bring a major league baseball team to THIS town. dude, shut up and let the knights have their stadium so that i can drive less than forty five minutes to have a beer and a dog at a ballgame.
people, i have nothing wrong with fighting for a cause. but please realize your audience. i am not heartless and i am both social and environmental conscious. but i have never seen a whale in real life. i have seen polar bears at the zoo, on discovery channel, and animated in coke commercials. show me how it impacts my life. show me something that i can feel either empathetic or sympathetic for. cancer research, domestic violence, education, helping disabled veterans, assisting physically or mentally challenged people, AIDS research, all causes i have gotten behind in the past and will do so again. know your stuff before you take up my time…