Stupid Consequentialist OWS Hothead sez…

Last updated on: December 30, 2014 at 9:27 pm by Mark Shea

Stupid Consequentialist OWS Hothead sez… 2014-12-30T21:27:57-07:00 Mark Shea

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Violence will be Necessary to Achieve Our Goals…

Dumb, impatient street theatre jerks want to be all badass and relive the 60s (till it gets cold out). Like the “anti-war Left” these guys have the intelligence and the attention span of fruit flies. They are deeply unserious.

Update: A reader makes an interesting point: “If there are no ends, can one justify the means?”

True, sort of. What is remarkable about the OWS ninnies is that they really don’t have a clue what they want, many of them. Many of them are just there for a vague sense of “involvement” and to feel all badass and socially aware. The sort of violence they advocate is not so much ordered toward “change” as toward having the thrill of having “been there” when the big scene went down. In short, the good end being sought (for we always act, whether in an ordered or disordered way toward some good end) is the pleasure of exercising power. The problem is, such an end, pursued in a disordered way, is virtually a guarantee of evil and can only achieve something good by sheer accident–like a terrorist who inadvertantly kills a mugger by shooting randomly into a crowd. And even then, the terrorist is still willing to do evil, even if God brings some mitigated good (safety from the mugger) out of the evil act.

Updateder update from a reader:

I’ve been down to the protest a few times and I’m participating in the Demands working group. I thought I’d offer some thoughts.

First, OWS is not pursuing violence as a whole. I can’t speak for Occupy Los Angeles, but at OWS, anybody can just start talking to the crowd — there is absolutely no mediation of this outside the General Assembly — and so it’s very difficult to call this sort of thing typical.

It’s true that much of OWS is a mishmash if far-left causes and groups. There’s a strong anarchist presence, lots of communists, socialists, and hippies — but that is not even the bulk of it. Most people are there, in my experience, because they were told they’d get a good job if they went to college, and there aren’t any out there anymore, or because they got laid off when their company started to fail, but the executives got their bonuses anyway. Most of the people there are smart enough to recognize that something is very wrong, and most of them don’t advocate violence.

My work with the Demands working group has been centered on advocating for achievable goals. We really are working on a list of concrete demands and proposals. Yes, there’s a faction advocating for setting huge, ideological demands that will never be met as an excuse for an uprising, but this isn’t representative. Those people are loud and visible, but let’s recognize there is truth to Nixon’s line about a silent majority — the bulk of the people gathered in the square, and even the bulk of the people on the Demands working group, want redress for grievances, not violence, and I think you’re being a little short-sighted in assuming otherwise.

Hell, one of the major decisions the General Assembly has taken is to avoid making big ideological statements beyond listing grievances so that this *won’t* be an extremist movement, and I’ve been urging my moderate-to-liberal friends to show up and be heard so that a cooler, less extreme tone will prevail. What we need at these protests are working class schmoes. We need intelligent, reasonable people who can see the problem and don’t think violent revolution is the only answer. What we need are some bleeding Chestertons in the crowd to drown out the Trotskies.

I agree that it’s incoherent right now, but building consensus takes time. I want to be there to help the consensus develop away from violence. This is what involvement is. This is democratic participation.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 12, 2011

Jason Adkins Does the Church Proud

Next Post

October 13, 2011 The Brittleness of Islam

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 September 2006 June 2006 July 2005 April 2005 May 2002 April 2002 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz