A Closing of the drysift Saga

Alright, this post has been long in coming, primarily because I’ve been a busy guy the past while. This topic deserves some kind of closer before I move on, considering the volume of traffic it generated and the strong feelings at play.

After the jump, I’ll throw up the links to the whole darn thing, as well as my articles on Occupy before my commentary. Those who are well and truly -done- with it all – never fear! You don’t have to hit ‘read more’.

There was also a show last night! I had fun, as did the 21 folks listening live. Many thanks to them!

First, forgive a quick table of contents!

The Drysift Saga

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• The Debate that Wasn’t

I have my other commentary linked in those posts, and you can find them with a little digging. Reference this post!

The miserable episode you see above is a loud, vigorous return of Digg Dougem. As some know, two years ago I was highly active on the internet news commentary site Digg and I had a long, thorough cutting of teeth on the lovely world that is internet commentary. A dark, scary place full of hyperbole, drama, hate, and passion. While I was active – not everyone was a blind partisan. I actually met a fair number of smart, insightful people who were excellent debaters. They helped shape my writing style way back when.

I learned to recognize trolls and blind partisans, and those who were absolutely hopeless cases when it came to reviewing other points of view. Drysift had already proven to be in this camp – so why engage?

I’m in the camp that really likes to see evidence and substance behind arguments. My whole bent with this blog and my podcast is to encourage actual debate in lieu of the childish screaming that takes place in the comment section of countless websites. drysift is also literally the only person with any connection at all to Occupy San Diego whom I actually got to respond. So, I figured – why not demonstrate my primary thrust about occupy way out in the open in a manner that could be easily shared with others?

I feel that occupy is a mob movement. I feel that radicals started it, and initially dropped the radical means to attract people and gain momentum for the ultimate attainment of radical ends. They come off as dishonest. They come off as confrontational. They seem to only want to yell, shout, and scream, and magically get as a result the change they hunger for.

There’s problems, alright. But there is a lot of disagreement about what they are, and the best way to go about solving them. This camp (or at least, as illustraited above, their passionate supporters) seems to think that the best way to solve their problems is by shouting down opposition, calling people names, and fighting with police and downtown workers. As opposed to say, making a case in a polite and civil manner much like what I’m doing here on my blog.

There’s not a lot of convincing or debate that takes place at occupy – but there’s certainly a lot of lecturing and grandstanding, and ‘holier then thou’ pronouncements. There’s a lot of I know better and if you disagree with me you’re bad. When confronted about this, the typical answer is to whine and complain in any number of ways!

Guess what occupy? Politics is hard. You’re not going to get widespread public support by self righteously and judgmentally preaching your brand of virtues and cumbersome solutions as the correct one. Inserting yourself directly into the public’s way is a surefire way to get the public to resent you. But wait, TheDougem! They’re right! They’re noble, self sacrificing, and fighting for the people! If only people listened they would agree and join!

You fellows have had three months. Three long, loud, obnoxious months. People have had -ample- opportunity to research your movement, and many have made up their minds. If your movement is going to mature, you have to realize that people are going to disagree and that does not mean they are morally bankrupt or wrong. I’m not going to reach out there and say that 100% of occupy are wrong. I think that 10% are borderline evil, sure, but at the end of the day I celebrate their right to protest as long as they don’t continually scuffle with officers out of frustration.

So why all this explanation? I think that drysift more or less embodies the self righteous arrogant high and mighty radical fringe that consists of the primary thrust of occupy – those that have kept it alive this long. Not the average schmuck drawn in – but the small group of organizers so badly wanting to wield mobs as political tools. Those who want to play the ‘easy’ card and just step around all that pesky democracy.

Drysift does an excellent job of representing their point of view. If you doubt me – please! Read the linked segments above. Is that a reasonable, peaceful, loving person that you see? Is that a person interested in reaching out to people and coming to points of agreement, with the goal of constructing and working towards a better society? Or is that someone caught up in the thrill of the movement, over eager to preach their gospel, casting judgement on all they see?

I remain open to debating the classy occupiers. I know they’re out there. I feel their pain when they express distress at the actions of their radical fellows. I continue to think that the tea party and elements of occupy just could unite if they agreed to narrow the message and focus on one or two things.

Drysift has lost the privilege to utilize this blog as a platform – I know they were never interested in the first place. When approached by an aggressive but open minded questioner, they fell back on coercion and bullying and never changed tack. That should speak volumes about how they truly view the 99% they profess to speak for. They only really care about the 99% whom shut up, move along, and don’t ask questions or think too hard about the signs they’re told to carry.

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And now for something completely different! Enjoyed this post? Please consider rating or commenting! Maybe even ‘like’ it on Facebook and discuss it with your friends! I love comments. They are my crack. and it’s fun to do a little side debate here and there.

A little something if you need a chuckle or two.

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EDIT 6/10/13: Light polishing