Tantrums
As a veteran of significant protests in American history for peace and human rights, I am amused by the current Facebook tantrum about airport screening methods. Tantrums are not a respectable form of political protest. Here in the new America of Me, the nature of reactionary complaint is getting more narcissistic.
I think it is worth noting that Tea Party types and this new wave of pat-down enthusiasts are relatively affluent, middle-class Americans. Their protests are centered on what they do NOT want. They do not want to pay any taxes. They do not want universal health insurance. They do not want to pay for public education. They do not want airport safety. They DO want wealth, material pleasure and a sense of superiority over those who do not want these things.
An elderly Japanese Buddhist, whom I once knew, had a wonderful way of speaking of this kind of behavior as evidence of a "very low life condition". I think it was a way of saying it is childish. And it is.
The protests of the Civil Rights Era in the U.S. and the Peace Movement against the Viet Nam War were about improving the basic human condition for everyone. Many of us who protested were not directly effected by the injustice we protested against. We were protesting in unity with people whose needs we valued and supported, because those values of universal peace and justice were the right values.
These pop protests of Facebook groups and meetups are more often selfish tantrums of privileged people who want attention and more special treatment. Flying to California for Thanksgiving is not a universal human right. Having to take greater precautions to hide your illegal drugs when boarding a plane is not a human rights violation. Worrying about how your body looks on a scanner is simply narcissistic and self-centered. Preferring to have a pat-down over a remote scan is pathetically kinky.
I think it is worth noting that Tea Party types and this new wave of pat-down enthusiasts are relatively affluent, middle-class Americans. Their protests are centered on what they do NOT want. They do not want to pay any taxes. They do not want universal health insurance. They do not want to pay for public education. They do not want airport safety. They DO want wealth, material pleasure and a sense of superiority over those who do not want these things. An elderly Japanese Buddhist, whom I once knew, had a wonderful way of speaking of this kind of behavior as evidence of a "very low life condition". I think it was a way of saying it is childish. And it is.
The protests of the Civil Rights Era in the U.S. and the Peace Movement against the Viet Nam War were about improving the basic human condition for everyone. Many of us who protested were not directly effected by the injustice we protested against. We were protesting in unity with people whose needs we valued and supported, because those values of universal peace and justice were the right values.
These pop protests of Facebook groups and meetups are more often selfish tantrums of privileged people who want attention and more special treatment. Flying to California for Thanksgiving is not a universal human right. Having to take greater precautions to hide your illegal drugs when boarding a plane is not a human rights violation. Worrying about how your body looks on a scanner is simply narcissistic and self-centered. Preferring to have a pat-down over a remote scan is pathetically kinky.
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