OT - is anyone here a "protester"?

[tornado]

If so - Time Magazine has honored you as Person of the Year

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/12/14/time-names-the-protester-person-of-the-year/

My Person of the Year in college basketball is...
"the mid-major basketball player"....
(given two mid-major teams in the Final Four and the solid start this year for a couple mid-major conferences, including the MVC)

[lefty]

If so - Time Magazine has honored you as Person of the Year

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/12/14/time-names-the-protester-person-of-the-year/

My Person of the Year in college basketball is...
"the mid-major basketball player"....
(given two mid-major teams in the Final Four and the solid start this year for a couple mid-major conferences, including the MVC)

that seriously has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. The whole world is going mad........I'd like to see those person of the year covers side by side......I'm sure those that were chosen before just realized how meaningless it is now

[Future Walk-On]

Hitler got it in like 1938 or 39

[BUFanatic]

Hitler '38
Stalin '39
Kruschev in '57
Khomeini in '79
The "Endangered Earth" in '88
Putin in '07
Obama in '08 (I'll give it to him, anyone that wins the Presidency tends to win POTY)
Bernake in '09
....
Not the first time I've disagreed with Time's choice of "Person of the Year"... though I still enjoy the magazine.

[Beninator]

It's a litte outside the box, but It is very appropriate and I like the selection.

Now on to occupy Bradleyfans.com.

[ChewaBrave]

I can see a handful of people winning it without question, But i'd say the selection is a pretty solid one. Agree, a bit out of the box, but solid pick none the less.

[tornado]

just my two cents --
"protesters" do NOT give us or anyone - any better system or any better anything...so we'd better be careful when celebrating "protesters" without first checking what those protesters ushered in...
history shows that a LARGE percentage of protests gain us nothing and some result in substantially worse outcome than the protesters had to begin with!!!

All some protests do is help tear down the old system - then the door is open for the next system to come along....the "protesters" are often just rolling the dice hoping for something better but guaranteeing NOTHING.


I can easily think of lots of "protesters" who didn't like what they had so they staged PROTESTS...and lo & behold..
they ended up with something worse...

-"Red October" (no, not the movie) - Russians didn't like the Czars...
so they protested and ended up with Lenin, Stalin, 70 years of Communism, and more than 25,000,000 people murdered over the next few decades..and soemthing that had they ever envisioned they'd have never overthrown the Czars.

-the US had lots of protests in the 1960's and there's a lot of people who think all of it was good and reminisce about hippies, Woodstock, and Kent State...but ....what did we end up with...
laxed morals, God-less society and schools, an entire generation of self-absorbed nacissistic, lazy people expecting the government to supply their needs, incredible socialist spending that has now bankrupted the nation, we pulled out of Vietnam & chose to lose the war yielding the entire Asian peninsula to the Commies, and a million people were slaughtered, and now there are plenty who would love to go back to the peace & social systems of the pre-protest 50's & 60's - in other words we admire the protests but they resulted in a lot of bad stuff

-over the years various "protests" in China have simply led to more killings, political imprisonments & disappearances, and government crackdowns..not much has ever been gained

-current Arab protests have not yet resulted in any NEW stable, free, democratic governments - and as it apparent in Egypt - perhaps an even more oppressive Sharia law government could result

-then we come to the "Occupy" protesters who are all into themselves thinking they are the next great movement in the world..but all they're doing is tilting American more towards the SOCIALISM of those failing nations in Europe who have already tried all the very same things the "Occupy" people claim they want!
It is doomed to make American a WORSE nation for the vast majority of people.


To honor the protesters but NOT look at what their protests result in - is like honoring an eraser but ignoring what then gets written on the empty chalkboard

[Beninator]

just my two cents --
"protesters" do NOT give us or anyone - any better system or any better anything...so we'd better be careful when celebrating "protesters" without first checking what those protesters ushered in...
history shows that a LARGE percentage of protests gain us nothing and some result in substantially worse outcome than the protesters had to begin with!!!

All some protests do is help tear down the old system - then the door is open for the next system to come along....the "protesters" are often just rolling the dice hoping for something better but guaranteeing NOTHING.


I can easily think of lots of "protesters" who didn't like what they had so they staged PROTESTS...and lo & behold..
they ended up with something worse...

-"Red October" (no, not the movie) - Russians didn't like the Czars...
so they protested and ended up with Lenin, Stalin, 70 years of Communism, and more than 25,000,000 people murdered over the next few decades..and soemthing that had they ever envisioned they'd have never overthrown the Czars.

-the US had lots of protests in the 1960's and there's a lot of people who think all of it was good and reminisce about hippies, Woodstock, and Kent State...but ....what did we end up with...
laxed morals, God-less society and schools, an entire generation of self-absorbed nacissistic, lazy people expecting the government to supply their needs, incredible socialist spending that has now bankrupted the nation, we pulled out of Vietnam & chose to lose the war yielding the entire Asian peninsula to the Commies, and a million people were slaughtered, and now there are plenty who would love to go back to the peace & social systems of the pre-protest 50's & 60's - in other words we admire the protests but they resulted in a lot of bad stuff

-over the years various "protests" in China have simply led to more killings, political imprisonments & disappearances, and government crackdowns..not much has ever been gained

-current Arab protests have not yet resulted in any NEW stable, free, democratic governments - and as it apparent in Egypt - perhaps an even more oppressive Sharia law government could result

-then we come to the "Occupy" protesters who are all into themselves thinking they are the next great movement in the world..but all they're doing is tilting American more towards the SOCIALISM of those failing nations in Europe who have already tried all the very same things the "Occupy" people claim they want!
It is doomed to make American a WORSE nation for the vast majority of people.


To honor the protesters but NOT look at what their protests result in - is like honoring an eraser but ignoring what then gets written on the empty chalkboard

So I guess the people in Berlin were wasting their time back in 1989?

[sousaman2089]

I hope people realize that they protesters the article and cover emphasise the most are not the Occupy people but the people across the world causing the Arab Spring. Those people stare death in the face and have taken down long time government bodies that did not care about its' people at all. Those people definitely deserve it'

[sousaman2089]

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102132_2102373-5,00.html

It's not until page 5 of the 8 paged story that Occupy is even mentioned.

And it's not like the Arab Spring is over. Yes, no real government has taken over yet, but these things take awhile. It took America 6 years after the Revolutionary War to form the governing body that exists today. During those six years, each state acted like its' own little country. So I wouldn't go judging those countries just because nothing has happened. We had our own heavily flawed system for six full years.

[Beninator]

I hope people realize that they protesters the article and cover emphasise the most are not the Occupy people but the people across the world causing the Arab Spring. Those people stare death in the face and have taken down long time government bodies that did not care about its' people at all. Those people definitely deserve it'

very much a +1

(just read the article)

[ChewaBrave]

It should also be remembered that it is not necessarily about honoring someone/something - it is about influence. Protesters changed governments this year. Tornado is right that no one can be sure if good things will come from the changes due to protesters this year - but it is hard to argue that many people or groups were more influential than protesters this year.

Person of the year can be good or bad - that laundry list of terrible human have been the person of the year. in 1999 I remember Time planning to make Hitler the man of the century, but decided against it because of the obvious negative association, despite Hitler being one of the most important people of the 20th century.

[sousaman2089]

Tornado is right that no one can be sure if good things will come from the changes due to protesters this year - but it is hard to argue that many people or groups were more influential than protesters this year.

+1

I'm glad TIME looked around the world for this year's person.

[Beninator]

It should also be remembered that it is not necessarily about honoring someone/something - it is about influence. Protesters changed governments this year. Tornado is right that no one can be sure if good things will come from the changes due to protesters this year - but it is hard to argue that many people or groups were more influential than protesters this year.

Person of the year can be good or bad - that laundry list of terrible human have been the person of the year. in 1999 I remember Time planning to make Hitler the man of the century, but decided against it because of the obvious negative association, despite Hitler being one of the most important people of the 20th century.

Well said!

[tornado]

So I guess the people in Berlin were wasting their time back in 1989?

I might remind you that those were not protesters, Ben -- those people were celebrating the already FALLEN Communist regime and thus they were free to climb on that wall that they'd have been shot down for doing a few weeks earlier..

the story of what led to them being able to climb on and mock the Berlin wall is lengthy but has virtually NOTHING to do with "protesting"...and just about everything to do with the USA beating them with technology, military might, and a better economic system