Sorry, but it was not off point, yes, I did get what you were saying, and no, I was not trying to address point A with a B comment.
"and, um, it's very rare that a single protest ever will change the 'status quo in and of itself'. so what? she (and other protestors) aren't spending their time and energy (and risking their lives) on some guarantee of change... they are doing so knowing they may never see change, and their cause may very well be marginalized."
It is implied above that, in basic terms, you are arguing for the mindset and motivations that lead protesters like Rachel Corrie to actions that might lead to their death. My "you won't convince me comment" was directed specifically toward your statement. As in, (basically) you argue that the risks and actions they take are justified by their cause and convictions, and I (basically) am saying that I doubt I will come to subscribe to your point of view and would rather not continue dancing the same dance.
If the connection was not apparent, then I apologize, but I felt it was pretty clear and obvious what our point of argument was the entire time.
I got into a drunken argument at 1:30 AM last night about Bush, and it just makes me sad that people who listen to punk rock these days don't think about the world and how fucked up it is.
I've not done a lot of study on it but I'm familiar with the concepts. The problem is that not all memes are created equal. Fads are memes, too, and just because an idea finds and audience doesn't make it universal or durable. IME the more complex an idea, the more explication it requires and the less likely it is to be universally acepted or applicable. The ideas of language or music or art are pure memes. Everybody has them and nobody is willing to relinquish them. Ideas like democracy or the penatatonic scale however, may find an audeicne, they may inculcate themselves into the collective consciousness of many, but theyre still going to face competing ideas and theyre still going to find cultures that they don't work for. Democracy and self determination are very powerful ideas, but they still died for 1600 years in Western culture and in the ensuing 400 years we still have no consensus on what they mean and how to best impliment them, and we've still had little success in exporting them beyond the developed world. Contrast this with, say, the very simple idea of the T shirt. You can find them in every corner of the world after 50 years.
Animal rights is not a simple concept. More importantly it is fundamentally at odds with the notion of the derivation of rights that western culture has accepted. In short there are a lot of people out there positing that they exist, but very few out there explicating why. What you end up with then is a purely empathic statement that ends up not being for anything, merely against something. Those ideas always fail. Plus to be quite honest, I'm more than a little skeptical that PeTA is genuinely engaging in such notions. Its more than a bit convenient for them in rationalizing their behavior and serving a great many other needs not of their cause but of their institution.
I WANT A LIME HELMET. I WANT A LIME HELMET. I WANT A LIME HELMET. I WANT A LIME HELMET. I WANT A LIME HELMET. I WANT A LIME HELMET. I WANT A LIME HELMET.
it's about time to change my journal, but i really don't have much to say right now.
i feel all in a void. not depressed. not sad in anyway, really.
just... like... in a void. i'm so ready to jet but i don't know where to jet to. and the place i was planning on jetting to is now a land of confusion.
I have a great gift idea for tomorrow (the SGLA gift exchange). It is a different felt doll. It is gonna' be great. Now if I could just get myself to the store to buy some more felt!
it's been a really rough week. i took out some of the pent up whatever on the current events board. i'm never really sure if that's effective though. oh well.
i'm glad everything is over and done with regarding the sad business of last week. it hasn't really hit me yet. or maybe i'm just really good at dealing with stuff. rip.
Did you see where I put "Ferret sooo cute" on the board about flirting. Guess it isn't as fun when I have to tell you to go read it, but true none the less.
um, just to clarify for Whiterabbit, that quote isn't by Nader
and i know this, maaaaaan....i had read the article before i posted it!
anyway, sorry to hear you're not feeling well, hope you get better soon.