Sitting in the Middle of a Smoldering Landscape

Last week demonstration currently going on in NYC and across the country (perhaps you’ve heard of it). The point I was driving at in my column, and perhaps I did not do so effectively, was that I was concerned and alarmed by the organizing protesters failure to clearly define the message of their movement. 

And then we had ourselves a good old fashion flame war. Unfamiliar with the term? A flame war is a heated debate between individuals held in the confines of an internet forum. In this case, the venue for the flare up was the comments section found underneath every article published here on Patch.

Earlier: A Note for the Unemployed on Labor Day 

Last week’s comments ranged in length, self-righteous arrogance, clarity, and substance. If I had to pick a winner, I am going to have to go with [drum roll] Ms. Eva Watson. Congrats Eva, you win 50 Premium Patch Points*!  Ms. Watson pulled out the victory by utilizing the others-have-put-it-best technique and posted a link to a video of the late, great George Carlin. In the video, Carlin accused Wall Street executives of sodomizing (figuratively) average Americans in an effort to keep us dumb and dependant.

Interestingly enough, though I don’t believe it was her intension to do so, Ms. Watson actually managed to strengthen my point. To repeat: I wasn’t arguing for, or against the subject matter of the protesters, I was arguing the methodology of protesting.  Personally, I find protesting to be an ineffective means to communicate a point or sway public opinion. Protests are extremely effective in calling attention to a previously obscure cause.  My issue with the Occupy Wall Street crowd is that everyone already knows that things are bad.  God knows I do.

George Carlin was able to get his point across to a wide audience clearly and humorously in less than 10 minutes. He wrote it out, maybe rehearsed it, and spoke it out loud to a live crowd and a television audience. In contrast, thousands of people are holding contradictory demonstrations all over the country. Some are speaking out against corporate greed. Others are angry with the government for what they feel are disproportionate taxation methods.  Others are simply fed up with looking for work and getting nowhere (my people). When it comes to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, I am afraid the point is getting lost in the crowd.

Leaving the subject of the protests behind, I’d like to go over a few lessons gleamed from last week’s flame war. The first being a shining example of the true beauty of on-line newspapers, such as this one. I am an Opinion Columnist.  The views expressed in my column are not necessarily those of this site, its editorial staff, or its owners. Opinion Columnists are not a new on-line innovation.  However, in the past when a controversial column was published in a traditional print newspaper, motivated readers would have to write and submit letters to the editor. The editorial staff would then have to sort through several letters, and a week later one carefully selected retort would run in the back pages. But now, in the wonderful world of tomorrow, everyone has the opportunity to chime in and offer up an opinion right here on the page with the original column. That is actually pretty incredible. And, unlike what one commenter suggested, no one at Patch is going to censor your comments regardless of how anti-column or anti-parent corporation they may be.

Of course the ease and immediacy for feedback is a double-edged sword.  Though technology allows for convenient commenting, it also offers up anonymity. Too often posters use the anonymity of the internet to throw stones from dark shadows. I was encouraged to see many readers chose to identify themselves and were accountable for their comments. One such reader emailed me directly. I won’t disclose her name here, but the two of us were able to share a correspondence on the subject of protesting in America and my unattractive smug attitude. I valued our exchange. I always appreciate the opportunity to communicate directly with you, the Patch readers. However, it is something I don’t feel comfortable doing when contacted by AngryCitizen@hotmail.com or SexyDad71@u.northwestern.edu

One last thing before I bid you all farewell for this week. One of the comments that actually managed to penetrate (figuratively) my personal barriers attacked me for not doing enough to inform and educate the masses. By failing to do so, this commenter suggested that I either remove my personality from my opinion column, or I stick to covering sports and the weather. Here’s the thing folks, I love this column. I have had a blast writing it. I had a pretty good time reading the variety of negative comments left after last weeks piece, but even more so I have loved reading the overwhelmingly positive feedback I have received in nearly one year of writing this column. Again, I am not the voice of this organization nor am I out to further anyone else’s corporate or political agenda.  I am fortunate enough to have the freedom to select my own topics and see them published without censorship.  That said, I am going to continue to write about whatever the f--- I please (see what I did there?). If I want to write about the economy, or race relations, or foreign tragedy, or local politics then I am going to do so. And if I decide that I want to write about the trials and tribulations facing parents of grade school students, then I will do that too.

I invite you all to continue reading.

I thank you all who have been reading for months now.

To all,

Cheers.

-James

*Premium Patch Points and worth as much as the points in Whose Line is it Anyways?