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castille · Feb 19, 2004, 09:24 am

I was cleaning my room just now when I came across this little zip disk. I remember during the riots at my high school, one of the students (wanted to be some reporter) had recorded the entire riots by connecting a web cam from one of the computers.

He made a bunch of copies, and I got one as a souvernier. I never did bother to open it, since I was in the riots anyway, but I decided to look at it tonight.

The minute I did, it brought back memories of the riot. I had been in the middle of it (I was going for a drink when it started, so I hung around to check it out). I was too young to understand politics, but the longer I stayed, the more compelled I was to join in.

You ever been to a socialist protest, anti-globalisation rally, or other liberal rallies? Imagine something similiar to that, but ten times louder, in a confined environment (school playgrounds).

If I wasn't far underage I could've sworn I was drunk. The chanting goes on and on and on and you're left with nothing but to join in. I was small so I got carried on top of someone's shoulder, then someone else gave me a flag to wave. Now I had no idea what the hell the protest was about, but I joined in anyway. A few bonfires being set up to burn the Japanese flag and some books, and a constant chant. I can't even remember the words, but I still remember the rhythm (it was 4 words). Combine a nightclub, protest, and the Nuremburg Rally, and thats the result.

Its a great learning experience on basic human psychology. Wait till they start throwing molotov cocktails or burning books, thats when it gets into climax (what sort of books do american protestors burn? Australian protests seem to be rock-throwing contests, mostly at cops and McDonalds).

I think ironically those riots taught me more about how people work, and how to make them work like I want them to, than any class on psychology.

Impenitent · Feb 19, 2004, 11:36 am

isn't democracy great?

castille · Feb 21, 2004, 08:48 am

Actually ironically, it wasn't done in a democratic country, but it took authoritarian forces to shut down the protest and prevent a dozen foreigners from being killed.

Feb 19, 2004, 09:24 am	#1 (permalink) (top)
castille Citizen #21521 Posts: 2,599	I was cleaning my room just now when I came across this little zip disk. I remember during the riots at my high school, one of the students (wanted to be some reporter) had recorded the entire riots by connecting a web cam from one of the computers. He made a bunch of copies, and I got one as a souvernier. I never did bother to open it, since I was in the riots anyway, but I decided to look at it tonight. The minute I did, it brought back memories of the riot. I had been in the middle of it (I was going for a drink when it started, so I hung around to check it out). I was too young to understand politics, but the longer I stayed, the more compelled I was to join in. You ever been to a socialist protest, anti-globalisation rally, or other liberal rallies? Imagine something similiar to that, but ten times louder, in a confined environment (school playgrounds). If I wasn't far underage I could've sworn I was drunk. The chanting goes on and on and on and you're left with nothing but to join in. I was small so I got carried on top of someone's shoulder, then someone else gave me a flag to wave. Now I had no idea what the hell the protest was about, but I joined in anyway. A few bonfires being set up to burn the Japanese flag and some books, and a constant chant. I can't even remember the words, but I still remember the rhythm (it was 4 words). Combine a nightclub, protest, and the Nuremburg Rally, and thats the result. Its a great learning experience on basic human psychology. Wait till they start throwing molotov cocktails or burning books, thats when it gets into climax (what sort of books do american protestors burn? Australian protests seem to be rock-throwing contests, mostly at cops and McDonalds). I think ironically those riots taught me more about how people work, and how to make them work like I want them to, than any class on psychology. Ideological loyalty is the act of giving your soul to a vague concept, to be manipulated by people smarter than you.

Feb 19, 2004, 11:36 am	#2 (permalink) (top)
Impenitent Hot Lava Posts: 1,859	isn't democracy great? "I really like this jacket, but the sleeves are much too long..." insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results...

Feb 21, 2004, 08:48 am	#3 (permalink) (top)
castille Citizen #21521 Posts: 2,599	Actually ironically, it wasn't done in a democratic country, but it took authoritarian forces to shut down the protest and prevent a dozen foreigners from being killed. Ideological loyalty is the act of giving your soul to a vague concept, to be manipulated by people smarter than you.