Schiff visits OWS

[Mega]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZr9c1zYaOE

Hmmm......I wonder if Peter ever watched "Star Trek" & if so didn't understand what Spock was all about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kN7t6yRK54
Mike

[Slimprofits]

Re: Schiff visits OWS

what an asburd video

I have to agree with this commenter:

Another classic debate between a rational, mature man, and an childish, irrational man. At about 2:00, the irrational man realizes that his tactics of rapid-fire topic changes, spewing mindless populist rhetoric, and refusing to answer direct questions has failed him.


So he changes his tactic from fight, to flight. He attempts to declare moral victory and end discussion, and blather the obligatory ad- hominem attack as he flees, handing Schiff the easy win.

[lektrode]

Re: Schiff visits OWS

what an asburd video

I have to agree with this commenter:

"....Another classic debate between a rational, mature man, and an childish, irrational man."

+1
beginning to wonder why somebody like schiff is putting something like that up there...
and so it begins: the bullhorn revving up to make a mockery out of and thoroughly discredit 'the movement' ?
all it will take is the lamestream media's 'cooperation' along the rest of the usual suspects within the chattering class and the whole bloody thing will be for not...

sigh.... quite discouraging at this point.

[Moe_Gamble]

Re: Schiff visits OWS

Who gives a flying f what Peter Schiff, a member of the 1%, thinks? I don't.

And why would anyone credit as representative of the OWS movement some guy that Peter Schiff chose to "debate"?

[phanatic]

Re: Schiff visits OWS

I saw it last night and thought the same thing. I like Schiff, but I could have seen the same thing on Fox news. I plan to visit a location and talk to some people myself before I make a decision on the movement.

[gwynedd1]

Re: Schiff visits OWS

So basically find the weakest opposition you can find and destroy it in argument. Debate a passed out, homeless drunk and win. Its excellent technology for virology. I'll grant it that.

[cabezon]

Re: Schiff visits OWS

I just found this video through a friend on Facebook and was going to post it here. Mostly it seemed like a bunch of histrionics and ego battles. It belittled both OWS and Peter Schiff, in my opinion.

It often seems difficult, if not impossible, for a materialist to understand that not everybody is motivated by materialism or greed. Most of us have some materialism in us, but for many people it is not a prime motivating factor. Many other things take precedence; learning, understanding, awareness, enlightenment, traveling, growing, love, connection to friends and family, connection with the earth, etc. I'm not trying to sound like the Dalai Lama here, I'm just making the observation that a person's own level of awareness can limit their understanding of others, and therefor the world.

Schiff obviously knew very little about the movement, or spent any time at all trying to understand it. If he had, he would have understood that it's not anti-capitalist at all, and that many people involved are pro-capitalist or libertarian like himself. That's truly the most striking and important thing about it, in my mind, that it's drawing support from a broad swath of the population.

This comes off more like a exercise in self-promotion than anything else. He hardly seems to be trying to understand the movement, the people there, their views on anything meaningful, or their real-life experiences. And telling a black guy you'd like to return to the freedom, even economic freedom, of the 1950s? Really? I'd say that took balls, but I think it was more just total cluelessness.

Trying to convince a group of young people, working people, disabled veterans, etc that the fact that you've created 150 jobs and sign paychecks makes you some sort of benevolent force in the universe, while you've gotten rich managing other rich peoples' money and gaming the very system you rail against, is a fools errand, and makes you look like an unfeeling, pompous ass.

I obviously don't know Schiff, or if he possesses empathy or the ability to have an open mind. This kind of thinking seems pretty common with dogmatic libertarians. I just wonder though, at what point in history has this magically capitalist, free-market system existed, where companies compete for labor without collusion or coercion, where the market prevents poisoning the ground water, the air, putting rat turds in your food, etc? If this has not in fact existed, then where is the empirical evidence to support all these claims? There is certainly plenty of evidence for how capitalism can fail. Sure, you can blame that on government interference and regulation, or the lack of a truly free market. But what evidence is there to support those claims? And, if there isn't any, then how exactly are you any different than some dogmatic marxist claiming the dictatorship of the proletariat will solve all our problems?

Anyway, I'm sure this will get Schiff a bunch of hits on his website, or whatever it is he's after. Good for him. For everybody else on the planet, it was a big waste of time.

[flintlock]

Re: Schiff visits OWS

It often seems difficult, if not impossible, for a materialist to understand that not everybody is motivated by materialism or greed. Most of us have some materialism in us, but for many people it is not a prime motivating factor. Many other things take precedence; learning, understanding, awareness, enlightenment, traveling, growing, love, connection to friends and family, connection with the earth, etc. I'm not trying to sound like the Dalai Lama here, I'm just making the observation that a person's own level of awareness can limit their understanding of others, and therefor the world.

Ah, someone of a like mind! Only I'd leave out the greed part, as its undefineable.

I like schiff but anyone who knows anything about him knows he is a shameless self promoter.

I'm still not aware of who the OWS people really are. They claim they are not anti-capitalist. But most they show on TV certainly appear to be. Along with a nice smattering of crazies and freaks. I'm all for revolution, I'm just not sure its this one. I was hopeful initially but it seems to be devolving into the politics of class warfare and envy vs any real focus on changing the political system.