NPR Prompts OWS Architect to Claim America Riper for Socialist Revolution Now Than In '68
NPR anchor Robert Siegel interviewed Occupy Wall Street's inspirational force, Kalle Lasn of the Canadian group Adbusters, on Tuesday night's All Things Considered and discussed how ripe America was for a socialist revolution. Lasn brought up comparisons to 1968 and the hope for a "full-fledged, full spectrum movement that operates on all levels." Siegel suggested back then, it inspired violent revolutionaries like the Weather Underground. (Well, violence wasn't mentioned.)
Lasn warmed the heart of Bill Ayers by saying America is riper now for revolution than it was in the Sixties:
SIEGEL: You know, I covered things that happened in 1968; some of them done by friends. And one thing that happened after that year was some on what was then called the New Left, misread big protests, crackdowns by police, and thought that the United States was in a revolutionary situation.
LASN: Yeah.
SIEGEL: And so a few provocations would bring the house down.
LASN: Yes. Yes.
SIEGEL: Hence, the Weather Underground and things of that sort. How do you judge the weakness or the stability of the U.S. political and economical system today?
LASN: Well, I don't think it's ever been as unstable or as shaky as it is now. I think that in the last just few years, America suddenly caught in these triple crises. And it's quite obvious to many people in this movement that our leaders, they don't really what the hell they're doing. You know, that they're just in crisis management mode. You know, we're in a world where the climate change tipping points are hovering on the horizon, where our political system is thoroughly corrupt with moneyed interests. And on top of that, we have this financial crisis that could well turn into something much more ugly than even 1929 or the 1930s.
SIEGEL: You don't think - I don't know if you were in the U.S. in 1968, but you don't think...
LASN: I was actually, yeah.
SIEGEL: You don't think the summers of riots in those days, the fear that permeated many American cities, the George Wallace campaign for president, the Vietnam War protests - you don't think that that was a shaky time? You don't think that...
LASN: But it was shaky in a different way. I think that it was shaky because maybe you could be drafted into the Vietnam War or - it was shaky in its own way. But I think that, at the risk of sounding a bit grandiose, I think this human experiment of ours on planet Earth is in deep trouble suddenly on a number of fronts. And the young people look into their futures, see a big black hole and they see leaders that don't even understand. So I think the young people today are scared in a way that they never were back in 1968.
SIEGEL: Mr. Lasn, thank you very much for talking with us.
LASN: Oh, delightful talking to you.
Radical leftists have a "delightful" time talking on our taxpayer-funded radio network. Lasn may have been speaking with braggadocio because he admitted the "occupying the parks phase" was pretty much over.
The interview touched on 1968 because Siegel noted that the OWS movement has made some foreign-policy noises against neoconservatives and "Some people think you're out of bounds identifying who are Jews among prominent neoconservatives." The anchor wondered if the movement should take on foreign policy as well as domestic issues, and Lasn said yes. Siegel also suggested the movement hadn't exactly seen any legislative accomplishments yet, which caused Lasn to insist OWS was more powerful than the Tea Party:
SIEGEL: Let me ask you about what you just mentioned, and something else. On the one hand Occupy Wall Street protesters did urge people to move their money out of banks that were increasing their debit cards fees.
LASN: Yes.
SIEGEL: And instantly, people forced a big bank to back down.
LASN: Yeah.
SIEGEL: A success. On the other hand, when it comes to banks, protesters called commonly for the restoration of the New Deal banking reform law, the Glass-Steagall Act. Something much, much weaker than Glass-Steagall, the Volcker Rule barely survived the Dodd-Frank bill, which was all that a very, very Democratic Congress was able to pass.
LASN: Yes.
SIEGEL: A lesson from that is, you know, citizen action, consumerism, you can get results. Legislation, you're a pretty far cry from achieving what you want.
LASN: Yeah. No, I think that this movement, unlike the Tea Party movement, I think it has a lot of power because it's asking for fundamental systemic change within the American system. Most of the Occupiers that I know, they all feel that America is in decline and it's got corruption at the heart of Washington, D.C.
And then the financial people on Wall Street are controlling too much of the way the economy works, and that the whole of America somehow degenerated into a kind of a corporate state, rather than being a vibrant bottoms-up democracy. And I think this Occupy movement will try to pull off some rich systemic change in America and worldwide in the global economy.
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Comments
Russia? China? North Korea? Iran???
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 9:37am.
Who is America's biggest threat? Any of the above, or your very neighbour to the North?
After reading this sickening article, I'm disgusted knowing that this attitude is very prevelant in our schools and universities, where I just heard of another "neo-conservative" was banned from speaking at Upper Canada College, Micheal Coran. He was banned by... you guessed it... by fascist leftists at the university, who totally support freedom of speech, as long as it agrees with their views.
Hypocracy, thy name is Liberal.
My advise to my friends to the south: Keep your enemies close, and your friends closer... or something like that.
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Wasn't Ann Coulter or some other American . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:43am.
. . .conservative also 'dis-invited' to speak at a Canadian university under some obscure hate speech law or something? The pressure came from campus leftists.
Yes, and Canada is also where
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:59am.
Yes, and Canada is also where quoting certain bible verses is classified as "hate speech." Canada is an absolute bastion of free inoffensive speech.
It was at Ottawa U.
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 1:12pm.
. (sigh)....
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Hang tough my man
Submitted by JLin on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:09am.
Most of my living relatives are still in Alberta. I love Canada but hate what the Marxian Socialists have done to her. She also has some kick*ss soldiers, and Canada's men still know how to fight wars.
Merci beaucoup!
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 1:14pm.
.
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Canada
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 9:23pm.
I have visited Canada repeatedly since 2001. I live 200 miles from Mexico, yet never set foot in that country...but have visited Canada!
I have always had a good time there, regardless of the circumstances under which I have visited Canada (one particular time under hair-raising circumstances). There's plenty to do there, people are friendly, and it is full of eye candy. And Canada gave the world Rush. But I do remind my fellow Americans that what I see happening to that country is simply a cautionary tale for us. I will have to find a rather lengthy post I wrote on this topic back in February 2010 on this topic that I think you and some other Canadians might find yourselves agreeing with...
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Yeah, you can tell by Obama's
Submitted by NC Cop on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 9:39am.
Yeah, you can tell by Obama's stunning approval ratings that Americans are LOVING this experiment in Socialism.
Good call!!
Lasn must not know
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 9:57am.
that unlike his countrymen up north, we haven't been disarmed. I think whoever wants to "start the revolution" is going to be in for a big surprise when they find out how many Americans aren't going to stand idly by while they attempt to wreak havoc.
total agreement
Submitted by Mark81150 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:56am.
When Ayer's was teaching Marxist theory, I was spending my days learning how to defend the America he would destroy.
We have the numbers, the skills..
Any new civil war would be pretty short,.. those leftists will be astounded when their foot soldiers run away like the spoiled brat college kids they are. Their core is marshmallow,.. ours is steel.. well tempered by experience, and we've already commited ourselves to defend this nation even when the cost is a six foot plot of earth..
Name one occupier with that kind of devotion to their cause.
Nicely said Mark
Submitted by JLin on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:05am.
It is good to remember that a common .22 semi auto rifle in skilled hands can wreck havoc on the typical Marxist troublemaker. The key to America's long term success though, is to take back or obsolete public education. That one area has been key to Leftist advances in America.
Don't underestimate some Canucks either...
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 1:15pm.
I don't know how many, but there are still quite a few of us who are disgusted with the prospect of a "socialist revolution". On this issue, we would be allies.
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
1968
Submitted by okiehawk44 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:15am.
I was around in 1968 and this guy is just another wannabe hippie dude who missed out on the sex and the drugs -- give it up bubba you look way too old now for this protesting gig.
how dedicated is Kalle?
Submitted by JIMMY1660 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:16am.
Kalle in a revolution there are casualties.
Are you willing to take the first bullet?
Sadly, he's correct
Submitted by Callawyn on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:25am.
Considering more than half the country voted for a lifelong Marxist vowing to "fundamentally transform" America to be President, and sent him supermajorities of fellow travellors in both the House and Senate, I'd have to say this guy's right.
I disagree
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:53am.
Obama got elected for several reasons.
1. He was black and galvanized the black populace (anyone who says race wasn't a HUGE part of his getting elected is either lying or stupid).
2. People (mostly independents) were sick of 12 years of Republican majorities where they got virtually nothing done, but ignored the fact that the Democrats fought every proposal tooth and nail.
3. Obama is one of the best public speakers to come along in a long time, again ignoring the fact that he had little or no background or credentials in politics, especially national politics.
4. His opponent, McCain, was a total weenie who had, over the years, pissed off many conservatives (McCain-Feingold, "Torture", immigration, etc.), and put up little fight during the campaign.
5. The media absolutely fawned over Obama, while hammering his opponents. This, to the many Americans who use sole-source news, guaranteed high voting percentage. As for voting for a lifelong Marxist, who knew? Only Fox News brought it up. All the other LSM outlets ignored or contradicted this little factoid, along with his stance on gun control, association with Ayers and Wright, and all the damage he did in Chicago with his "community organizing".
Well said!!
Submitted by NC Cop on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:59am.
Well said!!
What does it say about the leadership of this country
Submitted by bkeyser on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:45am.
that so many people from all sides are so upset at the direction we're heading?
I would agree that we're more ripe for revolution now than in '68; the source of that revolution is vastly differernt however, and it's no surprise that NPR would see it through red-colored glasses.
LASN: "Well, I don't think
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:50am.
LASN: "Well, I don't think it's ever been as unstable or as shaky as it is now. I think that in the last just few years, America suddenly caught in these triple crises. And it's quite obvious to many people in this movement that our leaders, they don't really what the hell they're doing. You know, that they're just in crisis management mode. You know, we're in a world where the climate change tipping points are hovering on the horizon, where our political system is thoroughly corrupt with moneyed interests. And on top of that, we have this financial crisis that could well turn into something much more ugly than even 1929 or the 1930s."
So, his reference to 1929 and the '30s indicates that he is familiar with the Great Depression. Yet he believes that the US has never been this unstable or shaky. Oh, and let's not forget getting to the climate change point of no return.
Like the soap-deprived bodies who have infested OWS, this guy is as delusional as his fellow-travellers were in 1968, when cities were literally on fire. Their blind allegiance to Marxism led them to totally misread the tea leaves.
True dat
Submitted by JLin on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:59am.
Maybe they can switch to chicken entrails and pigeon bones. The US has survived worse and more competent enemies than modern red diaper communist insurgents and their collaborators.
Winning the Future?????
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:52am.
I think this human experiment of ours on planet Earth is in deep trouble suddenly on a number of fronts.
Human experiment????
And did you notice, MB, that
Submitted by ThisnThat on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 2:07pm.
And did you notice, MB, that the NPR host -- "NPR, where the intelligent people get intelligent news" -- never challenged that statement? NPR is simply a megaphone -- filtered for the left -- not an analysis center for the intelligent.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Great, another Norwegian communist lecturing Americans
Submitted by JLin on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:56am.
His country is in the crapper and circling the bowl as we speak. To top it off, it is being absorbed into the moslem caliphate faster than any other Euro country. But I am sure he is safely ensconced here where he can avoid getting his throat cut when the time comes over there.
I'm confused by old hippies.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:13am.
When Flower Child says:
"America is in decline and it's got corruption at the heart of Washington, D.C."
... why does he support our Dear Leader? Is not Barack Hussein Obama, RBFSOB, the "heart of Washington?"
These people confuse me. Fortunately I'm armed to the teeth because I CAN BE in the good old USA, and unless Eric the Red, and Bambi manage to confiscate all our weapons, this 'revolution" will not be a cake walk for a bunch of pansy assed liberals, Fascists or not. I kind of have a feeling which side the US military will come down on, too, unless Bambi gets a second term and guts the command levels of all the experience and promotes his buddies.
Yeah, it's going to get interesting.
On a lighter note, I'm driving some guests to the airport yesterday, slowly along the beach road because the bike path is very close on the right. Two lovely little lasses (blondes, of course) are coming toward us on thier bikes. As we get closer one starts smiling and waving, so we wave back. Then her buddy pulls her bikini top down and hits us with her "high beams!" My guest's wife almost choked. He wanted to know if they could stay!!
It's little moments like that that just keep me convinced what a great country, and a great life this is. No damned fascist revolutionary pack of bastards, and their RBFSOB leader, is going to take it from us easily.
Bubba
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:39am.
Ummm...you forgot to post the pics!!
Sorry, Tug.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:59am.
It happened so quickly that I couldn't get the iPhone out!
Rest assured that the image is burned into my memory, as bad as that is at my age!
Just Google Fantasy Fest Key West and you can get a load of "images."
I love this place!
Can't say much for the commie pukes and their 'revolution'
Submitted by Dave. on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:44am.
But I am pretty sure it's a safe bet that the counter-revolution is going to be a really noisy b*tch.
These brainwashed Marxists really are clueless when it comes to just how outnumbered and out-gunned they truly are in America.
Their self-delusion will be not a little useful when the time comes.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Correct, Dave, as long as the Second Amendment survives.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:06pm.
That's why liberals are always so hell bent to get rid of it.
They are used to winning elections, registering weapons, then confiscating them, and ONLY then taking over the "sheeple."
Why else would Eric the Red try to scam the public with "Fast and Furious" except to get more gun control in force? So people died. So what, as long as it advances the revolution.
The sad thing is, many conservatives will stand up for more gun control. They better learn from history.
America really needs to get over their PC, Diversity, Global Warming and other crap and get real, or we will be toast.
Nb, doing away with the 2nd Amendment is the easy part
Submitted by Dave. on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:55pm.
Confiscating millions of firearms from their seriously pissed-off owners, however, is an entirely different matter.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Do we all have the same definition of 'revolution'?
Submitted by Fredy on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:06pm.
Would the re-election of Obama and the return of the democrats super majorities in the Senate and House be a 'revolution'? I suspect this fellow would say yes, while most would say no.
As for Obama winning the next election, I would point no farther than his speach in Kansas to see his platform. In 2008 Obama ran on a vague theory of 'hope and change' and not being Bush. In the 2012 election Obama is running on a strict socialist agenda that all can see in his own words.
I was seventeen
Submitted by misterbee241 on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:16pm.
in 1968. I turned 18 in September of that year and had to register with the draft.
I had never seen anything like the riots i was seeing on TV. I truly thought America was burning. I remember the 101st Airborne patrolling DC, and a picture of them on the capital steps.
I remember our local National Guard unit being sent to Fort Belvoir to be ready to move into DC to control the rioting. OWS is child's play compared to that.
1968 was not a good year for America.
Hey, today Google is
Submitted by redfish on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:22pm.
Hey, today Google is celebrating Diego Rivera with a doodle. A communist who painted murals supporting workers revolutions and attacking religion, but is completely overrated as an artist.
Progressive historical lies
Submitted by east tennessee john on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 12:38pm.
Are these people for real? In case anyone has forgotten the actual facts, 1968 was the rise of the silent majority and Nixon, not the remake of us in a socialist mode. You think the 2010 election results are a precursor to another "silent majority" election? You can crow all you want about the left's "strength". We'llsee November 2012 who turns out . There are simply more of us than them. We get no press, at least not favorable; the issues spending, deficits and the economy aren't really discuss in the media(How do you justify, given current events, becoming more like Europe?)
Looking back to 1968, Nixon
Submitted by redfish on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 5:41pm.
Looking back to 1968, Nixon first used the expression "silent majority" to describe support for an honorable end to the war in a way which won the peace. He then used it as a cover to extend the conflict into Cambodia and Laos, and ultimately botched the ending of the war -- allowing Vietnam to be taken over by the North and giving power to the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the Pathet Lao in Laos. The public turned against Nixon and he was forced to resign, leading him to become the whipping boy and epitome of corrupt politics for the Left and the national media for the next 30 years. Conservatives really don't want that to happen again.
At any rate, "silent majority" meant to refer to the fact that the majority of the country were not very vocal or represented by any vocal groups. That would mean that the "silent majority" today isn't represented by either the Tea Party or OWS. Nixon used it as a code word for moderates, rather than radicals, saying the silent majority were both moderate liberals and moderate conservatives who didn't support the protesters. Joe Klein did a cover article on TIME for this, proclaiming a "silent majority" that opposed both movements and supported Obama's attempts to be the "grown-up in the room": http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20111024,00.html . Conservatives don't want that either.
He's right.
Submitted by wizardjr on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 5:07pm.
There's fewer workers and more leeches. We're near the tipping point. Next stop - Greece, followed by Zimbabwe.