2 ms·

Maybe they should change this from 'Person' of the year to 'politically motivated thing we want to recognize'

JonnieCache 15y ago
They have form on this one; in 2006 it was "You," in recognition of the rise of user generated content. Kind of annoying that the massive 2010 student protests in the UK never get mentioned in articles like this. Tens of thousands of them occupied their universities for months, stormed and trashed the HQ of one of the governing parties, and attempted to burn down the treasury offices. Running battles with 14 year olds throwing lumps of concrete at police on horseback. It was chaos. I am by no means condoning it, just pointing out how strange it is that these events never get mentioned in articles like this, because they predate the arab spring/OWS and therefore don't fit the media narrative. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/2010_UK_student_protests https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/2010_UK_stude...
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  I think it's very rare that revolutions are not violent. This is why the officials shouldn't get increasingly more greedy and oppressive until they make the citizens respond like that. Because in the end it will be worse off for them - like they could end up executed by whoever gets in charge after the revolution. It seems the US Government keeps ignoring its citizens, too, heavily voting in favor of bills like SOPA or the NDAA. The OWS protesters have been mainly peaceful, but if they keep this up, the US Government might find itself with a real violent revolution, too. It's up to them to start respecting the Constitution again or keep violating it at every pace until the camel's back will break. To be honest, I really think everyone who sponsored the NDAA bill should be immediately trialed for treason against the USA. It's such a blatant violation of the Constitution they've sworn to uphold. Bills that effectively remove or disable Amendments from the Constitution at the Congress' whim without consulting the people in a referendum should be illegal.
- shadowfiend 15y ago
  Well, not fitting the media narrative helps, but it also helps that (a) this is the person “of the year” (2011) and (b) the protests in 2011 were spread around the world and throughout populations, rather than just in one country and its students.

They have form on this one; in 2006 it was "You," in recognition of the rise of user generated content. Kind of annoying that the massive 2010 student protests in the UK never get mentioned in articles like this. Tens of thousands of them occupied their universities for months, stormed and trashed the HQ of one of the governing parties, and attempted to burn down the treasury offices. Running battles with 14 year olds throwing lumps of concrete at police on horseback. It was chaos. I am by no means condoning it, just pointing out how strange it is that these events never get mentioned in articles like this, because they predate the arab spring/OWS and therefore don't fit the media narrative. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/2010_UK_student_protests https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/2010_UK_stude...

nextparadigms 15y ago
I think it's very rare that revolutions are not violent. This is why the officials shouldn't get increasingly more greedy and oppressive until they make the citizens respond like that. Because in the end it will be worse off for them - like they could end up executed by whoever gets in charge after the revolution. It seems the US Government keeps ignoring its citizens, too, heavily voting in favor of bills like SOPA or the NDAA. The OWS protesters have been mainly peaceful, but if they keep this up, the US Government might find itself with a real violent revolution, too. It's up to them to start respecting the Constitution again or keep violating it at every pace until the camel's back will break. To be honest, I really think everyone who sponsored the NDAA bill should be immediately trialed for treason against the USA. It's such a blatant violation of the Constitution they've sworn to uphold. Bills that effectively remove or disable Amendments from the Constitution at the Congress' whim without consulting the people in a referendum should be illegal.
shadowfiend 15y ago
Well, not fitting the media narrative helps, but it also helps that (a) this is the person “of the year” (2011) and (b) the protests in 2011 were spread around the world and throughout populations, rather than just in one country and its students.