BF2S Forums Three dead as Greece protest turns violent

Diesel_dyk wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

The more I learn about Greece, the more I think...   what the fuck happened to the country that once produced the world's greatest philosophers and thinkers?

Now, they seem to be a pathetic shadow of their former selves.  Granted, the same could be said for Italy.

It's been 2000+ years since then...

Yah but, may be they have the balance of life thing figured out. You know here in the US we're productive and have money, but we are hardly living in an age of reason. May be you need the laid back lifestyle to have the time to contemplate and philosophize. Perhaps, 40 hour plus work weeks, 40 mile commutes, and working until you are too old and useless to enjoy yourself isn't the model we should be following.

Perhaps instead of Greece coming down to our level, may be we should be raising our standards to meet their's. who ever said progress should be a downdraft on a standard of living was defintiely no philospher... more like a slave master.

JohnG@lt wrote:

Yes, we should borrow against our future and artificially raise our standard of living so that we can enjoy our lives more while pushing the burden of paying off that debt to our children and grandchildren. Sounds swell.

JohnG@lt wrote:

There's nothing preventing you from coming up with an idea, selling it and retiring early. Alternatively, you can work hard while you're young, save everything you can, invest it and retire at 50 while you still have time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. The latter requires self control and an ability to think long term while shunning instant gratification. Since most people are just zombies sleepwalking through life and chasing simple pleasures, is there any wonder why so many millions are spent every week on the lottery?

An early retirement is supposed to be a reward for careful planning and hard work. It's not something that should be handed to people just because they voted in soft compliant politicians who promised them the world... on credit.

DonFck wrote:

-Sh1fty- wrote:

Why is the rioting always in Europe? You never see other cultures doing shit that bad usually.

Greece =/= all of Europe, because that's where they riot when the price of milk goes up by 2 cents.

Also, many 3rd world countries are constantly rioting, and before you draw lines to Europe from there, I had Wiki to list me some riots:

2010 - April 10 - Springfest Riot, Harrisonburg, Virginia, April 10, police disperse crowd of 8000 using tear gas near the campus of James Madison University; dozens injured; 30-35 arrested.
2010 - Riots in Santa Cruz, California.
2010 - Immigration riot in Los Angeles, California, April 17, between White Supremacists and Counter-Protesters

If you're going to troll, do it better.

DonFck wrote:

-Sh1fty- wrote:

Why is the rioting always in Europe? You never see other cultures doing shit that bad usually.

Greece =/= all of Europe, because that's where they riot when the price of milk goes up by 2 cents.

Also, many 3rd world countries are constantly rioting, and before you draw lines to Europe from there, I had Wiki to list me some riots:

2010 - April 10 - Springfest Riot, Harrisonburg, Virginia, April 10, police disperse crowd of 8000 using tear gas near the campus of James Madison University; dozens injured; 30-35 arrested.
2010 - Riots in Santa Cruz, California.
2010 - Immigration riot in Los Angeles, California, April 17, between White Supremacists and Counter-Protesters

If you're going to troll, do it better.

krazed wrote:

thats why you're supposed to think and look things up before you speak

Last edited by eleven bravo (2010-05-06 22:30:43)

Specific anger over the sentence given to a Korean American shop-owner, Soon Ja Du, for the shooting of an African American teenager (who Du thought was a shoplifter) in the back of the head, after the girl had hit Du three times and knocked her to the ground. Because of this, Du was pointed to as a potential reason for the riots, particularly for the African-American/Korean-American tensions witnessed during the disturbances. Publications such as Newsweek and Time suggested that the source of these racial antagonisms was derived from cultural differences, and from perceptions amongst blacks that Korean-American merchants were taking money out of their community and refusing to hire blacks to work in their shops. According to this view, these tensions were intensified when the Korean-American shop owner, Soon Ja Du, was sentenced to five years probation for the killing of Harlins.[34][35]

One of the more detailed analyses of the unrest was a study produced shortly after the riots by a Special Committee of the California Legislature, entitled To Rebuild is Not Enough.[45] After extensive research, the Committee concluded that the inner-city conditions of poverty, segregation, lack of educational and employment opportunities, widespread perceptions of police abuse and unequal consumer services created the underlying causes of the riots. It also pointed to changes in the American economy and the growing ethnic diversity of Los Angeles as important sources of urban discontent, which eventually exploded on the streets following the King verdicts. Another official report, The City in Crisis, was initiated by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and made many of the same observations as the Assembly Special Committee about the growth of popular urban dissatisfaction leading up to the unrest.[46]

Jaekus wrote:

The LA Riots of 1992 were racially triggered for the most part, with the underlying socioeconomic elements adding tinder to the fire.

The Korean element you mentioned is here:

Specific anger over the sentence given to a Korean American shop-owner, Soon Ja Du, for the shooting of an African American teenager (who Du thought was a shoplifter) in the back of the head, after the girl had hit Du three times and knocked her to the ground. Because of this, Du was pointed to as a potential reason for the riots, particularly for the African-American/Korean-American tensions witnessed during the disturbances. Publications such as Newsweek and Time suggested that the source of these racial antagonisms was derived from cultural differences, and from perceptions amongst blacks that Korean-American merchants were taking money out of their community and refusing to hire blacks to work in their shops. According to this view, these tensions were intensified when the Korean-American shop owner, Soon Ja Du, was sentenced to five years probation for the killing of Harlins.[34][35]

The more social (but non-racial) elements you guys are discussing are mentioned here:

One of the more detailed analyses of the unrest was a study produced shortly after the riots by a Special Committee of the California Legislature, entitled To Rebuild is Not Enough.[45] After extensive research, the Committee concluded that the inner-city conditions of poverty, segregation, lack of educational and employment opportunities, widespread perceptions of police abuse and unequal consumer services created the underlying causes of the riots. It also pointed to changes in the American economy and the growing ethnic diversity of Los Angeles as important sources of urban discontent, which eventually exploded on the streets following the King verdicts. Another official report, The City in Crisis, was initiated by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and made many of the same observations as the Assembly Special Committee about the growth of popular urban dissatisfaction leading up to the unrest.[46]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots

European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Olli Rehn (Finnish) has become a hated man in Greece, according to newspapers.

On Wednesday, Greek protesters asked what HIS pay was, and sang protest songs where they asked for Rehn not to take away their expensive cars. According to newspaper IS Rehn's name has the same ring to it as the Greek expression "oli klen" which means "Everybody cries".

Professor in political studies, Michalis Spourdalakis criticized Rehn for only acting according to the interest of the EU.

"He works for the interest of capital and forgets humanism", Spourdalakis says.

"I'm just doing my job and try to support an economic stability in the Eurozone. Don't take it personally.", was Rehns reply.