The Sound Of Tumbrels.
Tumbrel: A French two-wheeled dumpcart or wagon designed to be drawn by a single draft animal. Originally used to carry agricultural supplies, it was most often associated with the cartage of animal manure. The tumbrel owes its employment as a metaphor to the French revolutionary Jacobins, who are said to have used tumbrels to cart the bourgeoisie to the gallows and the guillotine.
Tumbrel remark: The Irish novelist Joyce Cary defines the expression as “an unguarded comment by an uncontrollably rich person, of such crass insensitivity that it makes the workers and peasants think of lampposts and guillotines."
The Canadian Senate Page Program: Each year, fifteen university students from across Canada are selected to participate in the program - one of the most sought-after privileges available to university students. "Under the direction of the Usher of the Black Rod, these leaders of tomorrow are given a remarkable opportunity to be leaders of today."
Brigette DePape: The 21-year-old graduate from the University of Ottawa made headlines for holding up a protest sign that read 'Stop Harper' at the start of the Throne Speech: "This country needs a Canadian version of an Arab Spring." DePape has since received several job offers and is considering taking a position with the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Hamza Ali al-Khateeb: A 13-year-old Syrian boy who tagged along at an antigovernment protest in the town of Saida a few weeks ago, was arrested, was burned, beaten, lacerated and given electroshocks. His jaw and kneecaps were shattered. He was shot in both arms. When his father saw the state of Hamza’s body, he passed out. Among the elementary-school students tortured by Bashar Assad’s brutal regime are children as young as 10, picked up by security agents for scrawling antigovernment graffiti on a school wall. Those returned to their parents had cigarette burns on their bodies, and the fingernails had been pulled from their hands. Word of the torture spread, fueling further protests, prompting crackdowns with appalling new levels of cruelty.
Tumbrel remarks by the caravan-load here, here and here.
Tumbrel remark: The Irish novelist Joyce Cary defines the expression as “an unguarded comment by an uncontrollably rich person, of such crass insensitivity that it makes the workers and peasants think of lampposts and guillotines."
The Canadian Senate Page Program: Each year, fifteen university students from across Canada are selected to participate in the program - one of the most sought-after privileges available to university students. "Under the direction of the Usher of the Black Rod, these leaders of tomorrow are given a remarkable opportunity to be leaders of today."
Brigette DePape: The 21-year-old graduate from the University of Ottawa made headlines for holding up a protest sign that read 'Stop Harper' at the start of the Throne Speech: "This country needs a Canadian version of an Arab Spring." DePape has since received several job offers and is considering taking a position with the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Hamza Ali al-Khateeb: A 13-year-old Syrian boy who tagged along at an antigovernment protest in the town of Saida a few weeks ago, was arrested, was burned, beaten, lacerated and given electroshocks. His jaw and kneecaps were shattered. He was shot in both arms. When his father saw the state of Hamza’s body, he passed out. Among the elementary-school students tortured by Bashar Assad’s brutal regime are children as young as 10, picked up by security agents for scrawling antigovernment graffiti on a school wall. Those returned to their parents had cigarette burns on their bodies, and the fingernails had been pulled from their hands. Word of the torture spread, fueling further protests, prompting crackdowns with appalling new levels of cruelty.
Tumbrel remarks by the caravan-load here, here and here.
posted by Terry Glavin at 10:54 AM
5 Comments:
Crusaderism
H/T Captain Capitalism
a 10 part series.... which fits her to a T.
http://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/2010/07/crusaderism.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD2ofP62KLU
Crusader-ism
A 10 part series by Captain capitalism.
I reccomend it highly... and it fits this nice young lady to a T.
http://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/2010/07/crusaderism.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD2ofP62KLU
Crusaderism: 'When a person takes up a crusade, or cause, not for the cause itself, but rather for personal gain, be it financial, pychological, or emotional."
Not bad. But the thing has a name already: Pathological narcissism. It often presents as left-wing activism, and is routinely misdiagnosed as such; nothing wrong with left-wing activism at all, per se (personally I'd like to see more of the real thing), and nothing wrong with drawing some psychological or emotional gratification from the observed gains of one's activism. The pathology is in the purpose. When an act or a pattern of activism is primarily (as in DePape's case)cathartic, it's pathological. She seems to have been afflicted with it for quite some while, the poor kid. She's as inarticulate as a 12-year-old and her essay for the CCPA suggests that she has what used to be called "daddy issues."
I suspect that when she grows up, she will quite rightly loathe all the adults around her who are showering her with praise at the moment. But for now, it's all about her, which is what pathological narcissism requires, so I'm sure she has never been happier. This is the consequence of her protest: fame, celebrity, job offers, praise. We are supposed to call her "brave" for having acquired all this and for having done absolutely nothing in the bargain. And that, I regret to notice, is what is taking up the space where left-wing activism used to be.
I love activism. It shows people care about something. Politics is a personal favorite
But it has to be done, well, I can't find the right work.. responsibly, to benefit.
It has to benefit someone, anyone.
Accomplish something. A goal. To make something better.
Shouting a slogan or holding up a sign... honking as you pass. It doesn't accomplish anything. Get out and do some work for the cause. (or failing that, learn about the cause you are pursuing.)
And she missed out on that... she didn't accomplish anything except the notoriety she was seeking. And I don't see why that is deserving in praise in our society.
Since when was thrusting your opinion on others' ever been thought of a 'activism'?
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