(..with watermelon-size testicles)Oh, Dear. My, my, my. My local newspaper went and got intellectual on me! I can usually handle an Aristotle here, a Bolshevik there but, when you start pilin' on Plato and obscure authors, it's a real challenge. However, when you go and get crazy, adding in all those gratuitous adverbs...well, my old knees start knockin'!! Phewf!
Just for the sake of argument and based on his recital of knowledge of philosophers, Bolsheviks and sci-fi novels, I'm guessing that Mr. Kelley, whose commentary appeared in the Post on Nov 9th, enjoyed the benefit of an education, and I'll go out on a limb and say that he likely enjoyed the benefit of a public education. O.k…I’m not really guessing..it says so right on his internet bio page. Thanks to the higher taxes at the time, tuition for the UC system was about $600 per year which would have allowed him to ponder all the stuff that made him so smart, without depleting the family bank account.
Sadly, that luxury is hardly the reality for so many young people, today. That could explain why all those drum-beating, iPhone toting, petulant, black-clad anarchists at the mob scene in Oakland didn't know all the stuff that Mr. Kelley knows. He actually knew, without a doubt ("doubtlessly") that 99% of them didn't know stuff. Imagine being that certain of the knowledge of complete strangers. Let me just say, "wow." I think that instead of hanging out with those stupid, inarticulate 99%ers, Mr. Kelley should check into a neuroscience research center so they can study his incredible brain. On the other hand, and since we're on the topic of stuff Mr. Kelley knows, Saul Alinksy said "...if you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated." In which case, he may need a dose of brain fiber. And, even though Mr. Kelley sure is smart, I thought I'd point out that, with all these annoying uninformed and inarticulate nihilists running around – many, perhaps most of them, as well as some 13 million other Americans, being unemployed and strapped for cash – now may not be the best time to reference Atlas Shrugged, a book that was considered an “..homage to greed.”
Mr. Kelley's marginalization of the demonstrators in Oakland was a display of elitism and it made me sad. It was a generalization that, because someone doesn't do what you might do or share your political positions, that they're not as intelligent as you. If polled on the spot, 99% of Piedmonters probably couldn’t say who Saul Alinksy was. Like many things in a stage of infancy, the Occupy groups aren't perfect and haven't gotten everything right. But because they may not be as versed as Mr. Kelley is in a 19th century Russian-based philosophy doesn't mean their frustration and concerns aren't legitimate. It's easy to be critical from the comfort of our affluent little slice. But, the whole world doesn't necessarily experience life as we do in Piedmont. That doesn't mean that they're unintelligent.
Roughly 235 years ago our founding fathers sat in a room in Philadelphia. Having enormously and fundamentally different views, they nonetheless were able to find common ground. If memory serves, it was during the summer. Anyway, it's hot in Philadelphia in summer. Toss in all those wigs and frilly collars that were so fashionable at the time and you've got the makings of a pressure cooker of cranky politicians! Still, they got the job done. They couldn't have done it if their strategy was to belittle each other for having different opinions.
Demonstration and freedom of speech are as American as apple pie...or chicken pot pie...not sure which is more American. I respect Mr. Kelley's right to an opinion and I give him credit for having the watermelon-size testicles required to put that piece out there for all to read. But, as nice as opinions and watermelon-size testicles may be, it's not always the best idea to parade them around the neighborhood.
