Monday, October 10, 2011

False Logic

In the beginning of the following video, a women remarks on Occupy Charlotte's march on the Bank of America Headquarters that a.) it is not the best idea to march on a Saturday, when people are not at work, and b.) the protesters should get a job.  Watch -


Aside from the obvious retort that we are marching on a Saturday because many of us do have jobs, there is a flawed logic behind this.  It is an often refrain of detesters that people who protest do not have jobs.  I suggest the logic is as follows - A person who opposes the system (whether it be the economic or political system) cannot participate within the system, therefore they cannot possibly keep a job.

There are many reasons why this is false, but the main reason I bring it up is to shed light on similiar logic used by some lifestyle anarchists or by those who wish to drop out of the system.  This logic is as follows - A person who opposes the system cannot possibly work within the system.  If a person works within the system they cannot possibly oppose the system, therefore they are poseurs or illigetimate.  

I won't go into the arguments about how one cannot escape the system, therefore must subvert the system from within.  I merely want to demostrate the similarly flawed logic of seemingly completely different perspectives.
                                                                                                    -Eric Virzi

No comments:

Post a Comment