Spain Riot Raw Footage - Collapse Imminent

Originally posted by AutOmatIc
Well....why don't they join them? I have never understood the mentality of people who are on the riot squad. They are humans too...and don't they realize who they are protecting? Thats right...the rich, the "elite", the very people who are the root cause for the protests to begin with. Why? Why would they protect them? Can anyone on ATS who is a member of law enforcement explain your logic as to why you don't take the people's side?

I'm not in law enforcement, but I think I know the answer to your question.

The police are people too, just as you say, with families, children, mortgages, car payments, etc. Their job is to protect Parliament from protesters. They are at this point doing their jobs, because they feel that they have no choice.

However, when the protesters become armed rioters in overwhelming numbers, and they start taking out a few cops, everything will change. Suddenly their paychecks will not be worth the risk of leaving their children fatherless, and their wives widows, and they will stay home.

Unfortunately, that's when the military will be called in, and the body count will start. As much as I want to see these people overpower their politicians, it will not be pretty. It never is.

We are not quite there yet but Spain embraced Socialism for many years and has moved away from it as the entitlements could not be sustained. This is what WILL happen if we continue with an entitlement society. It can not be sustained and it will turn into The French Revolution all over again.

I have a buddy who has lived there for years. He doesn't paint the society that well to me. Although he likes it, I must say. There are a lot of folks who don't like to work, they expect a siesta break during the afternoon. They party late into the night. The have pot legal for personal consumption. Getting anything in like a phone or internet took years, they have a graft system. So getting a new phone, unless you pay the right people, can be a long wait. Great history and museums. It's very backwards compared to other parts of Europe. It has been that way for years. I don't think Spain represents anything but Spain, well.. possibly Greece is similar. They need systemic change and probably what they consider "Conservatives" couldn't do it.

I don't think there is a lot of MSM coverage because Spain has made its bed and has to lie in it. This is not new or unexpected. Greece had calmed down but now Spain is firing up. Socialism only works if its well funded. Evidently Spain's socialism isn't well funded.

Well, with all this protesting world-wide and no clear objective of what will take the place of the governments that fall, one-by-one, are we really guaranteed to have a better system when all is said and done?

Originally posted by charles1952It might get deleted for being an off-topic post so I'm quoting it to make sure it is preserved, because that, was hilarious

When you're as poor as the Spaniards are, some can't even afford shoes, and you're running down a stone street, you're going to get some pretty raw footage.

I'm so, so, sorry.

All jokes aside, I'm loving what I'm seeing, I detest violence and I hope it doesn't reach levels higher than what we've seen so far, because it takes away from the positive intentions these protests have.

I don't attend protests, not that they are a common occurrence where I live though, because of two reasons:

1.) Most people don't really know what they are protesting against, and to be blunt, I don't want to be associated with them. I remember how a closer to home OWS-clone was portrayed by the media here, they picked the most uneducated (on the subject at least) attendees and then asked them why they were there etc, they twisted it all to be a very comical thing and thus made the people there look like a bunch of apes with signs who actually didn't have a clue why they were there in the first place. Now I know to many people this doesn't make sense, to use this as a reason not to protest as that is their (the media/TPTB/whatever) intention, but there's a number two remember!

2.) There is a time for everything, and when the time comes that we're about to tip the scale, and the population is ready for change (of the kind that actually happens, no offense Obama supporters!), I will be there with them, but until that time is ready, I will look from the sidelines, ready to step in when I deem the timing to be right. This might make me sound opportunistic? I don't know? It's not my intention anyway, I think there are pioneers and there are those that prefer to watch what happens, I guess I'm the latter, though I support the pioneers in nearly everything they do as it is the most essential part of any 'movement'.

( Please also note that this only applies to me and I am glad others DO go out and protest even if the time might not be right yet, it's thanks to these people that awareness is constantly being raised! It's just that I'm not one to lead, I guess I can contribute it to my being introverted, but enough of the autobiography )


Bring on the change! Many are ready and I think, soon, more than enough people WILL be ready to finally tip the scale again, and hopefully this time, for ever!


On a closing note, I can't help but notice how as we get closer and closer to that very loaded date, things seem to be heating up more and more, things appear to be changing, and if they aren't yet, there sure seem to be getting ready for it. I guess you could call it coincidence, but I think something bigger is at play here, perhaps our mass consciousness has the "doom date" running in the background which changes people's perceptions etc, or perhaps the universe works in mysterious ways and it's all unfolding according to the script, I don't know, and to be honest, I don't really care anymore either. All I care about is being so freaking excited to be able to witness this in my lifetime!!!

(Okay I do care about how or why as I crave knowledge but what's more important is that it actually seems to be happening)

reply to post by Variable


Spain is in a world of isht unto itself. I agree. Things are pretty backwards here. I am a Spaniard too. I will admit, we kind of suck in certain aspects of our society.

Originally posted by Variable
I have a buddy who has lived there for years. He doesn't paint the society that well to me. Although he likes it, I must say. There are a lot of folks who don't like to work, they expect a siesta break during the afternoon. They party late into the night. The have pot legal for personal consumption. Getting anything in like a phone or internet took years, they have a graft system. So getting a new phone, unless you pay the right people, can be a long wait. Great history and museums. It's very backwards compared to other parts of Europe. It has been that way for years. I don't think Spain represents anything but Spain, well.. possibly Greece is similar. They need systemic change and probably what they consider "Conservatives" couldn't do it.

I don't think there is a lot of MSM coverage because Spain has made its bed and has to lie in it. This is not new or unexpected. Greece had calmed down but now Spain is firing up. Socialism only works if its well funded. Evidently Spain's socialism isn't well funded.

Me being of Italian descent (though admittedly not having lived there), I think I understand where this is coming from, though I have to disagree.

In Europe there is this feeling that everyone should be equal, and I mean almost completely equal, as in; "We pay taxes, so should they!!!" or "We work every day, so should they!!!", it kind of reminds me of two children, with one of both having to do a chore and the other getting the time off. The one having to do the chore is likely to make a fuss about how the other child doesn't have to help, gets to enjoy his free time, etc...

Yes, Spaniards, Italians, Greeks,... take their time to enjoy, relax, to de-stress, though de-stressing is not how they see it let alone call it. It's a more natural way of living, a more natural one than the rest of Europe and the US is used to, and I think, one many people are really envious of, and can't stand others having the luxury of, so they wish for it to be taken from them as well, they call them lazy, spoiled, etc...

But think about it for a second please. Do you think an average working person lives a natural life? As nature (according to me) intended it? Does working 9 to 5 and getting in trouble for relaxing during noon, really sound like a rational life to anyone? It doesn't to me, people should be protesting to get the same rights, not to take those of others they envy... Besides, if you want something NOW, well, then why don't you make sure you get it NOW? Why do you (not intended at you specifically) expect others to do so for you, and when they don't, think it's right to insult them, blame them, etc...?

If you want a phone faster, make it so you get the phone faster. If a person or a group of people don't act the way you desire from them, can you really blame them? Or does the finger actually point both ways?


Who are we going to demand change from when the Greeks, Italians, Spaniards,... stop "being lazy"? The Africans?

Funny anecdote, because I fear this might offend some people;
My father did some charity work in Africa, Senegal, to be exact. It was just him and a friend who goes there multiple times a year to help the local population (on his own expense), so no big organization working as a barrier or anything, just the two of them, and the local people.

Did you know that (and I'm ONLY talking about Senegal here) most people there are actually quite happy? Many of them don't even know what 9 to 5 means, they get up in the morning, work, eat, relax, and go to bed, the activities during the day are interchangeable, during my father's stay there, he had a lot of difficulties adjusting to the fact that TIME is not a 24/7 thing like it is here... (It was Ramadan at the time so they did use time as they can't eat or drink anything before 8 o'clock, but besides that, there is not much awareness of time, and the little awareness there was, was due to the mosques etc announcing the daily end of the fast etc etc)

He specifically recalled the people there being happy, the only thing that DID lack though was proper medical care, which according to me is largely due to funds not being used properly, both by the governments there, and the charity organizations. That's why the charity my father's friend does specifically involves lasting projects, feeding a family will last them maybe a month, building a school on the other hand will serve generations to come.

Of course I have to be realistic here and add that many perhaps dream of living a Western lifestyle, chasing fortune, acquiring materialistic 'needs' etc, but one has to ask if this is their nature at work here, or if it's simply the experience they crave, because it looks like us Westerners are having such a great time (on the outside, I'm sure leading a busy life only to end the day in the couch watching television looks very appealing, though having experienced it, not so much..

Cont'

con't from I guess what I'm trying to say is this;

If you want to lead a rushed lifestyle, that's fine. If you want to live in a society where you can expect others to be at your service in the blink of an eye, that's fine. If you want to live a life of 9 to 5 where you can report the person in the cubicle next to yours for dozing off, that's fine.

But don't try to enforce this on other people and nations. Leave a little room for some variation.

This is exactly why I don't like the concept of what the EU is trying to become, even though I live in it myself. F*ck what Greece stands for and has stood for for many decades, same for Italy and Spain, because Germans work very hard, and so should every other nation in the EU!!

No, they don't

What are they fighting for? Do they have goals? Something they want to implement?

It's illegal to surround your parliament in case of a coup?

How about don't screw your people over then? There's a good idea.

CX.

If Spain is a baseball game, where are we in the action..?


Bases loaded

Full count

Originally posted by AutOmatIc

Originally posted by Egyptia
reply to post by proob4

 

Don't think that the police aren't contemplating joining them too!

edit on 25-9-2012 by Egyptia because: (no reason given)

Well....why don't they join them? I have never understood the mentality of people who are on the riot squad. They are humans too...and don't they realize who they are protecting? Thats right...the rich, the "elite", the very people who are the root cause for the protests to begin with. Why? Why would they protect them? Can anyone on ATS who is a member of law enforcement explain your logic as to why you don't take the people's side? The excuse of "just following orders"...or "its how I get paid" is a cop out. (no pun intended) Is it that being a riot officer requires psychopaths who have no emotions whatsoever? Shouldn't you be helping your fellow countrymen instead of fighting with them? Meanwhile, the bankers and corrupt politicians hide behind these riot officers, and sometimes soldiers, as though these people (police) are not human beings, but emotionless, unsympathetic paid thugs who care more about a paycheck than the bigger picture.

Please enlighten me as to how you (riot police) can even sleep at night knowing that you are not doing the right thing, you are not protecting or serving your country by not siding with it's people.

I was thinking about this too. I think the reason the police don't join them is because when it fizzles out, they want a job to come back to.

When the # really hits the fan and the police KNOW that it is the be all and end all, then, they will join the protestors. They just need to be sure it's worth the risk.

The US will be the last to have massive protests like this. As bad as our economy is we are not experiencing the 25% unemployment like Spain and Greece are. Also, as long as we are still being fed and entertained at a cheap rate, Americans will not mass riot or protest like they are in Europe.

reply to post by scholarwarrior


Well it depends on the economic status -- those making less than 10,000 a year have a 50 percent unemployment rate -- but this group is so poor they're probably not organized well enough to protest. ACORN largely organized this income level -- probably the $25,000 and under for couples trying to buy houses, etc.

The thing is that nonwhites in the u.s. are more often in jail then in college -- due to the non-violent arrest rates for medical marijuana posing as illegal drugs.

So the U.S. has modern slavery locking up the poor people with the highest rate of incarceration in the world.

Private prisons are big business -- easier to have the government taxes go to the military and prisons then to actual industrial production when the U.S. just prints money and then sells the IOUs as treasury notes to foreign countries who need to keep their currency value low in order to export manufactured goods to the U.S. which are then bought using the debt money.

That system is about to collapse as the debt money for consumers was created by refinancing their mortgages and now that's not an option for most and the new FED money is just going to bank reserves used then for currency speculation trading abroad - which then increases the foreign countries currency value and makes their exports more expensive against the U.S. dollar.

So hopefully domestic manufacturing will begin to be more attractive as the income inequality is even worse than it was during slavery in the U.S.

here's a video from the train station last night.
politica.elpais.com...

Now, wtf are those cops doing? Storming a train station where people are presumably leaving the protest and going home peacefully, and firing off what ever they were firing off (gas or rubber bullets, i know I read one tweet last night that said rubber bullets were used in the train station) and beating people.


And this one. Well, this one is pure poetic justice really. They've got one of their own agent provacatuers and are dragging him up the road. While he screams "I'm you're effing collegue" (in spanish obviously)



And here's a grainy ass live feed for tonites show, thousands reportedly in the streets.
bambuser.com...

Here's another video. Watch, in awe as that brave police officer, beats the crap out of a woman, ect ect.


edit, because i think it's worth pointing out the shockingly bad police tactics they used last night. Huddled together in little groups? What on earth is that about. And again at the train station at the end. Just opened fire as people were walking in quietly, and charged after them like a bunch of crazed nutters. (which they are)


and lastly, but certenly by no means least. Massive props go to the restaurantier who had all the protesters in his place, and stopped the police for getting them.

I've said it once and I'll say it again.
nazi pig scum.

lol @ violence isnt the answer - of course it is.

There has never been a peaceful takeover of an oppressive regime. I'm not saying they should be violent but policy makers are committed and they can hide behind law enforcement. Ask OWS what it achieved with peaceful protests - nothing.

The same obviously can't be said for the middle east the last 2 years...hmmm whats the difference

From the videos it looks like fascism is still alive and well in Spain.

Franco would be proud.

reply to post by Ben81


Those American talking heads really get me angry.

This is NOT A RIOT - YET.

I'm watching the live stream and seeing what's happening in Madrid right now, and there are tens of thousands of people there PEACEFULLY PROTESTING.

The idea that anyone trusts a word espoused by their media shills astounds me every day. Do Americans actually watch that and not think "hang on, he just called it a riot, and it isn't"?

People seriously need to turn off these BS merchants and start watching real footage and reports not filtered and massaged by your propaganda industry.

They also neglect to mention the fact that the Spanish government have rewritten their constitution without consulting their public. Can you imagine if Obama just tore up your constitution and created a new one, to enable him to to rob the people and hand everything over to the corporations and banksters?

No one is talking about that. This is not just about the austerity, rising taxes, massive unemployment... this is about their government becoming a DICTATORSHIP.

The Spanish people had the right to remove that government the moment they touched the constitution of their people without a referendum. They have every right to storm that building and arrest every one inside for treason against the Spanish public.

The police defending that building are now officially defending a dictatorship. And they are just as guilty. They are the new Brown Shirts of Europe.

Originally posted by Ben81
Americans are still sleeping or what ?
OWS peacefull movement didnt work that well ..
the US cops really know how to handle protesters
everyone in the world thoughs the revolution would start in the US
maybe we were wrong and the US will be the last country to be really affected by protesters

Just look at how ATS reacted to OWS protests. On ATS where more people are informed about government corruption than the average person.. not even half of ATS supported OWS.

It's no wonder there will never be a successful protest against government corruption in this country. Too many people are complacent and in denial, even the ones who supposedly deny ignorance. They've been programmed for too long to believe the MSM's biased view.

Even when ATS members know the media is biased and corrupt they accept its view of OWS being violent and comprised of only criminals and crazies.