Comments (39) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   jrmerm said, almost 5 years ago

   The inmates of Sobibor
   1. were not there because they did not want to repay their loans
   2. did not have lice before they were sent there
   3. did not have powerful political leaders on their side
   4. were up against an enemy against which passive resistamce was worst than useless
   5. will be remembered and honored forever
   6. should never be compared to the Occupy parasites
2. 

   walruscarver2000 said, almost 5 years ago

   @jrmerm

   Perhaps history will say the same of the ows, tho’ I doubt it. Only time will tell. After all, who would have thought a man disavowed by his own party would be on the verge of winning its nomination for president?
3. 

   mjnyc said, almost 5 years ago

   I fully concur with jrmerm.
4. 

   Bilword said, almost 5 years ago

   heh, heh
5. 

   Lavocat said, almost 5 years ago

   I’m sensing some projection issues. This was pretty harsh, Ted.
6. 

   F H said, almost 5 years ago

   I try…and usually succeed…maintaining a fairly broad sense of humor, but I think it’s difficult to find humor in this topic. ’

   If you want to pursue such topics, your strip should be on the political opinion pages, maybe???
7. 

   Ted Rall said, almost 5 years ago

   Um, @F H, my work does appear in political opinion pages.
   @Lavocat: Yep, harsh I be.
   @jrmerm: The real (i.e. radical) faction of the Occupy movement is not there to avoid repaying their student loans. They are fighting to emancipate humanity from poverty, racism and sexism. As a result, they have NO “powerful politicians” on their side. None. Pols like Obama may pay lip service to the problem of income inequality but are unwilling to lift a finger to do anything about it.
8. 

   Prof_Bleen said, almost 5 years ago

   I see jrmerm is caught up on his/her Fox News propaganda. S/he’s making Rall’s point even better than Rall did.
9. 

   lonecat said, almost 5 years ago

   Usually I find Rall pretty interesting, but I’m a little confused about this one. Very few people are pacifists, and therefore very few people would suggest that armed resistance to Nazism would have been wrong. There isn’t anything in modern US politics that is very much like Nazism. We don’t have any particular reason right now to debate either the theory or the strategy of passive resistance. Back in 1967, when I was working with the anti-war movement, we had long arguments about all this. But I don’t see that argument happening now. So please help me out, Ted, what were you getting at?
10. 

    jrmerm said, almost 5 years ago

    @Prof_Bleen

    What propaganda and what does Fox have to do with it? What comments did I make that are innaccurate? This looks like another amateur righty attempt to discredit the other side by making an idiotic remark.
11. 

    kylegann said, almost 5 years ago

    I see the point all too well: the 0.1% have no reason to give a shit about OWS, or about any of us. Thought-provoking as always.
12. 

    jrmerm said, almost 5 years ago

    @Ted Rall

    If there is a real faction of Occupy with worthwhile rational political, economic, and social goals, let’s hear about it. And the very fact that certain politicians attempt to exploit the movement make its intellectual foundation suspect.
    By the way, love your book 2024.
13. 

    whitenoise said, almost 5 years ago

    On Ted: he is often offensive, but often insightful too. As with most of his comics, while this is clearly hyperbole (and offensive), we have paid attention and a discussion has ensued. Even when I disagree with Rall (and/or am offended by him) I read this comic daily.

    On the comparison to Hitler: over the last decade (and to some extent before) many voters and our government (actual actions and votes, not rhetoric) have trended towards a small but strong central government, with power concentrated in the executive, in support of business, with a large military and police force and religious underpinnings. This is very similar to the platform that Hitler ran on in the 30’s (he was elected…) and within the parallel context of this comic is surprisingly accurate.
14. 

    misterdantes said, almost 5 years ago

    I am a bit surprised with the comments focusing on a parallel between Obama and Hitler or the government and the Nazis. Ted Rall often uses the transposition of a situation in a different context, sometimes a realistic one sometimes an absurd one, or a simple reversal of positions to make his point, make us understand how what some people around us say or do and believe to be right is actually wrong in a global perspective. In that light, I believe the point he is making here is that there comes a point when sticking to rhetoric and ego boosting so called righteous principles can only lead to failure. This demonstration could actually work for any kind of protests where protesters believe they have the moral high ground and that therefore, the whole world must eventually admit their righteousness.
    The solution is not always violence, although most revolutions need some. It can be non violence if it is the best and an effective weapon at the time. The point here being that wanting to remain non violent and refusing to lower oneself to physical actions for fear to be bad like the enemy would get you very little in terms of success in a situation like a death camp. Unless you make the choice of a sacrifice to give your descendants a moral capital that they might be able to use. But I think this is reading too far into the present allegory.
    Anyway, love your work Ted.
15. 

    Anarcissie said, almost 5 years ago

    A lot of the core people in OWS are anarchists. History shows that when you use violence to get rid of the state, you just wind up with another state, because the state is violence. Under some circumstances (Sobibor) violence may be unavoidable and even desirable. But then the peak of your achievement will be liberal capitalism, that is, what we have already, and you might as well consent to the existing system of wage and debt slavery.
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