I, Anonymous Oct 20, 2011 at 4:00 am

Comments

1
You should train for a Marathon, I guarantee that you would feel less bitter and you will become a more tolerant and pleasant person to be around while you improve the human condition.
2
are you kidding?!! oh wait, you're right- running totally does NOT send a positive message. i should stop running for charities along with the thousands of others who have raised millions of dollars for local, national, and even, worldwide charities. i should not test the limits of my body. gee- so selfish that i might want to improve my health, prevent obesity (heard of that epidemic?) or possibly help battle depression. the marathon was just for one day. i agree with the above comment. running might help you become more compassionate. and you can still work on improving the human condition without acting like a jerk.
3
Oh jesus, not THIS one again! Why reprint this one?
4
Um, this is a joke, right? (Let's not forget that Portland Marathon worked to accommodate the camp and - as an annual event celebrating 40 years - was planned far in advance of Occupy's site selection.) I'll argue that yes, it most certainly helped improve lives, battle food insecurity, and helped people access healthcare. How? Training for it kept me sane and prevented burnout from my demanding job in social services with families living below the poverty line struggling with all of the above (but you forgot access to affordable/non-shitty housing, generational poverty, institutional oppression, racism/white privilege, domestic violence, failure-to-thrive, gangs, etc. that my coworkers and I address on a daily basis) AND graduate classes in social work - so that maybe someday, I dunno, I can change the world or something. (Et tu, brute?) It gave me motivation to get out the door and do something "selfish" for myself in the evenings after work, and maybe get a medal for achieving a personal goal, which started as something I never thought possible. (I help my clients set and achieve personal goals to improve their lives, and I can't be a hypocrite, can I?) Or maybe your right, and the homeless, the hungry children, and the impoverished families would be better off with me sitting in a park and pointing fingers at the sky.
5
"Et tu, brute" ??? WTF
stop hurting Shakespeare
also, http://101thingsbeforeyoudie.com/2010/11/07/top-5-things-to-hate-about-marathon-runners/
6
Who asked you to improve my human condition? Please don't impose on others your 'solutions'. Assuming you know better than I how to run things is in itself selfish.
7
If the people represented in this ridiculous I, Anon truly exist I seriously need to study one of them in a clinical environment.
8
I anon - do you nothing "selfish"? Is EVERYTHING you do for the greater good of society? So, you don't watch the occasional TV show or movie? Go out for dinner or drinks with friends? Have sex? You're just out there 100% of the time improving society? Doubt it. Lay off the marathon runners. Not only did the runners train for several months for this, a lot of effort goes into organizing it, there are hundreds of volunteers that want to help out. All of those efforts should just be tossed out the window just because of a physical space clash with the protesters? From what I read, the majority of the protesters were happy to evacuate the space and dozens of them even volunteered to help set up for and clean up after the marathon.
9
WTF??? My initial thought reading this was that is was some sort of sardonic joke. Unfortunately, it was halfway through that I realized that, um, it was the biggest piece of horseshit I've read in an an I Anonymous EVER. Ohhh, where to begin with this bullshit. Maybe I will write directly to the dumb-fuck that wrote this letter in the first place. (Ahem.)

Dear Dumb Fuck,

The Portland marathon has been going on for DECADES. The government creating policies that allow Wall Street to screw over regular people like you and me has been going on for DECADES. (By the way I want to throw up in my mouth right now by even equating mysielf with you, you politically and socially retarded miscreant.) The leeetle tiiiiny difference is that THE MARATHATHON HAPPENS ONE DAY A YEAR AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME YOU MORON. So: If you, little Mr. Prince or Miss Princess, (I hope you're not even human for a sex label and that you're some lifeless ameoba that doesn't have a brain so that I can at least feel sorry for you) can't figure out that planning a sit in NOW that could've happened months or years ago is going to whine about a goddamn race that actually has a permit to do so, then the onus is up to you to make it work, you whiny little fucktard. I think you'd rather whine than actually DO something. Way to shit on two positive events. Good job. You obviously have a real passion for people and well-being. Oh. Wait. Your just an asshole looking for personal gain. Nice job, you prick.
10
Occupy Portland needs to clear the hurdles of indifference that keep people off the track to success, although said track is littered with the water bottles of corporate greed, which must be collected by the homeless sprinters of solitude before Team America's members can again pass the baton of financial security to one another. *Burp*
11
The Portland marathon raises ave of $2 million a year for charity. That's doing way more to help people then you writing a snarky commentary- and if you felt chased away at the park( the pre planned race worked hard to accommodate and support the impromptu occupy movement)why not go back after the event instead of sitting at home whining? Or go volunteer somewhere while fighting the political battle and make a real difference in people's lives until political change can be brought about.
12
Ummmm, the marathon is an opportunity for people to work. It gives businesses the ability to grow, therefore able to pay for workers. I support the Occupy Portland but I also support businesses that are trying to give people the ability to work.
13
and here I thought the most self absorbed person in portland was my co-worker who just ran the marathon. Seriously these two groups were made for each other and should start planning co-events.
14
The marathoners didn't fuck with your 'right' to occupy. They went way out of their way to work with you, on an event that not only raised money for charity and was permitted and planned months in advance, but has been going on FOR FUCKING DECADES!! And I'm guessing you're back in the spot now. So, grow up, DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE besides bitching and getting high you fucking dolt. I really do hope you're reading the responses fucking dickwad.
15
You want to know why protestors and activists are hardly ever taken seriously? Because most of them are exactly like you. I'd like to watch you train for and run the marathon...but you're probably too busy smoking American Spirits, drinking PBR, and camping out in public parks holding cardboard signs. Fuck off, loser. You don't even have a fucking clue.
16
Congratulations, Occupy Portland! You have run roughshod over people's right to run a marathon, interrupting the most important race in this country since the Boston Marathon, all so that you can revel in your own vanity.

The rest of us know that protesting is kind of selfish. We don't fool ourselves into thinking that it sends a positive message, or make us more enlightened, or that it makes the world a better place.

True, protesting is a celebration of human potential. Would that city government, police, and our society recognize that marathons too, are celebrations of human potential: Instead of trying to improve the condition of their own, marathoners try to improve the human condition.

Both protests and marathons are equally disruptive, but our society has become confused about which group is motivated by a selfish need for attention, and which group is trying to make life better for everyone.

Clearly, you all feel very accomplished. You protested a certain cause over a certain time. Did this do anything to improve the situation for the 100,000 people in the Portland area who are shoeless, the 49 million people in this country with no access to a local marathon, the 29 percent of children in the Portland area who face "child obesity," and the fact that all of this coincides with an unprecedented (and untaxed) profit boom for this country's most powerful runners, issues that the Marathon runners are trying to tackle? No, it didn't. You just got in the way.—Anonymous

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