Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
"What are they solving?"
Yesterday I told someone back home that I had attended a few Occupy events, and the person responded by saying, "Oh yeah? What are they solving?" Apparently corporate media hasn't covered this angle of the protests, so I thought I would invite a conversation on this topic here.
My first reaction is to say that they - we - are solving a huge gap in participatory democracy that exists in this country. In recent years, we've seen a President appointed by the Supreme Court, we've seen our country go to war without the approval of Congress, and we've seen corporations awarded the rights of people. We've seen political debate narrowed by corporate media, extremist conservatives positioned as the new (but not newly corporate-funded) right, we've seen yet more free trade agreements passed in "a rare moment of bipartisanship," we've seen the killing of American citizens by US drone attack on foreign territory, and we've seen billions in taxpayer money funneled to privately-owned banks. All of this is occurring in the context of an increasingly fear-filled discussion of immigration reform and immigrant rights.
I consider these developments to be a danger to and/or evidence of the erosion of democracy in this country - to the ideal of democratic rule and as it is legally defined in our Constitution. In my mind, the connection among the seemingly scattered items listed above is that they are evidence that the American public has been complacent about exercising our democratic rights beyond the ballot box. As a good (woman) friend of mine says, if the vote was my only voice - if voting were the only legitimate avenue of social and political change - I wouldn't have a vote!
My first reaction is to say that they - we - are solving a huge gap in participatory democracy that exists in this country. In recent years, we've seen a President appointed by the Supreme Court, we've seen our country go to war without the approval of Congress, and we've seen corporations awarded the rights of people. We've seen political debate narrowed by corporate media, extremist conservatives positioned as the new (but not newly corporate-funded) right, we've seen yet more free trade agreements passed in "a rare moment of bipartisanship," we've seen the killing of American citizens by US drone attack on foreign territory, and we've seen billions in taxpayer money funneled to privately-owned banks. All of this is occurring in the context of an increasingly fear-filled discussion of immigration reform and immigrant rights.
I consider these developments to be a danger to and/or evidence of the erosion of democracy in this country - to the ideal of democratic rule and as it is legally defined in our Constitution. In my mind, the connection among the seemingly scattered items listed above is that they are evidence that the American public has been complacent about exercising our democratic rights beyond the ballot box. As a good (woman) friend of mine says, if the vote was my only voice - if voting were the only legitimate avenue of social and political change - I wouldn't have a vote!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
"We are not destroying anything. We are just witnessing the system destroying itself."
--Slavoj Žižek Speaks to Occupy Wall Street
I went down to Occupy Seattle with one of our colleagues today from about 1:15 to 2:15 pm. Today the scene was pretty calm, but there were dozens of people there. The food/med tent is still set up and is the center of activity, with people chatting in small groups all around. A musician sang for the group, and some people driving by honked their horns in response to those standing by the road with signs that decried the financial system. "I love my country, but I do not trust its financial system."
I spoke to two people who stood out as members of working groups. They said that they were very sleep deprived. While there is not a formal library, some book donations have been passed around, and some volumes do make it back around. Anyone wanting to create literature such as brochures is encouraged to bring a draft by for general approval. Such efforts would be welcome.
Six to eight Seattle PD officers on foot or on bikes observed the crowd, while two parks employees mingled with protesters and people in vests cleaned the park. The officers were on the sidelines, but responded to those who chatted with them. As I left, one of them passed out some pamphlets to the others, joking about "intel" - I'm glad they were reading.
The creepiest keeper-of-the-peace was the private security guard standing outside the Bank. He was packing a shiny pistol and watching the pigeons. At least three security cameras have a view of the park.
--Slavoj Žižek Speaks to Occupy Wall Street
I went down to Occupy Seattle with one of our colleagues today from about 1:15 to 2:15 pm. Today the scene was pretty calm, but there were dozens of people there. The food/med tent is still set up and is the center of activity, with people chatting in small groups all around. A musician sang for the group, and some people driving by honked their horns in response to those standing by the road with signs that decried the financial system. "I love my country, but I do not trust its financial system."
I spoke to two people who stood out as members of working groups. They said that they were very sleep deprived. While there is not a formal library, some book donations have been passed around, and some volumes do make it back around. Anyone wanting to create literature such as brochures is encouraged to bring a draft by for general approval. Such efforts would be welcome.
Six to eight Seattle PD officers on foot or on bikes observed the crowd, while two parks employees mingled with protesters and people in vests cleaned the park. The officers were on the sidelines, but responded to those who chatted with them. As I left, one of them passed out some pamphlets to the others, joking about "intel" - I'm glad they were reading.
The creepiest keeper-of-the-peace was the private security guard standing outside the Bank. He was packing a shiny pistol and watching the pigeons. At least three security cameras have a view of the park.
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