It’s interesting how the corporate press is covering today’s action in New York. I’m reading the Bloomberg coverage right now, and they say, for instance, that protesters “appeared to number in the thousands.” While technically correct, I think you’d agree that “thousands” doesn’t quite carry the same weight as “32 thousand,” which is the estimate given earlier this evening by the NYPD. But, I wouldn’t expect anything different from the news agency owned by the millionaire Mayor of New York.
I also like the headline of the Bloomberg article – “Wall Street Protesters Cross Brooklyn Bridge After Failing to Disrupt NYSE.” Can’t you just picture the protesters, making their way sadly across the Brooklyn Bridge in defeat, after having failed so dismally at their goal of shutting down the stock exchange? Of course, I don’t think they ever stated that their goal was to keep the stock exchange from opening, and, having seen the live footage, I’d say they seemed anything but defeated. But that’s not the image that readers of this article will take away. The image they’ll have in their mind is of maybe 2,000 dejected hippie losers who can’t find jobs, taking to the streets, motivated by “the politics of envy.”
To their credit, the folks at Bloomberg did note that the protesters were well-behaved… Speaking of which, I heard earlier today, while listening to the live narration on the Ustream channel, that protesters had, on several occasions, foiled the attempts of masked individuals to destroy private property, set things on fire, etc. I’ve yet to see confirmation of this elsewhere, but I’m looking… At any rate, I bring this up because a few negative comments were left on the site today, in response to my having ended last night’s post by saying, “Here’s hoping the Anarchists stay home, the cops don’t act out, and the message continues to spread.” It would seem that a few folks didn’t like that I singled out Anarchists for criticism. Here, in the spirit of fairness, are their comments.
J: Well that’s obnoxious. Could we at least accomplish something, anything of substance, before we sell out everyone more radical the Clintons? If the communists and anarchists can cooperate for a couple of months, surely the liberals can stow their daggers for a while.
cmadler: Yeah, I came here to gripe about that statement too… I’ll make sure to skip your next event, Mark, now that I know I’m not wanted.
David Gomez: The anarchists that show up and start shit in these crowds, they’re cops man. The media and the establishment is playing us for fools. The OWS people are non violent. They sneak undercover cops in too start shit so they can justify beating up the non violent protesters… GO look it up and you’ll see what im saying. It no BS and its an old tactic.
OK, so maybe I should have been a bit more nuanced. I’ll admit that. I should have probably said, “Here’s hoping the Anarchists that want to smash stuff and be assholes stay home.” It’s true that I’ve got some issues with Anarchists – like Libertarians, I think they’re a bit naive – but, as long as they don’t smash shit, thereby setting the movement back, I don’t care where they are. For all I care, they could set up a little anarchist village at Zuccotti Park, dress in black and circle A’s all day long on their notebooks. I’d be fine with that. It’s when they start doing shit like they did in Oakland that I have a problem. And it’s not that I necessarily love chain stores, and want for their walls to remain pristine. I just don’t want to see the Occupy movement derailed. I don’t want the negative perception that comes along with news coverage about assholes throwing garbage cans through the windows of Gap stores so that some guy making $7 an hour can spend his day cleaning it up. I’d rather have a movement that attracts 82 year old grandmothers, our veterans, and men like Ray Lewis, the retired Philly policeman who was arrested this morning in New York.
And, as for David’s comment about agent provocateurs, I know that they exist. I’ve even written about them here on the site. With all due respect to David, though, I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that the only people who want to smash things are those being paid to do so by rich, old white guys that want to preserve the status quo. As someone who was once an angry young man, I can assure you that it’s a natural impulse. I’ve wanted to bust shit up, just walking through a mall on a regular day. I can’t imagine how strong the urge would be if I were behind a bandana, emboldened the anonymity of a mob. So, yeah, I know that some of the violence is being perpetrated by people who aren’t really Anarchists, but I suspect a lot more is carried out by young men who just want to exert their power and feel as though they have some degree of agency in a world where so much seems to be out of our control.
OK, now I’m going to say something that will probably get me into trouble with a whole new group of people… While I don’t think these self-identified Anarchists (at least the ones that want to break shit up) should be anywhere near the Occupy protests, I won’t go so far as to say that there’s no place for them at all. While I’m hesitant to promote any kind of illegal activity, I believe that, under certain circumstances, it might not be such a bad thing if a window or two gets smashed. When weighed against the number of people who are dying due to lack of health insurance, and risking their lives in foreign wars so that oil companies can pay bigger dividends, I think a little property destruction is pretty inconsequential. I think, however, that it needs to remain separate and distinct from the Occupy movement.
To give you an analogy, I don’t think that Martin Luther King would have been anywhere near as effective without the looming presence of Malcolm X in the early 60’s. Granted, Malcolm didn’t, to my knowledge, engage in any violence himself, but I think the fact that it was known that he was out there, telling black men to meet violence with violence, made white folks all the more receptive to the path laid out by King. Like I said, it’s not a perfect analogy, but that’s my way of saying that I believe fear can be a mighty motivator for people to do the right thing… All I ask is that the fear be generated somewhere else, far away from Occupy Wall Street, and under a different name.
As for Anarchy, maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see how it would work in practice. If someone would like to try to explain it to me in the comments section, I’d welcome their thoughts. Based on what I know, though, it seems incredibly naive to me. I feel the same way about Libertarianism. It sounds OK in theory, and I can see the appeal, but, if we were to experience it in the real world, I just know that it would mean having soot-covered kids with lungs like raisins, working 14 hour shifts in the coal mines again.
So, yeah… I admit it… My opinion hasn’t chanced much in the past 20 years, since I performed the anthem Anarchy is Stupid with the band Prehensile Monkeytailed Skink.
As I don’t want to end on a negative note, however, here’s something pretty cool. These photos come from New York a few hours ago, as those 30,000 or so people gathered around the Brooklyn Bridge. They’re of the Verizon building.
Now, isn’t it more beautiful than spray paint?
Last year, our friend Logan, who brews all of the delicious beer at the Corner Brewery, decided to make two batches of special beer for the big Krampus constume party. As you may recall, one the beers was naughty, and one was nice. Sadly, as I was knocked unconscious by a flying disco ball at some point in the evening, I don’t remember either. I’m told, however, that one was delicious, and the other tasted like it was brewed with severed, fungus-covered feet. (The person who told me that also told me that he had multiple glasses of the stuff, so fungus-covered feet must not be that bad.) Anyway, the plan is to do the same thing again this year – to make one sweet and lovely beer, and one that is incredibly evil. And, toward that end, Logan has decided that he’ll take suggestions from you guys. So, if you have an idea as to what the perfect “naughty” beer would taste like, or what what kind of flavors you might want to encounter in the ideal “nice” beer, you can either leave a comment here, or drop a card in the box on the bar at the Brewery (pictured above). All suggestions will be read by Logan on December 2nd, and the resulting beers will be available the night of December 17, during the big Krampus party. 
