It’s the Calibre of the People That Impresses Me the Most

Denver’s occupodpeople take umbrage with a Wal-Mart distribution centre and wrestle with some difficult philosophical questions. Among which, “What right do you have to do that?” and “What money have they stolen from you?” And of course the big one, “Why are you doing this?” Readers should also note the exchange around 3:40, in which a champion of the people grapples with the suggestion that he and his comrades are basically forcing their will on others. Then things go downhill.

Update, via the comments:

The dishonesty and passive-aggressive dynamic are, again, quite telling. Idiot Hat Guy plans to obstruct a lawful business and “disallow” staff from entering or leaving their own place of work. (His intended victims can apparently still “practice their free will” provided they don’t actually try to earn a living or try to get home.) Idiot Hat Guy feels he’s “completely within his legal right” to do this. Note too the implication that, should reinforcements arrive, things may get physical.

But when faced with the suggestion that he and his comrades are forcing their will on others, Idiot Hat Guy gets upset, delicate flower that he is. Evidently, he doesn’t like being confronted with what he’s actually doing, stated in simple terms and perhaps for the first time. For someone who presumably likes to think of himself as radical and heroic, the dissonance must be quite troubling. After all, fascism couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the utopias of the left. And so our champion of the people denies what’s happening (which doesn’t convince, given his previous statements), then indulges in some rhetorical evasion (which doesn’t help either), and then tries to change the subject by pretending that he’s the one whose freedoms are being “violated.” Idiot Hat Guy’s flattering self-image is called into question and – pow! – suddenly, he’s the victim. Truly, they are titans.

Meanwhile, via Sam, the occupodpeople of Oakland give it to The Man:

Occupy protesters succeeded Monday night in shutting down operations at the Port of Oakland for the second time in less than two months. The companies that operate the 26 berths at the nation’s fifth-busiest container port told longshore workers not to report for the 7 p.m. evening shift – effectively halting work for the next eight hours and preventing 100 to 200 employees from earning the pay they would have received on a typical shift… About 3,000 marchers gathered in the dark, dancing to music while some clambered atop trucks that were lined up with nowhere to go. “We are ecstatic with the results,” said Milo Avery, 22, of Oakland. “This day is the culmination of a lot of hard work. It’s a historic and momentous step in this movement.”

The buoyant attitude of the Occupy protesters did not extend to many of the truckers who saw their incomes suffer as a result of the shutdown. One was Lee Ronaldson, 63, whose 18-wheeler filled with refrigerated meat was one of a dozen trucks stuck on Seventh Street. “These are children out here, what do they know?” he fumed while young protesters displayed an Occupy banner on his truck. “I don’t even know what their movement is. All I know is, I’m losing a day’s wage.” […] Outside his window was Sebastian Fletcher-Taylor, 20, a student at Berkeley City College: “I came for the symbolic value of solidarity.”

Yes, workers of Oakland. Milo and Sebastian are doing thisfor you


Update 2, via Brain Terminal:

“I think the protest went pretty well yesterday. We would say a huge success actually. We are maybe hurting their bottom line for one day, but this is a much larger movement we’re talking about.”

So said Christine Cordero of the “Occupy Oakland Committee.”

And there we have it. The occupodpeople are “a much larger movement” than the workers left complaining about the disruption, missed deadlines and widespread loss of earnings. Presumably, the working people, for whom this pantomime was supposedly enacted, will just have to learn their place in the new pecking order.

Along with the 4-year-old children who find themselves placed on train tracks in order to cause disruption.

Now’s as good a time as any to remind readers that the occupodpeople have left taxpayers with a bill for clean-up, repairs and police overtime that currently stands at $22.2 million. But hey, according to the New York Times, they’re “a new generation of leaders.” And the Guardian says they’re “debating an alternative future for us all.” So I guess they’re entitled.

















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