This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
I go to Zuccotti Park
Sunday was beautiful in NYC. Indian summer. I went to the OWS protest. Some observations and some pictures.
Zuccotti park is where the action is contained. This is a miserable excuse for a park. It’s about the size of a football field. Not a blade of grass to be found. As you will see from the pics, this place is already jammed. The limited space may prove to be an issue for this demonstration. You can’t get more than a few thousand in this cramped area.
The park is sandwiched between Broadway and Church. It’s bounded by Liberty St (and some other street I forgot the name of). On one side is the Brown Brothers Harriman Building (talk about white spats).
On the other is the rapidly rising world trade building.
The cops have the place surrounded. But it was very clear that these policemen were not looking for trouble. Two blocks away, I found where the police had set up a command post. I suspect the guys with the helmets were resting over there.
Congressman Eric Cantor made a foolish remark over the weekend. He referred to the happenings in lower Manhattan as a “Mob Scene”. Cantor’s an ass. He has no clue what is going on. This was just a dumb sound bite. He will regret it.
There was no mob. There were no professional provocateurs. There was festive attitude. There was no anarchy.
The following pictures are the scenes that I saw. Look at the people in the background; you will not see anything threatening at all.
There was some attempt to bring order. A library, medical area, kitchen, a media center, legal aid and even a store for “essentials”:
Some people were painting signs:
Others were just painting people:
Wherever you looked there were signs. Just a few of the many:
There was one sign that caught my eye. I’m willing to bet it has also caught the eye of the FBI.
I left the area thinking that this very small group of people couldn’t possibly make much of a difference. It’s a rag tag demonstration. More a party than a serious effort to change the financial system. But as I walked north I thought of a different time in history. One that I participated in. To me, there was a very similar feeling in Zuccotti Park in 2011 to what existed in San Francisco in 1967.
The 1967 Summer of Love was a period where social/political changes began. The allure of sex, drugs, and rock and roll were very powerful magnets for this 17 year old.
I crossed the country and spent a few memorable months in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury District.
I slept in a crash pad. I went to the Fillmore West and watched Jim Morrison of the Doors sing “Light My Fire” till sun came up. And yes, there were drugs. And yes there was “Free Love” in the park. And yes, it was a hell of a party. And yes, there was not much relevance to the whole thing.
But three years later a million people marched on D.C. and it altered the outcome of a war. It also tore the country inside out. It would be a big mistake to dismiss what is going on in Zuccotti Park. Whatever is happening there, it's not going to go away. It’s going to get bigger.
»
- advertisements -
another nice side effect is unexploded ordinance and agent orange........
This organization started by a US vet helps folks who have been hurt by Agent Orange.
http://www.vietnamfriendship.org/
"They", "we" blah blah blah.
In any event, I most definitely prefer the current fascist system to an abortive socialist People's State of which many hitting the pavement (and certainly the men behind the curtain) dream. And that friends is in every sense, history repeating itself.
We won't have a real system until the creators of the present systems are rooted out.
Anyone who believes that they have the right to have others pay for their agendas are perpetrators of the system.
That includes Wall Street buying its own Congress? I'm sure you agree about that side of the coin. You are, after all, are a fair person.
How about no congress at all? We're all adults here. Let's stop arguing over who is getting too big a slice of the pie and get busy growing as many apples as we would like for ourselves.
You're a fair guy, I'm sure you'll agree.
...no congress at all...
Ok by me. No Wall Street either as it is currently manifested. Anarchy has its finer attractions.
I'll drink to that.
Of course..now go find the gun the room.
What a sad sight. Their own worst enemies.
But three years later a million people marched on D.C. and it altered the outcome of a war. It also tore the country inside out. It would be a big mistake to dismiss what is going on in Zuccotti Park. Whatever is happening there, it's not going to go away. It’s going to get bigger.
Maybe. But I've always thought of the Vietnam protests (the effective ones anyway) as having stood more on the shoulders of the Civil Rights marches not the hippie scene....although I wasn't there. OWS seems more like the 60's hippie scene however because of the hodgepodge of grievances and agendas on display.
ZH on the other hand is much tighter, articulate and specific about the relevant problems and outrage. It's certainly more influential and probably attracts more official attention.
Besides, you can point to web traffic stats but it's no longer politically correct to estimate physical crowd sizes.
vietnam is the first place we ever went to , that we did not leave a occupying army in after we left...........
that's because the distribution dynamics for the heroin trade that they originally went in for after the French F7*k'd up changed soon after the Kennedy assassination and the real action shifted gradually back through Laos and Thailand to the orginal Golden Triangle KMT kingpins. Way more efficient flying shit out of those Thai airbases than messing with hot drop zones and small time farmers.
Course the Burmese took that pipeline down much to the chagrin of the CIA(ever wonder how all that Mynamar democracy stuff started? Your tax dollars in action!) and somehow all the darts back at Langley stuck on the map right at a place called Afghanistan.
I believe that the correct term is 'logistical redeployment.'
Interested readers can review
"The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia" by Alfred W McCoy.then we fast forward to the afghan war when the taliban banned the growing of poppies and then us troops come in and poppies are grown again.....and guarded by us troops............hmmmm....
The traditional term for that is defeat.
Tripoli 1797.
Are you proposing a ZeroHedge convention? I'm in.
hookers and blow?
Thanks for the on the scene reporting and very good photos.
Many of the kids in the pictures cut their own crowd behavior teeth on the music festival circuit. There they learned how to take care of themselves and friends in a somewhat anarchic environment. Anything was a welcome relief after being cooped up in the school system for XX years. The festival atmosphere in Liberty Park comes from those lessons learned at the summer concerts. It saves a lot of trouble and grief if the vibe is chill. People talk more, expand their comfort zones, try out new perspectives. This is a really, really good thing. Lives are being changed, and futures are being altered outside of the MSM paradigm. People are discovering personal skills they only suspected they had.
Not having a blade of grass in Liberty Park is actually a good thing for mass assembly, although it is hard on the ankles. Anyone who has wallowed in mud alongside thousands of other humans knows just what I mean. One constantly wonders what is really in the ankle deep brown stuff. It is as good a central location as many. It's very important for the changes ahead to have "claimed" turf near Liberty and Wall. This is as close to the tumor as one can expect to get, and it is very important to have a presence there. OWSers should not back off one inch.
I have not been this excited for the U.S. since '68-'72. This is just the beginning of the Second American Revolution. This time we clean house top to bottom.
7 days until Black Monday II
when new york is burning and dead bodies are on the street, then and only then will i know for sure something is happening. when this happens, hpd, must leave and probably never be heard from again..........for i too must help out the cause since i am a baby boomer and i have disgraced this wonderful country with my ignorance and my greed and so now in the interest of those who come after me, i must go and give my life for them................
Suggestion for HPD:
Stop living in the past.
when i look at libya and iraq and afghanistan.........i live in the past............yep...
“He stepped to the window and pointed to the skyscrapers of the city. He said that we had to extinguish the lights of the world, and when we would see the lights of New York go out, we would know that our job was done. ” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
The 'anti-war' demos didn't 'end' the Vietnam war, they ended the draft!
OWS is an inchoate movement with no objective that I can see save an understandable resentment towards big banks.
Unfortunately, it did both.
The war became so unpopular, the quality of draftee was not high enough to keep the ranks flush. Outright insubordination was common, even direct orders were being disobeyed. Fragging of officers was increasing (just think about how effective that little trick was). By the time we started our phased withdrawal, even the senior NCO's were ready to get the hell out & no one wanted to die for a lost cause. There was really no choice but to leave. The leaders had lost the support of the people, much like what I see happening today.
Then, the machine learned. It could never again depend on draftees to fight endless wars....and there went the draft. Now we have a mercenary Army, much more compliant and willing to follow orders. And for the really borderline stuff, we have private contractors....and army of private contrators, and we don't even know how big it is or waht they are doing....it's secret. Oh yes, secrets are much easier to keep now, too....except when those nasty folks at Wikileaks go to work.
THE OBJECTIVE IS CLEARLY FUFILLING CLOWARD/PIVEN to finish off the republic and merge us into the NWO...whether these protestors realize it or not is a moot point!
puppy, quit putting lipstick on it will ya? those who ask too many questions are immediately junked. its like ron paul. those who ask too many questions are told to fuck off and leave.......heck many of the same people say to me..........well hpd if you hate this country so much then why not just get the hell out of it...........but you see, it is in love that i say the things i say......it is my love for this country that causes me to dissent, not love of myself or my viewpoints.......it is a love affair with a country that God gave us and now, it is dying and i hate this so , not so much for me, since i am old, but for those who are young and will live to see such horrible things...........because i know the enemy and i know what he is capable of and i know him like he knows himself and i understand his motives and his methods and i know full well what it will mean to be under his heel......most people have no idea who they are dealing with..........almost none.......it goes beyond simple physical manifestations ladies and gentlemen. if it was just that, then it would be much easier to quantify....no it goes to a place where the eye cannot see, it is a spiritual darkness , that most do not understand. some might say, well there is no power in this. i say to you. well , maybe, maybe not. i myself believe there is. what we believe does not matter. it is what they believe. they believe it so it is power to them and they move off of this power. what i am talking about here is the apex of the pyramid.....if you can visualize that.........
Ron Paul has a consistent 30 year record. Ask away.
ok. i have a question. why is ron paul still alive?
Because he eats right, exercises and has a positive outlook on life.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2107/2196761818_2f8de47b14.jpg
STFU you clown. All you add to the thread is noise.... which on 2nd thought still is more appreciated than malicious disinformation.
Craig's List shows an ad from a Marxist organization (WPA) for paid "demonstrators":
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/gov/2618821815.html
This silly little protest is not at all like the "Summer of Love". It is being coopted by SEIU, MoveOn.org, leftist organizations of every stripe, and the Democratic Party as some kind of counter weight to the TEA Party. When questioned about what they want, these demonstrators basically list stuff they think they should have for free. It is not really clear what they are actually protesting. Everyone seems to have his own opinion.
It's hard to argue that OWS was both organized by and is now being co-opted by "leftists."
It should be easily recognized, however, that this movement predominantly represents the voices of the left and libertarian communities. What would be the point of another Tea Party, duh?
Nader and Ron Paul can get along just fine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwIZ4syCFLc
I would argue that the Tea Party should welcome an opposing party that will save the rest of us from the over reach that every power block will inevitably perpetrate upon the majority should they be given completely free rein.
We all need an equally powerful opponent to prevent our own worst excesses if left unchecked, however well-intentioned we might be.
That said, however, it would be wise to recognize the considerable overlap in issues of burning concern between the two groups, e.g., the Fed, TBTF, virulant war mongering that has nearly bankrupted the nation, personal liberties, etc.
While it would be only too "natural" for the Tea Party to jealously defend the hard-fought monopoly it has come to enjoy, there are more enlightened views to take regarding "competition," imo.
Unless the Tea Party platform was handed down by God Himself, of course.
Not handed down by God. By the Koch Bros. and the other Billionaires who co-opted the Tea Baggers right out of the gate (and worked very hard before by funding political groups with millions to shape a message they could latch onto.)
Never have so many fat-assed, old, middle-class Americans defended the agenda of predator million and billionaires who simply want to suck them dry.
yes and most tea party people went with the flow , like it never happened...........amazing i guess, or not.........
I don't think most of them were aware...even after the free bus rides and box lunches to astro-turf rallies and counter rallies mysteriously showed up and they boarded their big fat asses for that "free" ride. The very definition of sheeple so easily herded.
And after it was pointed out who was providing the funding, they did care or countered that the critics were simply "jealous" of the mega wealthy.
+1, a relief post, thank you.
People are upset. And no, they don't all belong to the tea party.
RickC I agree, this is the communist party doings. The WPA site looks just like mayfirst.org and occupywallst.org. Their demands are sad and pathetic. They are latching on to a random Ron Paul supporter for a shred of credibility. I don't question the kids' intent, or their rights, but they should cast out the filth among their midst, and clear their minds of the immoral lies of the communist party, unions and democrat party (all the same party).
I'd like for someone to debate this point without saying "fuck you, get off your ass and join them" or some other childish rant.
Soros and Moore and the rest of the pig men are trying to organize a Venezuela or Argentina here. They want control over America's resources and livestock. The want to nationalize everything in the name of the people and then a top few will have ultimate control.
Yes...."nationalize everything" right into world government assimilation!
Why don't y'all step away from the screen and go to an occupation, just to form your own opinion. I did. I'm not a communist, far from it. They are there, but so is every other ism. This gets much bigger.
Two problems with the counsel you so generously offered:
many of those you are advising spent considerable time in the 'field' before there was a 'screen' and thereby gained some practical knowledge which sadly always goes to waste on the next generations- this often led to the perception that the threat was never so much 'communists' as their 'fellow travellers.' I believe the term has gone out of fashion.
...second, for some of us, an occupation is a manner of employing oneself in some productive labor which produces something of tradeable value...
your use of the term implies that you believe an occupation is something you go to in order to form an opinion. Not sure exactly what you expect to be traded for it.
"This gets much bigger."
Nah. It doesn't get much bigger unless some big exogenous events occur. I was around in the 60's. A movement that started inchoate (like OWS) was coopted by a set of very nasty people who saw it as a way to ride to power (looks like the same pattern starting in OWS). Most of the nasty folks were in fact some variant of Communist, Maoist, Sociaist etc. and, in retrospect, were the most earnest and tedious people I have ever met (some of the ideologicial discussions parsing differences between Maoism and the flavor de jour were, in retrospect, hilarious were they not so serious about making eveyone else in the country do things their carefully parsed out way). But until Vietnam, it was mostly kids hanging out, getting high and having sex with a hodgepodge of isms and ideas that were pretty vague. Vietnam was what grew things to a revolutionary scale and let the ideologues of the left animate a bunch of folks who really didn't care that much about their ideology.
What made the 60's bigger than OWS will ever get is that the student deferment for the draft was eliminated and a bunch of middle and upper middle class college students were about to be shipped off to the jungle. THAT got regular people's attention--not just the fringe in People's and Golden Gate Park. This was an existential threat to EVERY male college student in America and their parents and their girlfriends. That was what made the 60's explode. Noone wanted to go to vietnam and all of those noones were living together on the same college campuses amongst a bunch of professors who provided the ideological excuse to do what they wanted--a perfect storm. They didn't have to have any ideology at all to show up at protests except that they didn't want to serve in Vietnam (or that the cute girls went to protests--and there was plenty of that).
The drivers today for getting an entire generation involved are far less immediate. Bad economic prospects and student loans are not going to motivate an entire generation when they have not yet had to sell their iPads for food. In fact, the economy sucked in 1968-9. We were in a pretty steep recession. I had to work college summers doing (genuinely) backbreaking labor for $2.00 an hour in order to find any work at all. Today, the revolutionaries are scattered around--large portions still living with their parents. Many of those who aren't are on college campuses living quite comfortablyon the public teat. So there's no immediate existential threat for the general youth population to join in like the draft and the unhappy ones are scattered.
I suspect boredom with their lives and a sense of lost entitlement is a bigger contributor to the current OWS movement. This generation has had self-esteem shoved down their throats unlike any other. They are confronting that the universe cares not one whit about their self-esteem. But "give me what I'm entitled to as a special kid and pay off my student loans so I can have a high paying job that doesn't require a lot of effort the way everyone told me things were going to work" is a lot different than "don't ship me off to die next week." There's no existential driver today.
If millions of them end up actually homeless, actually selling their iPads for food, actually begging on the streets and then diving dumpsters, then I can see it growing. But that will require a depression and would feel a lot more like the 30's than the 60's--although the 60's and 30's did share that the inchoate group was coopeted by some very nasty people who saw them as a way of imposing communist-like dictatorship. Another alternative that might grow the movement would be elimation of the student loan subsidies, which could drive a lot out on the street all at once with a bunch of debt.
This.
Very astute. +1
Some of us have to get up off our ass and go to work--to the establishment that allows us to feed our families, pay the bills, and allow those kids to go out and protest instead of doing something meaningful with their lives. I don't have time to go get my head bashed in or step in human $hit and piss. I'd rather attend a tea party rally any day over a communist ran protest.
I work too. I pay a lot in taxes. Measured in dollars, I'm in the 1% - but only because I bet against the system for the last 3 years. If you like being a slave to the system, go for it.
"...instead of doing something meaningful with their lives...
I'd rather attend a tea party rally any day...."
And yet you probably didn't and won't do that either. I'm sure you'll have something more meaningful to do, like complain about having to be honorable.
And therein lies the problem, in a power vacuum the socialistas will win. Thanks to twelve years of state mandated indoctrination followed by 4+ years of abuse at the hands of Court intellectuals, these kids are actually pining for their own enslavement.
Not today. Today's the sign bomb. I've got a big huge Ron Paul sign that I plan to drive around with, this is where the clear voice of sanity lies in my opinion.