I was hoping that I would start my blog with what an eye opening experience I had today, I am now fully enlightened and charged for the cause....but that's just not true. First off, it took me a few hours to well up the energy and desire to take the train for 40 minutes to go to Zuccotti Park. It wasn't because I didn't want to go, but I had a lot of coffee this morning and it was very difficult for me to calm down and quiet my brain. We can say I had a lot of "zenning" to do before I felt comfortable leaving. I smoked a bowl, to level me out, and made the journey. Its only one train and about a 7 minute walk, it was a nice evening and I do love seeing Ground Zero at night time. So finally around 6 I arrive at the park wide eyed with an open mind.
The park is small but filled to the brim with hopeful faced protesters. There was a very large crowd gathered at the entrance on Broadway. There was a choir standing on the stairs and some strange man, who by the way he was dressed, I am assuming was a pastor of some kind(but the kind of pastor on late night evangelical shows), speaking to the crowd. They were doing the whole "human microphone" thing, where one person speaks and the crowd mimics back. From where I was standing I could see the crowd pretty well, and almost hear what the Protesting Pastor had to say, but not quite. This microphone is good at building drama, but not exactly effective for getting speeches across unless you are within about 20 feet. I strained to hear, or at least understand the essence of the message just through the blissful looks on peoples faces, but still nothing. Then they started singing, a great choir, singing a song they had written about the protest. One thing I can say, I am a sucker for a good sing a long, so I almost let myself be swept away, almost.
I waited and watched the crowd for as long as I could until I gave in to the fact that it was futile to try and gain any understanding in this way. I broke away and wandered through the tent city that is now set up in the park. This was a pleasant surprise I must say. From my Mom's recounting of the Occupy LA crowd, they smell like shit, they piss all over the lawn and kill the grass. She works at City Hall and looks at them everyday, so I trust her on this one. Occupy Wall Street is a startlingly clean, well organized, efficient group of hippies if I may say so myself. And don't give me any of this "They aren't all hippies" bullshit. I was there, I was watching, the main organizational scheme is setup by a group that I know must have narrowed it down after many a "Burning Man". They have compost, a sanitary area, they have a kitchen going making food for everyone, I see that someone had donated pizza, they had an impressive stock of food, and all of it cleaner than most of the city. I have to hand it to those at the core of this movement, they built the community fast.
I walked deeper and deeper into it, which was strange because there was tons of people walking around, as you follow the path through the park, you are surrounded on all sides by campers. Tents, tarps, boxes, whatever, these people are sure as shit living there. And from the looks of it, they could stay there until it snows. I tried to ignore the vast amounts of people I saw plugging away on their ipads and ibooks, as I was determined to not let my opinions get the best of me, but some of those people had impeccable gear. Trustafarians is I guess the word the kids use now. Trust fund kids trying to squeeze their way into the 99%, eager to be a part of something besides their Daddy's Country Club. Either way, for the most part I was deeply impressed at their gusto and efficiency. Also it was very diverse. All types of people, old, young, black, white, you name it. But as I am realizing in the Realism vs. Idealism battle I have waging in my head, I felt like this glimpse of utopia was just too good to be true.
"This is just the beginning." I swear to Jeebus I have heard that shit like 50 times today. It's true. It is the beginning. But beginning of what? The beginning to a solution? The beginning to a bigger problem? The beginning of the end? I believe it is all of the above. I went around the park quite a few times, happening to bump into a former friend who also happens to be one of the most useless, noncontributing, free hand out looking mother fuckers I have met while in NY. I started to feel the gnaw of opinion and generalization in the back of my mind, but I just kept on walking, making sure to read all the signs on the way. Some messages spoke to me, the sense of community was beautiful, the passion was palpable, but still, something just didn't feel right. That is the feeling I have had this whole time, the unexplainable gut feeling you get with something is "off". After I had meandered through the groups a little bit, I made my way back to the crowd I had started off watching. They were still singing, and chanting(not to be confused with the strange creepy hippies who were also singing and chanting, but to an alter and while wearing turbans), and trying to get people amped. Then I started to notice a tear in the crowd. Some people were starting to grow more agitated and aggressive, they started their own chants, and shouted their own opinions. Some were ready to rage, tired of this passive sitting and singing, they wanted to get crazy. It made me smile.
This, I believe will be the undoing of the whole thing. Eventually this unity is going to have to split. Not even in half, but into quarters, and tenths. One of the main criticisms of this movement is its lack of direction. That was actually part of what I agreed with in terms of the protest. No one having to be right, no one having to be in charge, or say their point is the most important, it was just everyone, being pissed about the state of things. Now don't get me wrong, I think a lot of people are confused about my opposition, its not that I think the people are wrong, I think it has been a long time coming. I for one have been waiting on a Revolution since before I could vote, I am happy the rest of the world finally woke the fuck up. I just believe that sitting around in a park and eating fucking Vegan Food Not Bombs handout meals is not the way to go. I think people should be more angry. If I had lost my house and my job, I'd be furious as shit.
But this is where the rift in the movement will come. Those "in charge" today spoke of a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning where a committee will sit and they will draft up a list of actual demands. Now what makes anyone think this is going to work out all nice and tidy like? Someone is going to have to be in charge, but they don't want for anyone to be in charge, also, everyone has their own idea of what is the most important cause is, who decides what the demands are?? Unanimous vote in a crowd full of strangers? If it were that easy we'd be living in the goddamn Garden of Eden right now. Also, the tension between those who are ready for the Loud and Hard Revolution, and those who are content to just "Occupy".
One of the things I noticed and found most amusing about the whole thing is that when the Occupiers were chanting and singing and doing that jazz hand thing that signifies deaf people clapping, a Revolutionary would start chanting something a little more intense, something a little more forceful, the Occupiers would actually turn around and start throwing dirty looks and shushing them. I almost laughed out loud. There is already civil unrest in their self built Utopia, what chance to do they have against "The Man"??? I believe change is possible when the government takes this shit seriously. They aren't going to take anything seriously until something is on fire and people are running or fighting for their lives. You all saw what the NYPD is capable of. They did that shit on purpose. Pepper spray a few protesters, treat 'em like wild animals, and it sure quieted their asses down didn't it? Got people running around using their camera phones as weapons. Cops display a massive presence at every event, and they are not scared. If they aren't scared, I guarantee Mr. Joe Shmoe Billionaire on the 88th floor looking down isn't scared either.
I really did try and be subjective, and I do have a new found respect for a lot of the people that were down there. The resourcefulness and commitment alone was more than I expected, but over all, I did not find myself moved, or persuaded. I really wanted that feeling of unity with my fellow man and all that, I really did, its my generation and I feel cut off not being a part of it. Although at the same time, I feel like I'm ready for the part of this protest that these others haven't even considered yet. I am ready for the mayhem, I am ready for the panic. All these shushing ass passive hippies, Trustafarians and crusty punk rock children are not going to be ready for Martial Law. Not ready at all. Surviving in a park is not the same as surviving in a world that you wanted to see built up from scratch.
You want your utopia? You better be willing to kill for it, because that's they only way its gonna go down. You want a restructure? You want the shift of wealth to change? Someone else is going to have to be in charge. You are going to have to trust each other. And I feel the same way about this as I do the bible. In it, God says you should never trust man, because man is inherently sinful, yet man wrote the bible, so how can you believe it? "The people" say they have the solution, "The People" have the ideas and demands that are gonna turn this country right around an get it back on the right track? Well who the fuck are these people? I believe this country was founded and built by people who were tired of being oppressed, so they moved away to somewhere else, declared it free and then slowly but surely oppressed the hell out of it anyways. History is doomed to repeat itself, so I just fail to see the entire point of this. We were built on capitalism, capitalism will be sure to take us down. Maybe if all you hopeful singing chanters are lucky, one of our many enemies will bomb the shit out of us and take out 3/4 of the population, then you can commune all you fucking want. Start from scratch. Build your own society.
In conclusion, I will return to Zuccotti Park, I will continue to watch it unfold, I will read their signs and shake my head at half naked dancing hippies. I went with an open mind, but for now, my mind is made up. If you don't like it, I really don't give a fuck. If you think I'm apathetic, I don't give a fuck about that either. I have been against banks, the media and all that shit forever. I don't feel passion or empathy for people rubbing their eyes like babies waking from a nap. Looking up at "The Man" and pointing fingers, "Hey! You tricked me! You took my money! I've been duped and now I'm pissed!". Duh humans. Duh. It was the whole point of the establishment, welcome to reality. Now either shut up and deal with it, or storm the fucking castle and get on with it. Good luck to all parties involved, I really truly mean that. If I am wrong, I will issue a formal apology/congratulations to all. But I wont hold my breath, and neither should you.
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