gobear, please attribute my quotes to me, and differenciate between what I said and what other people said.
Well, color this a cynical post if you wish, but I believe a lot of these kids have no clue and don’t give a shit to begin with.
“Dude, we gotta go to the protest.”
"About what?
“You know, that anti-global shit.”
"What’s that?
“I don’t know, but it’s s’posed to be bad shit for the planet.”
“Cool, let’s go kick some ass.”
And no, this is not a blanket condemnation of activism, but some of these people are there just to raise hell.
I also love how most of these kids (and a lot of them are) fail to realize that without globalization, their parents would not be able to afford the costs of sending them to school, buying them clothes, food, etc. Not to mention the costs involved with up and going to DC or Seattle or wherever to protest.
And I’m not just talking about money. I see people like this at my school all the time and I think, “geez, don’t you have, like, CLASS and stuff to go to?”
To quote Cartman: “Hippies, they say they want to save the planet but all they really do is smoke dope and smell bad.”
I’ve never heard of gay rights activists attempting to disrupt traffic by setting tire fires or throwing tires onto a busy parkway. Hell, I’ve heard of a website promoting an anarchist scavenger hunt! The idea of which is to award “points” to those who do the most damage.
Any other NoVA/DC/MD people here listen to DC101 and Eliot in the Morning? He sent one of his “correspondants” (guy with cell phone) downtown to try talking to the protesters. Flounder (the correspondant) would ask people what they were protesting. Those that responded would either say “people like you,” “the IMF,” or just swear at him. Then he would spray them with Febreze or ask them how long it’d been since they showered. I mean, come on, if you can’t articulate what you’re protesting without yelling or swearing, how do you expect people to listen & take you seriously?
Jeff, as I said, I do not agree violent disruption as a means of demonstration.
I took issue with the “nobody listens to you, even when you are accidentally right” comment.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
I had tried to post clips from a Washington Post article so those outside the area can get an idea as to what’s going on but the hamsters refused it. Here it is again:
I’m glad that they evidently didn’t throw any tires, as had been a possibility.
Metro had banned bicycles from the trains today to make room for more passengers. Seems like it also affected protest plans.
Well, they do have a point - Starbucks does kind of suck :).
- Tamerlane
Sorry, Twiaty, but as you can see from the comments here and the general sentiment in DC is that these naive kids are full of crap. Sure, there’s a case to be made that now is not the time to go after Iraq or that globalization is harming third world economies, but these idiots aren’t doing that. “The IMF sucks, dude, 'cos, like, it’s run by The Man” is not the most articulate argument one can advance against the sometimes drastic reforms demanded of debtor nations by the IMF that can cause economic dislocation for ordinary people.
Not only are these idiots incoherent in their demands, but they are using tactics that make people discount what they say. If these guys had gotten permits for a protest rally at the Mall and enlisted reputable critics of globalization like Paul Krugman to speak, then the anti-IMF movement might gain some legitimacy. Certainly the “Washington consensus” has been proven to be flawed, as in the case of Argentina, that had done everything the IMF and World Bank had asked and yet saw its economy collapse. This Washington Post article summarizes many of the failings of the free market economic dogma that has driven the IMF’s prescriptions to its client nations.
But these nose-ringed, jobless hippies do not argue from a sophisticated analysis of the negative impact of harsh austerity programs and foreign competition on local producers of goods and services. Instead, they bitch about Starbucks charging toomuch for latte, man, cuz, like, everything should be free, and we could like, live off the land like the Indians, dig? I certainly urge those protestors to take a long field trip to a nation where goods and services are doled out by the government and capitalism and the profit motive are unknown. It’s called North Korea; enjoy!
As long as the anti-IMF demonstrators act like children having a tantrum, they will be treated as children and put down for a nap.
Vermont and K - that’s where I am. I guess the smoke bombs had cleared by the time I got to work; I didn’t see anything going on. Though co-workers did verify that a rock got thrown through the Citibank window.
gobear, as a matter of fact the Mobilization for Global Justice has gotten a permit for a protest rally on the Mall tomorrow, and on Sunday there will be a march to Cheney’s residence, to try to connect the issues of the “war on terrorism” and the IMF/WB-inflicted impoverishment of developing countries. Like I said, today’s event is not the only one this weekend, and there are a number of groups involved who don’t believe the message is in the tactics. Again, I strongly oppose what the Anti-Capitalist Coalition has been pulling today, but I take serious issue with your continued blanket dismissal of all the protestors as acting like “children having a tantrum” and completely lacking any sort of political perspective on why they’re out demonstrating.
Yeah I’m at 15th and K and I saw the police rounding up those assholes.
Say what? Did you even read my previous post? I agree that the IMF’s policies need amendment, but advocating the dismantling of the capitalist system and an embrace of some prelapsarian fantasy where goods are worth something other than what somebody will pay for them is nonsense.
And the Mobilization for Global Justice’s protest on the Mall is fine by me–but as long as your movement is run by inarticulate ninnies in dreadlocks, you’re not going to get much of an audience.
Hint: If you want to convert your audience to your point of view, you need to show them why. The anti-everything crowd has done a woefully bad job of proselytizing so far.
Jeff,
from your example, what do you think of Critical Mass’ demonstration methods? (the slow bike demo )?
It was peaceful, and did get their message across. It was accompanied by Polices with as little disruption to traffic as the demonstraion would allow.
That is the right way to demonstrate.
As for the rock throwers, they can go home. Destruction is not a valid method of demonstration (except in VERY rare circumstances).
NPR reported this morning that protest tactics have included making phony 911 calls (apparently to distract police and disrupt things).
Hey, who cares if a few people die because of misrouted emergency crews? Gotta make that grand gesture.
"And they all have an ethic, they all have their heroes…Trent Reznor T-shirts, Rage Against the Machine…but have you noticed that none of their heroes are here, that Trent’s not hanging out on the sidewalk in front of the convenience store?
Maybe…he’s at WORK.
He’s a professional musician.
He gets paid money to sing, ‘fuck the system,’ to you.
He takes that money and spends it on other businesses, creating an economy.
This basic exchange of goods and services is the backbone of the very system that you claim to not want to be a part of, so I can’t give you my money! I’m not going to infect you with my dirty…capitalist…MONEY!!!"
– Dana Gould
Sorry, this thread just inexplicably brought that bit to mind…
I totally agree. I also think they got far fewer than what was intended because of Metro’s bike ban today.
Not only that but there were scattered reports of suspicious packages this morning.
Just so everyone knows, I would like to personally thank the demonstrators. Today was the best commute I’ve ever had. The bus from my apartment to Pentagon was the fastest rush hour trip I’ve had since there wasn’t much traffic down Columbia Pike. Then I got to Pentagon, and found a seat on the blue line at about 8:40. First time I’ve ever gotten a seat prior to Farrugut West. It was FAANN-tastic. We need this once a week.
By the by, my office is on L, between 13 and 14 NW and we have yet to see one hint of the protests.