Because even by the time the General Assembly was ready to meet at 7:30 p.m., things were unraveling. A large group, made up almost entirely of men, stood in a circle denouncing the General Assembly and their efforts to "police" the camp, particularly regarding drinking or smoking weed. Anyone who spoke in favor of a code of conduct was aggressively booed. Adding to the morass were four different men looping in and out of the circle, each armed with his own megaphone, shouting their own grievances and rhetoric. When a runner from the General Assembly made the announcement that they would begin the meeting, he was thunderously shouted down, then someone yelled out “The GA is dead!” and the crowd erupted in both celebration and shock: "We don’t want you or your fucking procedure!" One male protester, in an army helmet and no shirt, cried out as shoving matches erupted between several groups of men. The young man who was leading the informal group yelled: "This is the People’s Forum! There are no committees, there are no rules, everyone gets to speak. Get in a circle! GET IN A CIRCLE!" A majority of the crowd abided, although they were openly chastised when the circle took on non-circle shapes.
If there are no rules, then what is the next statement when he says "Everyone gets to speak"? Sounds like a rule to me, albeit a dumb rule. There's an old proverb, something like "Anarchists should be seen and not heard" which I think is mainly based on the content of their blather and not the threatening tone or the megaphonic volume.
The next paragraph mentions how everything eventually degenerated into "spastic dancing and primal bellowing". This is the most consistent thing to do shortly after denouncing rules, authority and order of any kind.
Reminds me of the lyrics to Death of a Disco Dancer by the Smiths:
Love, peace and harmony ?
Love, peace and harmony ?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
...but maybe in the next world
On a more serious note, that gaggle is now very vulnerable to the charismatic false prophet, onto whom everyone can project their grievances and who can then manipulate the "movement" into something frightening. (e.g., Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Lenin).
ReplyDeleteOTOH, they have just been let down by a charismatic false prophet, onto whom everyone can project . . . and who now sits in the White House. So perhaps the gaggle will be more skeptical this time.
I think a smart charismatic prophet would stay the hell away from them. Obama knows how to co-opt these people: lead 'em from behind. You never know what you are going to get from them. If one starts booing he can usually count on lemming-like sympathetic booing from those in the near vicinity.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have any heroes at all. It would be really hard to. Go to a Tea Party gathering and you'll see the Palin people with a big picture of Sarah. But you don't see anyone *against* Palin. Their might be people there who don't own a gun, but the evangelistic 2nd Amendment people don't offend them. Everyone lets the Ron Paul do their thing--it's all very respectful and constructive.
But who knows what the horse designed by the Occupy committee would look like. Probably weirder than a camel for sure.