On visiting Occupy C’ville
I’m not quite sure what to make of Occupy C’ville. It doesn’t seem to fit my idea of a protest. The first thing one notices is the smell. From across the street. Then the expensive tents and camping gear. And the woman with the large Irish harp. And that they don’t really want to share the park with other members of the public. They have appropriated it as their own. Yet, the city provides portable restroom facilities. Their message is unclear. What are they protesting? I’m left with the feeling that they are angry and they like camping.
I have much sympathy for the idea of protesting the excesses of the financial and banking industries and the lack of concern and attention from our elected officials. But Occupy C’ville seemed less like a protest against economic disenfranchisement and more like a long-term new age camping experience for entitled middle class youth who don’t like to shower. But even as I write this I hear in the back of my head my parents complaining about hippies and I wonder if this is any different. Am I getting older and more conservative? Or just more aware that this unfocused mob is unlikely to affect any significant political change and more likely to damage one of the few remaining public (i.e., non-commercial) spaces in the area.
Occupy Harvard is an even stranger event. Drew Faust Gilpen has managed to turn it into a gated community with police protection made up of the children of the “1%” protesting their privilege. Or something like that. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/harvard-occupy/all/1