| This was the third
Saturday in a row Sarah and I made it
down to the Seattle branch of Occupy
Wall Street. There were very few
people at Westlake Center so we thought,
Wow, so it's fizzled already.
What we didn't know was thousands were
out marching. When they returned--about
3,000 strong--they sat in the street in
front of Chase
and dozens of people cut up their bank
cards as speaker after speaker addressed
the attentive gathering. The most
impassioned were teachers, whose words
were repeated in the now standard "mic
check" style where those closest to the
podium repeat what's said for the
benefit of those in back. The crowd was
so large things had to be repeated
twice, growing in volume as the words
rippled out. By listening
and repeating one becomes the
message and the emotion of it really
sinks in. The thing I like best about
this movement is it brings people
together in public spaces to meet and
discuss what's going on--an act which
until recently seemed all but extinct in
this hypermediated age. [Like]
It's great to go down, run into friends
and neighbors and make new acquaintances
committed
to change. |
Hoyt had two
free tickets and invited me to my first
soccer game.
The beloved home team goalie was
retiring so it was a sell-out, something
like 63,998 fans and then the two of us
who were there
just out of curiosity. I admire the
athleticism of the players but it
was like watching really good actors in
a farcical play--there is
non-stop action but not enough suspense
to make it interesting.
This seemed to be reflected by the
loudest fans who got most
worked-up every time they perceived a
bad or missed call by the
refs. Is that typical of all soccer
games or is it just more of that
Seattle self-righteousness seeping
through? (Guilty as charged!)
The contrast to the afternoon was
stark but unsurprising. At
Westlake there was a critique of undue
corporate influence,
whereas here thousands embraced the big
money circus, going
so far as to wear advertisements for the
sponsors in the form of
licensed shirts, hats, scarves, and
jackets. It always makes me
sad and bemused to see people acting so
sheep-y. It strikes me
as sinister, too, when people mistake
conformity for community.
|
