Septiembre 03, 2008

Oh The Waste

I am so angry and frustrated about what's happening in the Twin Cities this week. Not at the cops - no, they're just doing what's to be expected of them. If you're surprised by their response to the protests, you've been deluding yourself about the state of civil liberties and freedoms in this country for the last 4 years, at least.
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No, what I'm irritated about is all the wasted energy and resources and passion being spent by activists and independent journalists. Imagine all the other places and causes that could be aided by all that attention and effort. Not only protesters and reporters, but all the other 'support' for the protesters. For instance, this fragment from an indymedia report about some street medics from Portland who went to the DNC and RNC protests:

...we treated hundreds of injured people and took into our care an unexpected number of activists with additional health concerns, both related and unrelated to the events, plus tended to people with various illnesses as well as some difficult cases with chronic conditions.

We treated injuries from pepper bullets, pepperspray, beatings, strangleholds, clubbing, cuts, scrapes, bruises, handcuff injuries, exhaustion, dehydration, heat illness, exposure to the elements, asthma attacks, psychological emergencies, and some serious medical emergencies.


That's so sad. It's great that those medics were around, but all of those injuries could have been avoided! They're all completely pointless problems caused by the decision to be out there on the streets getting beat up by cops!

What if those activists, medics, and indy journalists all descended on a place that really needed their help, like Juarez for instance? They could escort women at risk of rape and murder to and from work, give medical care to them and their children, and make news reports about what they see. They could act as human shields when the police or army show up to abuse citizens. They could refuse to smoke any pot that comes from Mexico and they could form a posse to take down small time narcos and document the violence of the cartels.

That is just one example. They could also be in New Orleans helping people there in the aftermath of Gustav. There are numerous projects and causes available.

But instead these people go somewhere where they'll make absolutely ZERO positive difference. None of the people there for the convention, the replublican delegates and what not, are going to have their minds changed or swayed. Others out in the world might be, but they'll never see it because the mainstream media will never show it. And just as many might be swayed the opposite way, with all the reports of caltrops in the streets and broken windows. More bad press for anarchists and activists in general. So these people are not only doing no good, they also CREATE their own crisis because the cops of course respond as usual with extreme force, and then the activists expect to be helped and supported. Selfish, privileged dimwits, why didn't you people stay home so the medics wouldn't have to waste their time bandaging your meaningless wounds? So the videographers wouldn't be wasting tape on your sorry asses?

It's just so sad and maddening. And I saw it all coming. It wasn't rocket surgery to predict.

Suspira.

Posted by steev at Septiembre 3, 2008 10:38 AM
Comments
I guess we're a little jaded. I look back at the history of all the RNC's and DNC's and every convention there are protesters, ahem... I mean, demonstrators. I agree with you. Also being an indymedia co-founder and a Juarez Activist I realized that I'm not a good organizer. I don't know who determines when and where all of our activist friends go for specific events, such as critical resistance 10 coming up in oakland, or say, the awesome actions at the border of Calexico. While a resident of Calexico, I learned about so many injustices and the truth is, we can't always fight every battle all the time. At one point, I decided I had to stop being an activist and take seriously my scholarships and finish up my degrees. Unfortunately, we all have to make decisions about our own time and space. I think these guys did do some awesome interventions in that they got to interrupt Palin and John McCain's speech. I know I saw that on National Television and I was proud for a moment that the voices of the dissenters was to great extent, "being heard." I know democracy now heard it. Today they spoke about it in their broadcast. I also blogged about those activists who interrupted John McCain's speech. I mean, just remember that crazy Puertorican Tito Kayak who put the Puerto Rican flag on the Statue of liberty. I think that's the beauty of these underground movements, not all of us are aware of all the special moments each individual activist succeeds at, however, I do think that the people that actually learn and listen to the activists are the actual community members that did not get the opportunity to go into the convention. Those guys had crickets. I didn't hear about mile long lines to get in to hear McCain? I did hear that for Barak Obama. Today the press is trying to act like more people saw the McCain speech on Fox News. I was paying attention. I watched his speech on a huge big screen HDTV. Fox News had the worst broadcast signal. McCains face was all blurred compared to MSNBC or CNN. Also on drudge today I saw that Fox is reporting 9.2 million watchers of his speech, that's total bullshit. I totally soaked in every word of Obamas speech. It was technically the first time after supporting Hillary that I listened to him. I'm sure thousands of Hillary supporters were listening to him for the very first time. I still remember how amazing Michelle Obama was that night. She's a lawyer not a trophy wife and the Delaware guy is not a Trophy Vice either. Obama is totally going to win. These protesters whether they like it or not are helping Obama because they are bringing class consciousness to the people. Whether its at the DNC or the RNC. The difference is that less people got arrested at the DNC because democrats are more tolerant of demonstrations. The RNC were a bunch of Neo-Con backward joke of people. They couldn't provide too many close ups of the attendees because they all looked like they just put down their gun and spat out their tobacco to get there. Such backward looking people. Don't take the arrests or injured too seriously. I think those guys are ready with lawyers and are going to sue the hell out of that city. Posted by: chicana feliz at Septiembre 5, 2008 06:01 PM