occupy yourself

IF I HAD A SLOGAN THAT COULD FIT ALL MY DEMANDS INTO ONE SLOGAN, THIS WOULD BE IT

occupy an area

occupy yourself

i have gone down to #occupywallstreet a few times

i went down to the times square demonstration on saturday

that was very thrilling

i walk out of the 42nd street subway and theres hardly any room to move around in (not that thats that different from how times sq usually is.....)

there were lots of signs

i made my way (over 20 mins or so) to one of the main clusters of demonstrators, camped underneath the ABC tv hq

there were news headlines flashing

AL QAEDA MILITANTS KILLED IN IRAQ

OCCUPY MOVEMENT GOES GLOBAL

MICHIGAN BEATS WHOEVER THE FUCK

felt historical

these protests are cool

more importantly, they are good

i am not much of a protester

protesters are kind of loud, extroverted

i felt very agoraphobic at times sq on saturday, although times sq often has that effect

i was glad that fucking tourists and crass consumers had their days ruined because they were prevented from freely shopping by a mob of angry people holding signs protesting capitalism under many crazy signs in the center of capitalism

ugh, words

but yeah, they were loud and extroverted

the only times i am ever usually loud or extroverted is when i am really hyper-mood (usually around folks i know) or drunk

maybe if i got drunk i would go be a loud protester and not just a mostly silent fellow-traveler

i talk to people about it while i am there or while i am not there

it seems that that is one of the main points: to raise political awareness and dialogue

the sit-ins in downtown banks this past week sounded good

the protests in europe and asia sounded good

i watch glenn beck videos where he talks about this stuff

he is in conspiracy theory mode

he is always scary and funny, i think that is his point tho, although i dont think his fans have the same sense of irony about it that i do

he thinks it a communist/anarchist-coordinated movement for the violent overthrow of the gov

"THEYRE REVOLUTIONARIES"

they thing is

i agree

as someone who supports these protests, i want a revolution

but not armed insurrection, necessarily

i want this financial system to be massively changed

if it can happen organically, that would be best, obviously

i think that people don't need to die

i want a lot

but i can't reduce my protests to "bread, land, and peace"

thats what the soviets used

which is a lot

i wonder how long these protests will continue

when winter comes and a lot of the people who just pass through (like me) start to go down less often because of the cold weather

or when fall semester is over and students who have been going down go home for the holidays

will it die?

will weather conditions and vacations give a whimpering end to the protests?

i hope not

but what am i personally doing about it

then again, i have obligations (i teach at a public college)

so maybe i shouldnt be trying to go get arrested, bc then i cant teach these kids how to read interesting works of literature and how to form arguments and how to write essays

or maybe thats just an excuse

bc i will only be held for a day or two

maybe im just a wuss

yeah, im a "wuss"

ok




_____________________

I am going to start a twitter account called "Wikipedia pages I regret having found myself reading"

I may also eventually start a twitter account called "YouTube videos I regret having found myself watching"

These accounts will be a call-to-arms for Myself

They will be like saying "Andrew, look at this retarded shit you just wasted your time on"

They will be part of some project with unknown parameters that i will be working on over an unknown period of time

______________________________


I AM GOING TO WRITE A MANIFESTO ABOUT SOMETHING
IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO