Monday, October 10, 2011

General Rodetsky: iOccupy:

I saw chaos, but also focus. There was a nerve center organizing general assemblies, coordinating with local civil rights groups, labor unions and liberal orgs. Yes, there were people high as a kite, there were love-ins, there was revelry. But many more people were talking about the issues of the day, telling bystanders why they were there and what they hoped to accomplish. This idea that the protesters do not have a coherent message is garbage. They are more clear-eyed and informed than most of the people who would be happy to dismiss them.

On one railing someone had taped an American flag, the fifty stars replaced by the logos of 50 American corporations. Apple was on the flag, alongside McDonald's and Coca-Cola. I wondered what Steve Jobs would have said about the protesters. Here was thinking differently. Here was the elevated i. All of the media center protesters were working on iMacs. But would Jobs have approved?