{"id":3672,"date":"2011-10-23T17:14:40","date_gmt":"2011-10-23T21:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=3672"},"modified":"2018-08-04T19:49:41","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T23:49:41","slug":"sunday-october-23-2011-protests-unreal-and-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=3672","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, October 23, 2011 \u2014 Protests, Unreal and Real"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve passed by the \u201cOccu\u00adpy Toron\u00adto\u201d camp\u00adsite a few times, this week. Nor\u00admal\u00adly, I\u2019m not much impressed by polit\u00adi\u00adcal demon\u00adstra\u00adtions. In North Amer\u00adi\u00adca, they have proven woe\u00adful\u00adly inef\u00adfec\u00adtu\u00adal over the last gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. The peo\u00adple who orga\u00adnize them are usu\u00adal\u00adly far more inter\u00adest\u00aded in the pas\u00adtime of demon\u00adstrat\u00ading that in accom\u00adplish\u00ading any goals. In fact, they are most\u00adly counter-pro\u00adduc\u00adtive, because the Pow\u00aders That Be long ago fig\u00adured out how to turn them to their own advan\u00adtage. So I always wince when I see the usu\u00adal band of scruffy teenagers wear\u00ading cir\u00adcle-As, the aging hip\u00adpies, the pre\u00addictable \u201cpolit\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00adatre\u201d stunts, the mean\u00ading\u00adless slo\u00adgans, and the drea\u00adry chants. Those in pow\u00ader love<\/em> these peo\u00adple, espe\u00adcial\u00adly the self-styled \u201canar\u00adchists,\u201d because they re-inforce author\u00adi\u00adty, rather than threat\u00aden it. Noth\u00ading dis\u00adcred\u00adits real oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion in the eyes of the pub\u00adlic more effec\u00adtive\u00adly than a few sec\u00adonds of TV<\/span> footage show\u00ading a teenag\u00ader with his face paint\u00aded, scream\u00ading unin\u00adtel\u00adlige\u00adable slo\u00adgans. They see what appears to them to be a mob of brain\u00adless pranx\u00adters. The issues can then be safe\u00adly buried by the media.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the police and politi\u00adcians go out of their way to cul\u00adti\u00advate such antics. Dur\u00ading the G20<\/span> sum\u00admit, held last year in Toron\u00adto, the Police and the RCMP<\/span> planned, deployed, and orches\u00adtrat\u00aded a ram\u00adpage of import\u00aded Black Bloc \u201canar\u00adchists\u201d through the finan\u00adcial dis\u00adtrict, break\u00ading win\u00addows. They plant\u00aded an emp\u00adty police car on the street, specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly to be burned for the pho\u00adto-op. Mean\u00adwhile, the police went on their own ram\u00adpage, about a mile away from this, where the real demon\u00adstra\u00adtors were. They com\u00admit\u00adted some of the most obscene vio\u00adla\u00adtions of civ\u00adil lib\u00ader\u00adties in Canada\u2019s his\u00adto\u00adry, assault\u00ading and beat\u00ading peace\u00adful pro\u00adtes\u00adtors (and sev\u00ader\u00adal innocu\u00adous passers-by). It is an absolute cer\u00adtain\u00adty that the police planned and orga\u00adnized the van\u00addal\u00adism in the finan\u00adcial dis\u00adtrict: There were lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly thou\u00adsands<\/em> of police stand\u00ading less than a block away, who were sup\u00adpos\u00aded\u00adly unable to stop a hand\u00adful of teenagers from break\u00ading win\u00addows for an hour and a half<\/em>. The loca\u00adtion and intent to van\u00addal\u00adize was well-pub\u00adli\u00adcized ahead of time. The police had spent a week call\u00ading on every large office build\u00ading and telling thou\u00adsands of office work\u00aders it was going to hap\u00adpen. Every street and access was strict\u00adly con\u00adtrolled. For all intents and pur\u00adpos\u00ades, the Black Bloc were employ\u00adees of the Police. The press, of course remained com\u00adplete\u00adly obe\u00addi\u00adent to Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Polit\u00adi\u00adcal Cor\u00adrect\u00adness. Not a word of doubt was cast on the absur\u00addi\u00adty of the police claims. News sto\u00adries almost always implied that the pro\u00adtes\u00adtors at the Par\u00adlia\u00adment Build\u00adings had been the ones doing the van\u00addal\u00adism, not the Black Bloc a mile away. The gen\u00ader\u00adal pub\u00adlic saw noth\u00ading of the real protests \u2015 only the end\u00adless\u00adly repro\u00adduced footage of the staged police car burn\u00ading. All this effec\u00adtive\u00adly dis\u00adtract\u00aded the pub\u00adlic from the mon\u00adstrous cor\u00adrup\u00adtion of the rul\u00ading Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Gov\u00adern\u00adment, which wast\u00aded a bil\u00adlion dol\u00adlars<\/em> on what was effec\u00adtive\u00adly a frat par\u00adty for Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Stephen Harper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harp\u00ader could not have been more pleased to see the pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal protest move\u00adment doing exact\u00adly what it is sup\u00adposed to do. No doubt the Black Bloc van\u00addals were well salt\u00aded with RCMP<\/span> agent-provo\u00adca\u00adteurs, as this is a ven\u00ader\u00ada\u00adble, well-doc\u00adu\u00adment\u00aded police tactic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless, there is some\u00adthing dif\u00adfer\u00adent about the Occu\u00adpy move\u00adment. First of all, it\u2019s a local off\u00adshoot of the move\u00adment that has sud\u00addent\u00adly appeared in the Unit\u00aded States. That move\u00adment, start\u00ading with Occu\u00adpy Wall Street, was not orga\u00adnized by the usu\u00adal clowns. It appeared spon\u00adta\u00adneous\u00adly, trig\u00adgered by a hand\u00adful of tweets from peo\u00adple who were not<\/em> stereo\u00adtyp\u00adi\u00adcal \u201cactivists\u201d, and gath\u00adered strength through a process quite dif\u00adfer\u00adent from that which cre\u00adates the stan\u00addard, for\u00admu\u00adla\u00adic protests. The usu\u00adal types have been par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00ading, but also a much more diverse assort\u00adment of peo\u00adple. Even in Cana\u00adda, where the protests have been a much tamer thing, they have been attend\u00aded by peo\u00adple who nor\u00admal\u00adly wouldn\u2019t dream of join\u00ading a demon\u00adstra\u00adtion. One grand\u00admoth\u00ader was there because all her grand\u00adchil\u00addren had gone through expen\u00adsive edu\u00adca\u00adtions, only to wind up work\u00ading in burg\u00ader chains. She knew that some\u00adthing has gone wrong with our sys\u00adtem, but not what to do about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cana\u00addi\u00adan protests are a side-show. The real action is in the Unit\u00aded States, where the protests have been longer and big\u00adger than any\u00adone in author\u00adi\u00adty ever thought they would be, and the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive-con\u00adtrolled media have run out of ways to sneer at them. The usu\u00adal objec\u00adtion, that the demon\u00adstra\u00adtors are not putting for\u00adward any coher\u00adent \u201cide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy,\u201d made by vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly every pun\u00addit, reveals that it is those in pow\u00ader who are<\/em> dri\u00adven by an ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy. Of course the demon\u00adstra\u00adtions have no con\u00adsis\u00adtent voice. They are not stage-man\u00adaged farces, pro\u00adpelled and direct\u00aded by strate\u00adgists to achieve a spe\u00adcif\u00adic goal (like the Tea Par\u00adty demon\u00adstra\u00adtions, which are financed by wealthy cor\u00adpo\u00adrate inter\u00adests, and fol\u00adlow detailed instruc\u00adtions from above). This fact is start\u00ading to break through the facade of the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive-con\u00adtrolled media in the Unit\u00aded States. Even some of those who ben\u00ade\u00adfit from the sta\u00adtus quo are begin\u00ading to won\u00adder if their world-view might be false, as this Paul Cam\u00adpos piece<\/span><\/a> in U.S.News demonstrates.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Cam\u00adpos and oth\u00aders like him have only an inkling of the depth of finan\u00adcial and social dis\u00adas\u00adter that the Unit\u00aded States has descend\u00aded into. The peo\u00adple who are show\u00ading up at the demon\u00adstra\u00adtions have more than an inkling, and that\u2019s why they are there. They are sim\u00adply demon\u00adstrat\u00ading that they are tired of being lied to by the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Lying Machine, and that they know per\u00adfect\u00adly well that their coun\u00adtry has been sold out, sold away, and pil\u00adlaged by some\u00adbody. Wall Street is the obvi\u00adous address to come knock\u00ading at to demand some answers. Nobody believes that the pow\u00ader rests in the Con\u00adgress of the Republic.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive con\u00adtrol of the media is so over\u00adwhelm\u00ading that a huge per\u00adcent\u00adage of Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, per\u00adhaps even a major\u00adi\u00adty, have nev\u00ader in their lives seen or heard any social or eco\u00adnom\u00adic ideas oth\u00ader than Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Polit\u00adi\u00adcal Cor\u00adrect\u00adness<\/em>. Yet the dete\u00adri\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan life over the last decade has been so dra\u00admat\u00adic, that mil\u00adlions are begin\u00adning to doubt that ortho\u00addoxy. It was very inter\u00adest\u00ading to see what hap\u00adpened when an excen\u00adtric bil\u00adlion\u00adaire, War\u00adren Buf\u00adfet, pub\u00adlicly stat\u00aded that bil\u00adlion\u00adaires (includ\u00ading him\u00adself) where being mol\u00adly\u00adcod\u00addled by the tax sys\u00adtem, and should pay a just share of tax\u00ades. Fox\u00adPrav\u00adda went into a hys\u00adter\u00adi\u00adcal fren\u00adzy, denounc\u00ading Buf\u00adfet as a \u201csocial\u00adist\u201d and talk\u00ading about \u201cclass war.\u201d Repub\u00adli\u00adcan politi\u00adcians imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly took up the \u201cclass war\u201d slogan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now this was very inter\u00adest\u00ading, because it con\u00adsti\u00adtutes one of the first big mis\u00adcal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtions by the Polit\u00adi\u00adcal Cor\u00adrect\u00adness Machine. Amer\u00adi\u00adcans have been brought up from birth to believe that they do not<\/em> have a \u201cclass soci\u00adety\u201d, and that only for\u00adeign-inspired rad\u00adi\u00adcals talk about \u201cclass war\u201d. But, of course, the rich and pow\u00ader\u00adful in the Unit\u00aded States do<\/em> believe in a class soci\u00adety, and do<\/em> believe in class war. The rich live in an entire\u00adly Marx\u00adist men\u00adtal uni\u00adverse. They have been wag\u00ading class war against the rest of us with unre\u00adlent\u00ading fanati\u00adcism, and they have most\u00adly been win\u00adning. But, like all fanat\u00adics, they are infu\u00adri\u00adat\u00aded by any sign of oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion, even if it is pure\u00adly sym\u00adbol\u00adic. Every enthu\u00adsi\u00adast for aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic rule, from Pla\u00adto to Cas\u00adtro to the Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Nation\u00adal Com\u00admit\u00adtee, has the same atti\u00adtude towards uppi\u00adty pro\u00adles: Cet ani\u00admal est tr\u00e8s m\u00e9chant. Quand on l\u2019at\u00adtaque il se d\u00e9fend.<\/em> But few Amer\u00adi\u00adcans and Cana\u00addi\u00adans have enough direct con\u00adtact with the super-rich to know this. They assume that the rich believe in the \u201cmer\u00adi\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcy\u201d they ped\u00addle in their agit\u00adprop. Talk of \u201cclass war\u201d com\u00ading from the rich and Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive politi\u00adcians has cre\u00adat\u00aded a dis\u00adcor\u00addant jan\u00adgle in the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Nar\u00adra\u00adtive. It\u2019s not sur\u00adpris\u00ading that one of the few voic\u00ades of san\u00adi\u00adty per\u00admit\u00adted on Amer\u00adi\u00adcan tele\u00advi\u00adsion, Jon Stewart\u2019s show on the Com\u00ade\u00addy Net\u00adwork, was able to skew\u00ader it so effec\u00adtive\u00adly and delightfully.<\/span><\/p>\n

What the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Polit\u00adi\u00adcal Cor\u00adrect\u00adness Machine fears more than any\u00adthing is that the pho\u00adny, con\u00adtrolled and manip\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded \u201cgrass roots pop\u00adulism\u201d that has been at their beck and call for a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion might sud\u00adden\u00adly be swamped and over\u00adrun by real<\/em> pop\u00adulism. The real tra\u00addi\u00adtion of pop\u00adulism in Amer\u00adi\u00adca, going back to its found\u00ading, has noth\u00ading to do with the cryp\u00adto-com\u00admu\u00adnist Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy ped\u00addled by Fox\u00adPrav\u00adda, or with cod\u00addling bil\u00adlion\u00adaires with tax breaks.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

In Cana\u00adda, it is unlike\u00adly that any\u00adthing like this process will hap\u00adpen. Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy does not have the same Sovi\u00adet-style monop\u00adoly here that it has in the U.S., though it is obvi\u00adous\u00adly influ\u00aden\u00adtial. Eco\u00adnom\u00adic con\u00addi\u00adtions are wor\u00adri\u00adsome, but not the unmit\u00adi\u00adgat\u00aded dis\u00adas\u00adter they are in the U.S.. But what\u00adev\u00ader hap\u00adpens next among our neigh\u00adbours is bound to affect us.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve passed by the \u201cOccu\u00adpy Toron\u00adto\u201d camp\u00adsite a few times, this week. Nor\u00admal\u00adly, I\u2019m not much impressed by polit\u00adi\u00adcal demon\u00adstra\u00adtions. In North Amer\u00adi\u00adca, they have proven woe\u00adful\u00adly inef\u00adfec\u00adtu\u00adal over the last gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. The peo\u00adple who orga\u00adnize them are usu\u00adal\u00adly far more interested \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,927],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-ap-blog-2011"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3672"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7655,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions\/7655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}