I\u2019ve vis\u00adit\u00aded the \u201cOccu\u00adpy Toron\u00adto\u201d protest site three times, now. The cur\u00adrent sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion is this:<\/p>\n
A small, but rather pret\u00adty down\u00adtown park is filled with tents. They do not get in the way of any\u00adthing. Traf\u00adfic along the adja\u00adcent streets and side\u00adwalks is unim\u00adped\u00aded. There is lit\u00adtle noise. The park is self-con\u00adtained, and the only peo\u00adple incon\u00adve\u00adnienced are the hand\u00adful who stroll through the park in nice weath\u00ader, and some office work\u00aders who cus\u00adtom\u00adar\u00adi\u00adly take their lunch\u00ades to eat among the flow\u00aders. With the bad weath\u00ader com\u00ading in, even this small group van\u00adish\u00ades from the equa\u00adtion. The pro\u00adtest\u00aders are camped part\u00adly on city prop\u00ader\u00adty (the park), and part\u00adly on prop\u00ader\u00adty belong\u00ading to the adja\u00adcent Catholic [actu\u00adal\u00adly Angli\u00adcan, see cor\u00adrec\u00adtion in com\u00adments, below] <\/span>cathe\u00addral. This may pose a conun\u00addrum for the city, as the church appar\u00adent\u00adly says the pro\u00adtest\u00aders are wel\u00adcome on its portion.<\/p>\n I did not see any great num\u00adber of peo\u00adple, this time. The ordi\u00adnary peo\u00adple who showed up in the first few days, and who lent the protest its cred\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty, are long gone. This was inevitable, since any\u00adone tru\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive of the \u201c99%\u201d can\u00adnot afford the lux\u00adu\u00adry of camp\u00ading out for a month. What remains is the core of cus\u00adtom\u00adary pro\u00adtest\u00aders. I would say, from an eye\u00adball esti\u00admate, that between a third and a half of those present were mid\u00addle-aged or even elder\u00adly women. This presents a prob\u00adlem for the author\u00adi\u00adties, since any attempt to dri\u00adve out the pro\u00adtest\u00aders will result in news footage of cops intim\u00adi\u00addat\u00ading a lot of obvi\u00adous\u00adly harm\u00adless senior cit\u00adi\u00adzens. The punks are gone, or at least I didn\u2019t see any. They were doubt\u00adless repelled by bore\u00addom and the tedious speeches.<\/p>\n The pol\u00adi\u00adcy among author\u00adi\u00adties, in such cas\u00ades, is usu\u00adal\u00adly to wait for the public\u2019s patience to grow thin, and hope the site becomes suf\u00adfi\u00adcient\u00adly unsan\u00adi\u00adtary and crime-rid\u00adden to jus\u00adti\u00adfy a sweep. To this end, a com\u00admon police tac\u00adtic is to qui\u00adet\u00adly chan\u00adnel as many drug addicts, schiz\u00ado\u00adphren\u00adics, and moochers as they can into the site. I\u2019ve seen this sort of thing at first hand, when I lived on the street. Cops would encour\u00adage street punks to go to a demon\u00adstra\u00adtion, telling them there was some \u201cfun\u201d to be had, and hint\u00ading broad\u00adly that they could get away with smash\u00ading a few win\u00addows. At the same time, a bar\u00adrage of press releas\u00ades and police state\u00adments will hint at neb\u00adu\u00adlous ter\u00adrors the protest site is sup\u00adposed to hold for the cit\u00adi\u00adzen\u00adry. Any\u00adone who walks by the Occu\u00adpy Toron\u00adto encamp\u00adment can see instant\u00adly that there is noth\u00ading men\u00adac\u00ading or dan\u00adger\u00adous tak\u00ading place there, but doubt\u00adless dis\u00adtant sub\u00adur\u00adban\u00adites have visions of ter\u00adri\u00adble conditions.<\/p>\n These tac\u00adtics have obvi\u00adous\u00adly worked in oth\u00ader cities, but, so far, they have not pro\u00adduced much effect in Toron\u00adto. Unlike Van\u00adcou\u00adver, which can sup\u00adply the desired drug over\u00addos\u00ades and sin\u00adis\u00adter char\u00adac\u00adters from a near\u00adby skid row, the Toron\u00adto camp shows lit\u00adtle sign of fol\u00adlow\u00ading the sce\u00adnario. The site is dis\u00adtant from any neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood in Toron\u00adto that can sup\u00adply drug addicts or the indi\u00adgent, so any police efforts to \u201csalt\u201d the demon\u00adstra\u00adtion with trou\u00adble-mak\u00aders are ham\u00adpered. I\u2019ve noticed no strik\u00ading dete\u00adri\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion of con\u00addi\u00adtions at the site. The clus\u00adter of tents is unaes\u00adthet\u00adic, and there\u2019s been some mod\u00ader\u00adate dam\u00adage to the grass and some of the flower beds, but the site is kept clean. It appears to be as well-man\u00adaged as any camp\u00adsite in a provin\u00adcial park. Signs are post\u00aded ask\u00ading peo\u00adple not to bring or use drugs or alco\u00adhol to the site. Any\u00adone with a thirst can eas\u00adi\u00adly pop over to one of the near\u00adby pubs. There are a fair num\u00adber of old hip\u00adpies in the group, but they are obvi\u00adous\u00adly capa\u00adble of discretion.<\/p>\n One news\u00adpa\u00adper report\u00aded that a near\u00adby restaurant\u2019s own\u00ader claims to have lost 30% of his busi\u00adness, because peo\u00adple are \u201cafraid to come down\u00adtown.\u201d This is, frankly, absurd rub\u00adbish. The protest site has no vis\u00adi\u00adble effect what\u00adso\u00adev\u00ader on foot traf\u00adfic in the area, and is about as dan\u00adger\u00adous-look\u00ading as a bas\u00adket of kit\u00adtens. Any patrons of the restau\u00adrant in ques\u00adtion would bare\u00adly notice it. Any\u00adone famil\u00adiar with the area could see at a glance that the claims are nonsense.<\/p>\n Actu\u00adal\u00adly, there is no urgent rea\u00adson for the city to do any\u00adthing at all about the protest encamp\u00adment. Even if the campers remained there for the next decade, it wouldn\u2019t do any sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant harm to any\u00adone. There\u2019s no dan\u00adger to pub\u00adlic safe\u00adty. It\u2019s the mid\u00addle of Sep\u00adtem\u00adber, and the weath\u00ader is turn\u00ading bad. Most peo\u00adple will go away of their own accord, and if a few die-hards remain, so what? Few peo\u00adple set foot in the park from Decem\u00adber to February.<\/p>\n But the author\u00adi\u00adties will prob\u00ada\u00adbly do some\u00adthing even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, since it pleas\u00ades their Nean\u00adderthal constituency.<\/p>\n All that said, I can\u2019t say that I\u2019m a big fan of the \u201cOccu\u00adpy\u201d move\u00adment. When social media made if pos\u00adsi\u00adble for a broad range of peo\u00adple to make their dis\u00adat\u00adis\u00adfac\u00adtion known, it had a salu\u00adto\u00adry effect. If that tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy had been used to draw peo\u00adple to spe\u00adcif\u00adic places, where they could engage in some sur\u00adpris\u00ading and dra\u00admat\u00adic sym\u00adbol\u00adic activ\u00adi\u00adty, then equal\u00adly quick\u00adly dis\u00adap\u00adpear, leav\u00ading the author\u00adi\u00adties to won\u00adder what would hap\u00adpen next, and the pub\u00adlic eager to under\u00adstand what it was all about, then it would have had even more impact. But, instead, things instant\u00adly revert\u00aded to the accept\u00aded for\u00admu\u00adlae. Camp\u00ading out on the protest site for some unde\u00adter\u00admined time is just plain dumb. Now, of course, it\u2019s the old-school, old-fart habit\u00adu\u00adal pro\u00adtest\u00aders back in con\u00adtrol, and those peo\u00adple don\u2019t have the slight\u00adest inter\u00adest in chang\u00ading any\u00adthing. There is no group of peo\u00adple more stuck in the past, more hide-bound with ortho\u00addoxy, and more ill-suit\u00aded for intel\u00adli\u00adgent protest.<\/p>\n There is plen\u00adty worth protest\u00ading against, in North Amer\u00adi\u00adca. In the Unit\u00aded States, nine\u00adty per\u00adcent of the coun\u00adtry\u2019s prob\u00adlems are the result of Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy run ram\u00adpant. A small coterie of crack\u00adpots, claim\u00ading to be privy to the \u201claws\u201d of his\u00adto\u00adry and eco\u00adnom\u00adics, gained con\u00adtrol of a pros\u00adper\u00adous nation. With\u00adin a sin\u00adgle gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion, they have man\u00adaged to destroy its pro\u00adduc\u00adtive indus\u00adtries, sub\u00adstan\u00adtial\u00adly low\u00ader the people\u2019s real stan\u00addard of liv\u00ading, and hand that nation\u2019s assets over to the Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty and oth\u00ader inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal gang\u00adsters. The U.S. now ranks with Ugan\u00adda in the gap between wealthy and poor, the clas\u00adsic pat\u00adtern of a back\u00adward or dying soci\u00adety. These ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal zealots have also man\u00adaged to sub\u00adstan\u00adtial\u00adly erode civ\u00adil lib\u00ader\u00adties. If the sto\u00adry sounds famil\u00adiar, it\u2019s because it\u2019s anoth\u00ader cycle of the sort of thing that Marx\u00adists did in oth\u00ader coun\u00adtries. Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy is essen\u00adtial\u00adly a re-brand\u00ading and re-pack\u00adag\u00ading of Marx\u00adism. The prin\u00adci\u00adple dif\u00adfer\u00adence is that \u201cmar\u00adket,\u201d rather than \u201cdialec\u00adtic,\u201d is the mag\u00adic word used to dis\u00admiss moral\u00adi\u00adty. It\u2019s aims and meth\u00adods are much the same. It\u2019s results, unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, will also be sim\u00adi\u00adlar. Cana\u00adda is in bet\u00adter shape than the U.S., but I would ven\u00adture to say that at least half of its prob\u00adlems are the result of the same Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy, spilled over from our sui\u00adci\u00addal neigh\u00adbour, and some\u00adwhat dilut\u00aded, but dam\u00adag\u00ading nonetheless.<\/p>\n Peo\u00adple should<\/em> be protesting.<\/p>\n But they should be protest\u00ading intel\u00adli\u00adgent\u00adly, not doing this dumb stuff.<\/p>\n How essen\u00adtial protest can be made intel\u00adli\u00adgent will be the sub\u00adject of com\u00ading posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve vis\u00adit\u00aded the \u201cOccu\u00adpy Toron\u00adto\u201d protest site three times, now. The cur\u00adrent sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion is this: A small, but rather pret\u00adty down\u00adtown park is filled with tents. They do not get in the way of any\u00adthing. Traf\u00adfic along the adja\u00adcent streets and side\u00adwalks is unim\u00adped\u00aded. There \u2026<\/p>\n