Tag: Occupy

Salon’s Anonymous Love-In

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Media, Occupy Movement, Personal Responsibility, Pop Culture, Society, Uncategorized, ValuesLeave a comment

Salon.com ran an article entitled “Anonymous Big Year”. It is essentially a celebration of the self-styled hacker collective. But let’s try for some actual balanced coverage here.

Sure they made a big fuss about SOPA/PIPA and they help organize protests when it’s something like the horribly useless Occupy movement. On the other hand, they cost hundreds of millions of dollars and deny ordinary citizens access to services. They also endanger lives by releasing names and addresses of at risk targets.

When they took Sony’s Playstation Network of line for months, that company’s alleged “crime” was its refusal to release the tools to hack their new PS3 console. To punish them, they hacked Sony’s database and stole the personal information of millions of members. This forced Sony offline until the Japanese government was convinced the security issue was solved. It cost the company millions in lost revenue and millions more in legal costs.

In 2011, Anonymous posted the names and addresses of members of the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Force. This was in response to what they viewed as the wrongful shooting of a homeless man. One officer (cleared of any wrongdoing) made a judgement call so every officer on that force, and their families were put at risk of reprisals.

This is the group that Andrew Leonards article lavished such praise on. It is they who he is so happy his son supports. So let’s take a moment to realize this. These people aren’t selfless heroes keeping the digital frontier save for you and I. They are no better, and in some cases worse than those they claim to be protecting us from.

I’m not saying every member of Anonymous is a villain, but that’s the chance you take. If you want to bask in the glory of the best, you will also be tarred with the same brush as the worst. That’s the chance you take when you hide, shouting from the darkness. If you lack the confidence to publicly stand up for what you believe in, maybe you need to look at how strong that belief is.

Anonymous rails against faceless, unaccountable corporations and governments, yet they are the epitome of faceless unaccountability. It’s a little disingenuous claiming the moral high ground when you’re in the same mud as those you are looking to vilify.

These are just some of the many reasons I was so annoyed by Salon’s Anonymous love-in.

Cheers, Winston

Occupational Demands

On By WinstonIn Media, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Usually, I try not to write about the same thing two days in a row. This isn’t my fault though. If the Occupy the Media people would just shut up, I could move on peacefully. Instead, they are talking about maybe issuing demands.

Really? Demands? Who do they think they are? What right do they have to make demands on anyone let alone everyone.

I know they claim to be the ninety-nine percent, but even they can’t be stupid enough to actually believe that. Or can they? Well, it seems they can. Wait, maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe stupid isn’t the right word. Maybe delusional would fit better…. Nope. Stupid it is.

It’s ridiculous, but it started me thinking. Why would this tiny little group of people think the rest of the world should listen to their demands? The answer of course is the world we live in. My theory goes something like this:

We live in a brand driven society. Elections aren’t about platforms, they’re about personality and name recognition. Advertisements substitute product information for celebrities, flashy visuals and are often unrelated to the product being advertised. Celebrities use their fame and name recognition to try and shape public policy as though singing or acting has given some insight denied to us mere mortals.

Combine this with reality media which imply that everyone is secretly a celebrity or a potential business success or otherwise just one video away from fame and it all makes sense. If being a media brand is all it takes, then of course they think their demands should be acted on. The media has taken to referring to them as Occupiers. As soon as they started capitalizing that word, it became a brand and gave them the same social credibility as other pop media brands. Brands such as Bono (0%), Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie (0.03%), or Michael Moore (-300%).

It’s that assumed credibility that creates the delusion of grandeur to which they have succumbed. The media refers to them as the 99% and it reinforces their idea that they really represent all these other people. The fact is they don’t. I’ll tell you why they don’t.

The real ninety-nine percent didn’t vote for them. In our society, we vote for people to represent us. I didn’t vote for them, and neither did anyone else. They need to stop saying they represent us, and the media needs to stop reinforcing that misinformation. Which is funny because the Occupado folks love talking about corporate or government misinformation, but are not so strident when the error is in their favor.

The good news in all of this is the probable timeline. The campers are so fragmented that after two months, they still haven’t decided if they have demands. If they do have demands, they haven’t been able to decide what they are. If they figure out what the demands are, they aren’t sure if they should go public with them. At the current rate and with their “organizational structure” their grandkids may actually produce a working draft for consideration by future generations.

In the meantime, thousands are expected to flood Wall Street to celebrate the two month anniversary of the movement. The plan is to obstruct and delay workers on their way at those evil banks and such. Just out of curiosity, how does their right to free assembly trump these people’s right to go to work and support their families? But that’s not the way Occupied mind works. The unOccupied mind is a much simpler creature. Occupiers are good and therefore whatever they do must be right. Banks and those who work for them are bad keeping them from doing what they do is good.

For my money, the police and civic authorities have a responsibility to ensure the workers can get to work unhindered. The only surprise would involve them siding with the public instead of the alleged protesters. I think it would be cool if the bankers showed up for work carrying signs saying, ” The Pandering Stops Here!”.

They should be allowed to protest too.

Cheers, Winston

How To Save On Next Year’s Camping Trip

On By WinstonIn Humor, Loving Life, PersonalLeave a comment

Since losing my job with Blockbuster, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to save money.  With the help of the fine people at Occupy Whatever, I’ve come up with a great new plan.

Normally, my family and I would drive very long distances to set up our campsite and then later tear it down and drive to the next one etc.  Not having a lot of money for gas would have put a definite damper on our plans.  Not anymore!

Now that I understand that it’s not actually illegal to camp in municipal parks, we barely have to drive at all.  In fact, there’s a really nice park right across the street.  It’s within easy walking distance of Harvey’s and Starbucks.  That’s important because I don’t think I’ll be allowed a campfire, so access to food and coffee is important.  Not to mention the sanitation side of things.

If Lynn wants something a bit more exotic, the National Capital Region is lousy with parks and greenspaces.  I’m certain we can agree on one that suits our tastes and needs.  There’s a really nice one at Major’s Hill.  It is next to a lovely set of rapids that should drown out the traffic noises nicely.  Should make a nice first stop.

I had always thought that we weren’t allowed to camp on just any bit of public grass we like.  Boy was I wrong.  Apparently all we needed to do was paint up a bunch of “We are the 99%” signs to carry around and set up a few at the campsite.  Just like that we’re bulletproof.  Some people might feel that I’m not genuinely supporting the messages of my more dedicated brethren and sisteren.  That may be true, but no one says I have to.  I am almost certain that we sku onto some list somewhere as having something in common with 99% of some group.  Such as the 99% of people who would like to go camping if only it was more affordable.

On the other hand, if I do come up with gainful employment before then, it also opens up a whole range of travel options.  No more calling at the last minute trying to get a spot at a crowded and overpriced campground.  As long as we have our protest signs, every public lawn is our campground.  Viva la protesta!

I’d like to thank the nice folks at Occupy Anywhere But A Polling Booth.  Without their leadership, I’m not sure I would have hit on this bit of genius on my own.  Also, a nice shout out to the various municipal authorities who helped them to establish this precedent.  We’ll be sure to think of you during our public tour next year.

Cheers, Winston