Here's Why I Don't Understand OWS

Their diagnosis makes sense: government uses force to pay off corporations. Their prescription, however, is bizarre: much more of the disease. I don't get it. The state is violence, force, and the misuse of power. Sometimes there's no other way. But in general we want less, not more.

Property-is-Theft Movement All Sad: They Took Our Property!

Can't seem to get off the "stete=force" meme, sorry.

But it turns out that the "Property is Theft!" folks had a nice little set up, with books and some land. The state came and destroyed it all. Not long after having passed a "feel good" resolution supporting the movement.

Ah, frail principles, thy name is government.

The irony of having the "Property is Theft" folks be mad at the government for failing to protect their property, which they had stolen in the first place... priceless.

This IS What Democracy Looks Like!

Dan D'Amico: The "Occupy" movement is what democracy looks like. Interesting.

ODC Food Tent

Anonyman sends this photo with the caption "food tent" from the Self-Obsessed DC protest.

Several of you have asked, "Who is Anonyman?" I can only answer by quoting from V for Vendetta: "I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is..." But, okay, here is a picture of Anonyman, hanging with his peeps in the street at Occupy DC.

The entire V speech, if you want it. And you KNOW you want it.

Hot Chicks of OWS

Hot Chicks of Occupy Wall Street from Steven Greenstreet on Vimeo.

Thanks to the Bishop, whose interests are of course entirely anthropological.

OWS: They are the government now...

Email from Chris S, this little gem of an article...

Money quote:

"The other day, I took in $2,000. I kept $650 for my group, and gave the rest to Finance," he told the Post. "Then I went to them with a request -- so many people need things, and they should not be going without basic comfort items -- and I was told to fill out paperwork. Paperwork! Are they the government now?"

To be fair, that kind of bureaucracy is also characteristic of a group that OWS fears FAR more than government. And that is....corporations!

William Niskanen's classic BUREAUCRACY AND REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, in fact, was written after he worked at Ford Motor Company.

Look, governments MUST have bureaucracy. Large corporations, too. They deal with government, they have to use forms and fill out reports.

If you don't like bureaucracy, then my friends at OWS, you must want that thing we call "capitalism," with its emphasis on new, dynamic firms and innovation. What you are getting a taste of is corporatism, where the line between government and large corporations simply disappears.

"Bye, Kids! Have fun storming the castle!" ("Do you think it will woik?" "It would take a miracle...")

Our Correspondent, Anonyman

Anonyman, in the field for a KPC exclusive, sends this report:

"Apparently, they have agreed on a sign!"

Someone needs to give orders....

They were Rousseauvians. But now Hobbes is starting to sound more right. Time someone was in charge; too many liberties.

From the OWS folks in the stinky park....

From today’s battles, it’s not yet clear who will win the day: the organizers or the organized. But the month-long protest has clearly grown and evolved to a point where a truly leaderless movement will risk eviction — or, worse, insurrection.

As the communal sleeping bag argument between Lauren Digion and Sage Roberts threatened to get out of hand, a facilitator in a red hat walked by, brow furrowed. “Remember? You’re not allowed to do any more interviews,” he said to Digion. She nodded and went back to work. But when Roberts shouted, “Don’t tell me what to do!” Digion couldn't hold back.

“Someone has to be told what to do," she said. "Someone needs to give orders. There’s no sense of order in this fucking place.”

Not even anarchists believe in anarchy. Someone needs to give orders. Hee hee!

This is actually a reason that I do support the OWS thing, nationwide. It's time kids found out that "spontaneous politics" is dangerous nonsense. In markets nobody has to give orders, because someone would OWN that spot. In this communal arrangement where some are just more equal than others, someone has to give orders, and eventually will have to bring in guns to back up those orders.

A nice WSJ article on the proceedings. Catatonic? Heh.

(Nod to Anonyman, whose wife gives HIM orders)

Occupy Wall Street--Carter Administration Edition

When you have an inept President who blames employers for not hiring people, you get this. From 1979, but quite fresh and timely. No jazz hands, though, which is a shame.



Nod to the Blonde...

Jazz Hands

Wow, these OWS guys are even more self-congratulatory than this blog! And we are (mostly) kidding when we self-congratulate.

I do like the jazz hands.

Finally, Angus, in spite of his protests, would last about 90 seconds in this crowd before he got into a fight with one of them. Their diagnosis, I will admit, is in some important ways correct. Their prescription for cure? Not so much. Angus's claim that he could be in that crowd and not make fun of it.... that made ME laugh. Good one.

Special Bagels or Something

Actual Egyptians near the park of OWS in New York are scornful of the "pain" of rich kids whining about hardship.  An interesting bit...

As Anonyman summarizes it:

But although she said the destitution in the square reminded her of the Third World, the occupation didn’t strike her as another Tahrir. “We were fighting for a big, big thing: for life, to eat, against a giant snake that would kill us.” Unsurprisingly, she employs a smart breakfast metaphor: “Here, they’re not fighting to eat, say, regular bread, but … special bagels or something.”

Remy on Occupy Wall Street

UPDATE: The camera woman is crying, the guy is crying, and they are bizarrely, defending some conception of property rights. This is OURS, you can't take it. "We" can take yachts, and money, and property, from OTHER people, but not from this snotty kid.

Clever, Clever Satire

This was a comment on a post about a computer game, HOMM VI.

Do me a favor and ask Robert Paul Wolff and Brian Leiter this question: why are they spared the wrath of the 99%? Tenured professors, raised in privilege, products of Princeton and Michigan law school, living lives of luxury and leisure in comparison to the steel worker, the coal miner, the day laborer.

How does the the spoiled privileged Leiter respond to the following: Fairness is considered over the course of a lifetime. This does not exempt the privileged lives of professors, the beneficiaries of capitalism living lives of relative luxury and greed in comparison to steel workers and coal miners. We do not take current distributions as the baseline and simply move on from here. As a matter of fact, this is exactly the objection made against most utilitarian property theorists. Therefore, the unjust distributions that you have benefited from, the skills you have developed because of your privileged position within the capitalist regime, all these resources you have enjoyed will not be forgotten by We the 99%. And here we are. It is time to pay the piper, and this includes the professors as well as the bankers, CEOs and corporate attorneys. It is time for Brian Leiter, Robert Paul Wolff, Paul G. Allen, Warren Buffett, and the rest of the privileged few to make good on their debts. They must now give up their comfortable positions at Univ. of Chicago, etc. and pick up a shovel. It is our time to bask in the sun.

Not sure how Robert Paul Wolff or Brian Leiter would respond, sir. Don't know either, never met them, had to look them up on Google. I can say this: Here is the distribution of income in the U.S.:

You'll notice that 99th %ile is $506k, 95th %ile is $200k. There would be very few college professors above the 96th %ile, I would think.

As for Robert Paul Wolff....he is a Marxist Anarchist who was briefly at U of Chicago, 1961-1964. He never went to Princeton, either as a student or instructor, though of course he likely gave talks there. You may be talking about Brian Leiter, of course, but since I found looking up Robert P. Wolff (he's one of YOURS, fercrissakes!) to be utterly uninteresting I stopped my research, exhausted, and went back to my couch where nubile grad students could fan me and feed me delicious fresh fruit.

In short, what you have written simply must be a moderately clever satire. Because otherwise you are confirming that you "99 percenters" are just as loony as I believe you are.

Perfect

A venn diagram. It pretty much says it all.

Nod to James Sinclair, and thanks to Steve Horwitz.

All We Are Saying, Is Give.....

Actually, I have no idea what they are saying.



You have to like the "Information Man!" thing from the highly educated plumber's helper just after 2:10.

But my favorite is the guy who want "the government" to run the banks. When asked, what about Republicans....um, no, not them. The "government."

Not Only Not the Onion, But Not Monty Python

This goes well beyond a simple "not the Onion." This crosses well over into "not Monty Python" territory. (If you think I'm wrong, do watch this early planning meeting of "Occupy Wall Street," where they decide on their program, their demands, and who they will follow...)

Protesters at "Self-Absorbed Atlanta" (yes, they call it "Occupy Atlanta," but my title is more accurate) have set up a system where they can solve a bunch of problems that don't actually exist.

1. How to talk when you have a weak megaphone. Normal solution: get a better sound system. Self-Absorbed Atlanta solution: have a simultaneous translation, English to English.

2. How to signal approval. Normal solution: applause. SAA solution: little jazz hands waving, so no ones' voice is drowned out by applause. Of course, nobody is going to see the individual hands in the sea of hands, either. Either way, minority disagreement is going to be overwhelmed. EXCEPT: SAA requires unanimity! So you CAN see the one nut job/racist/star trek fan who wants to block things. Do NOT talk to the jazz hand that says "no!" (If you are not familiar with Jazz Hands, here is a quick guide to SAA hand signals!*)

3. Finally, if you can stand to watch for that long (I skipped after two minutes, I have to admit. SAA can really do some powerful auto-politicism), go to the 8.5 minute mark. Congressman John Lewis stood up to Bull Connor, and crossed the bridge at Selma on Bloody Sunday. But he was no match for the self-righteous idiocy of Self-Absorbed Atlanta.



As Pelsmin, who sent this in, notes: "This is a perfect illustration of how the extreme left's desire to liberate people from oppressive societal conventions like democracy will lead to something like the Soviet bureaucracy." And Soviet civil liberties, too! An invited speaker suffers the heckler's veto, in this video. Wow!

*Okay, no it wasn't. But I made you look. I think that video should replace Rick-rolling with "Tiny-rolling."