The kids are alright: occupying Charleston

Charleston, WV was one of many cities around the country and the world that held Occupy Wall Street solidarity actions. I attended it for several hours on Saturday. The nicest thing about it was the fact that here was a decent crowd of people gathered together to confront economic injustice--and I didn't know 90 percent of them.

While it was a diverse group, many of the people who participated were young in years, in activism or both. That was good thing. Many members of the initial group that called for the action were young adults, most of whom had never done this kind of thing before. Overall, I'd say that around 200 people were there for some or all of the action.

I wasn't able to attend the preliminary planning meetings, but the group made some smart decisions early on to focus on the main message of Occupy Wall Street: the power of corporations and growing economic inequality, rather than getting sidetracked on issues such as mountaintop removal. Issues like that need to be dealt with, but this wasn't the time and place.


After gathering for a time at a small park on Kanawha Boulevard, the group marched through the city to assemble outside Chase Bank, a protest magnet these days, then marched to the Robert C. Byrd Federal Courthouse.




A number of protesters had arranged with the city to camp at Haddad Riverfront Park for the occupation itself and I think plans are in the works for a series of events in the days to come.

The people who pulled this together very quickly did a great job. It was interesting to watch the interactions. Public response was overwhelmingly positive from people driving by. Similar events were held at other places in West Virginia. All told, a pretty impressive day of action, not just here, but all over the place. The challenge in the days ahead will be to find ways of keeping up momentum while also reaching out to more allies and developing a greater variety of actions and strategies.

If you go to facebook, you can follow charleston events at

http://www.facebook.com/OccupyCharlestonWV

And, by the way, check out the American Friends Service Committee WV Ecnomic Justice Project's Facebook page here.

Occupied territory

The Occupy Wall Street solidarity movement officially hit West Virginia this weekend in Huntington. Organizers, many of whom were connected in some way with Marshall University, planned to begin rallying outside Chase Bank on Friday evening, stay there until Sunday, and finish with a march.

I stopped by for a couple of hours on Friday and there might have been as many as 100 people, if you count comings and goings, which in my experience is a good number for Huntington. I'm sure the number of hardy souls who camped out on the street was smaller, but it seems like they had a good support system organized and I'm not aware of any conflicts with the police.


There seemed to be a wide variety of people with many viewpoints, united by a concern for growing inequality. The event also seemed to provide an opportunity for people who have never engaged in this kind of activity before. I'd never seen most of the people who participated before and I've done a thing or two in Huntington over the years. It's hard to say how many more events will happen in WV or around the country but this is something I didn't see coming.

I think the movement will be stronger if it sticks more closely with the 99 percent message rather than covering the map of issues. A populist economic message could really resonate in southern West Virginia--if people can avoid getting sidetracked with coal controversies. Those issues need to be dealt with, but this probably isn't the best venue. Just saying.

LOOKING AHEAD. Here's an op-ed by yours truly on economic policy options for WV.

AFGHANISTAN. Here's a statement from WV Senator Joe Manchin on the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Sample quote:

"As I have said before, we must choose between rebuilding Afghanistan and rebuilding America because we can’t afford to do both. And I choose to rebuild America.”

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

So many social engagements, so little time

The number of Occupy Wall Street solidarity actions keeps growing. In WV alone, I've heard of new actions planned for Parkersburg, Lewisburg, and Elkins since the last post. I plan on checking out the Huntington action this afternoon and will report back from that.

It looks like all kinds of things are in the works around the country, from relatively short rallies to prolonged literal occupations of various places. While I am officially in favor of whatever works, I prefer ones that don't drag out too long.

When I was on the local volunteer fire department, a member once defined a good call (response to an alarm) as one where you get in, get out, and go home. A bad one was one where you were stuck for hours doing nothing interesting.

Examples of bad calls were things like meth lab busts, which entail sitting in the truck for hours while law enforcement does its thing, or downed power lines, where you just babysat the line and kept people away from it until somebody from the power company arrived.

I've modified the good call definition to cover a good action, with a few embellishments: a good action is one where you get in, get out, declare victory, go home and put "Mission Accomplished" on your metaphorical aircraft carrier.

May all your calls and actions be good ones!

SPEAKING OF WHICH, Krugman has this to say about the Occupy actions in today's NY Times:

we may, at long last, be seeing the rise of a popular movement that, unlike the Tea Party, is angry at the right people.

The rest is here.

And here's Naomi Klein.

And here's Jim Hightower.

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Occupations

Since my last post here on the Occupy Wall Street movement, which isn't just for Wall Street any more, momentum seems to be building. I've gotten several emails from different groups announcing their solidarity with these efforts.

According to this CNN story, Big Apple unions are joining in the action. More on that from NPR here. It's still too soon to tell how long this will last, but this item, also from CNN, suggests it's far from over.

So far, I know of several events planned for WV cities and towns. One is set for Huntington tomorrow. Others will be held on Oct. 15 in Charleston, Wheeling, Morgantown and Martinsburg.

10 YEARS OUT. As the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan approaches, a new survey finds that many veterans of the post-9/11 era don't think the wars were worth the sacrifices involved.

LIVING FOSSILS (AND COOL PICTURES) here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED