Isn’t it amazing how, no matter at what level, it always seems to boil down to a small group of “elites” trying to control all the money, all the power, all the “stuff”, and all the other people…
(NYMag) ” .. we’ve had issues with the drummers too. They drum incessantly all day, and really loud.’ Facilitators spearheaded a General Assembly proposal to limit the drumming to two hours a day. ‘The drumming is a major issue which has the potential to get us kicked out,’ said Lauren Digion, a leader on the sanitation working group.”
“But the drums were fun. They brought in publicity and money. Many non-facilitators were infuriated by the decision and claimed that it had been forced through the General Assembly.”
” ‘They’re imposing a structure on the natural flow of music,’ said Seth Harper, an 18-year-old from Georgia. ‘The GA decided to do it … they suppressed people’s opinions. I wanted to do introduce a different proposal, but a big black organizer chick with an Afro said I couldn’t.’ ”
” To Shane Engelerdt, a 19-year-old from Jersey City and self-described former ‘head drummer,’ this amounted to a Jacobinic betrayal. ‘They are becoming the government we’re trying to protest,’ he said. ‘They didn’t even give the drummers a say … Drumming is the heartbeat of this movement. Look around: This is dead, you need a pulse to keep something alive.’ ”
“The drummers claim that the finance working group even levied a percussion tax of sorts, taking up to half of the $150-300 a day that the drum circle was receiving in tips. ‘Now they have over $500,000 from all sorts of places,’ said Engelerdt. ‘We’re like, what’s going on here? They’re like the banks we’re protesting.‘ ”
“All belongings and money in the park are supposed to be held in common, but property rights reared their capitalistic head when facilitators went to clean up the park, .. ” (For those supporting Communism, it always seems like a great idea ’til someone tries to take your stuff)
“In response to dissatisfaction with the consensus General Assembly, many facilitators have adopted a new ‘spokescouncil’ model, which allows each working group to act independently without securing the will of the collective. ‘This streamlines it,’ argued Zonkers. ‘The GA is unwieldy, cumbersome, and redundant.’ ”
Full Story: The Organizers vs. the Organized in Zuccotti Park (NYMag)
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