Yeah.. not going to be much in the way of a narrative today. I apologise – my head feels like it’s encased in jelly, and it’s a bit hard to think through. Still, I’ve got some good bits to share, and I shall!

The first is a rebuttal of sorts to Naomi Wolf’s piece for The Guardian, ‘The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy’:

Naomi Wolf’s ‘Shocking Truth’ About the ‘Occupy Crackdowns’ Offers Anything but the Truth
http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/153222/naomi_wolf%E2%80%99s_%E2%80%98shocking_truth%E2%80%99_about_the_%E2%80%98occupy_crackdowns%E2%80%99_offers_anything_but_the_truth

Either I didn’t read enough into Miss Wolf’s piece, or he’s reading too much, but I don’t agree on all of his picking apart. It’s still a good piece with good information to consider from a different viewpoint, though. I will disagree on one point very firmly, and that’s his insistence that all the occupations cleared out that week had advanced notice. The Dallas camp is a prime example of this – the city flip-flopped their stance in the course of a day, and sent in the freaking calvary in the middle of the night. The clear out was mainly peaceful, mind, but I don’t call that advanced notice by any stretch of the imagination.

Not that trying to force these camps out is having the desired effect – check out how Los Angeles protesters are responding to the Mayor going from ardent supporter to ‘move along now’:

Occupy LA protesters defy eviction deadline
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15914092

Because, obviously, ain’t no party like an Occupy party. Once again, we see a mayor citing health and safety issues that may or may not be legitimate. I’m not there in the flesh, so I cannot fully say. I do find it telling when you see that as the reason in major cities where there are bigger criminal issues anywhere else BUT the camps. Or perhaps humanity is exactly the same inside the camps as it is without in spite of the rules against substance use, and amazingly, the protesters are supposed to somehow be better than trained police on the beat? No, I believe in my heart of hearts that there are likely some ‘bad’ elements in the camps, but  think that they are probably less because people are more sincere about doing things right.

Speaking of doing things the right and the wrong way, have you seen what has become of Occupy Wall Street’s once-beautiful People’s Library? The results aren’t pretty -at- all:

The Occupy Wall Street Library: Librarians Display the Ruins
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/11/the_occupy_wall.php

I find this telling in so many ways – obviously, only stupid stuck-up people care about books and learning, so let’s go destroy some books! Good job, Bloomberg, you lying [[insert fecal matter here]]. One of my favorite books as a kid for scaring the crap out of me was Fahrenheit 451, because I could not envision a day when the country I loved and came from would actually get to that point. That it has in my lifetime makes my jaw drop – people spend all their time watching so-called reality tv, and in this country here, the best-selling books all seem to be ghostwritten ‘celebrity’ autobiographies. Between that book and Anthem, my addled 14 year old brain decided most firmly that knowledge is awesome, schooling sucks (insomuch that the rise of things such as league tables and ‘All Children Left Behind’ stifle thinking and endorse conformity), learning is fantastic, and individuality isn’t a crime (even if many will tell you it is, ha ha). A person needs ideas from other people, presented bereft of flashing lights and advertisements. We need to be challenged, to be taken outside of our comfort zones, and books have always been and shall probably always be an abiding symbol of just that.

But that’s just my take on it – yours is your own. Let us all promise to not be too comfy in the supposed truths we know, and be willing to see other points of view – the truth lies between it all, methinks. Have a good Monday!