The Future of Protest In Panopticon Nation

Hugh Pickens writes "James Fallows writes that you don't have to idealize everything about the Occupy movement to recognize the stoic resolve of the protesters at UC Davis being pepper sprayed as a moral drama that the protesters clearly won. 'The self-control they show, while being assaulted, reminds me of grainy TV footage I saw as a kid, of black civil rights protesters being fire-hosed by Bull Connor's policemen in Alabama. Or of course the Tank Man in Tiananmen Square,' writes Fallows. 'Such images can have tremendous, lasting power.' We can't yet imagine all the effects of the panopticon society we are beginning to live in but one benefit to the modern protest movement is the omnipresence of cameras (video) as police officials, protesters, and nearly all onlookers are recording whatever goes on bringing greater accountability and a reality-test for police claims that they 'had' to use excessive force. 'What's new is that now the perception war occurs simultaneously with the physical struggle. There's almost parity,' writes Andrew Sprung. 'You have a truncheon or gun, I have a camera. You inflict pain, I inflict infamy.'"

Comments

Re:of course, a little less moving...

[MightyMartian]

Gandhi forswore all possession and walked around in home-spun clothes. In every way he is the opposite of these self-entitled folks whose real beef appears to be "I can't continue my conspicuous consumption because I got a psych degree, so gimme money!!!!"

I don't even know what most of these people stand for, or even want. It is absolutely the most idiotic, confused and pointless protest movement in history. Even the fucking Neo-Nazi skinheads at least have some sort of comprehensible cause, even if it is evil and nightmarish. There's something at least to sink your teeth into.

Look at the Tea Party. I'm as anti-Libertarian as they come, but these guys have at least formulated some sort of set of policies and goals. It isn't just a bunch of people trying to replicate the "We are all individuals" scene from the Life of Brian. I can debate a Tea Party member, and he in turn can make clear statements about what he wants. I may utterly disagree with him, but at least I'm talking to something with a bit more depth than what amounts to a shouting slogan machine.

The worst part is that these frightfully sincere people seem to believe that somehow they speak for the "99%". They don't. Increasingly the public is viewing them as spoiled squatting bums who are doing absolutely nothing to better themselves or their society. They've ceased to be any kind of movement (even a loose and almost pointless one), and have become a carnival side show that is depriving the citizens of many cities of the use of public land.