4 Replies to “"Federal Gov't Spending Millions in Storage Fees for 'Extra Steel' That Could Be Used to Extend SW Border Fence"”

1. dicentra says:

   December 20, 2011 at 2:56 pm

   Hey! Clean thread!

   This just in: OWS is not the Tea Party:

   [M]any of the rank-and-file occupiers feel isolated in their lives, and appear to lack basic community ties such as are provided by participation in clubs, churches, and strong families. Indeed, much of the report could have come from the early chapters of Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone. They thus attach to their political causes with something like a religious fervor. For many, a commitment to “social justice” is “not the end, but rather a means to an inflated sense of self and purpose in their own lives.” Crucially, involvement with others who agree with them provides an “overwhelming feeling of being part of a family.” I noticed this on my first trip down to Zuccotti Park, when I saw a telling sign adorning the entrance to the tent city: “For the first time in my life, I feel at home.” On subsequent visits I was struck by the importance of the commune to the project. As much as anything else, vast swathes of occupiers were simply looking for a new club. This group, Frontier Lab dubs the “Communitarians.”

   The second group, which to all intents and purposes forms the leadership, is less existentially lost, and derives its fulfillment from the “prestige,” “validation,” and “control” afforded by the movement’s coverage in the media. Frontier Lab calls this group the “Professionals.” Its members fill the ranks of the professional Left and boast long histories of attending and organizing protests. For them, indignation is quotidian, “community action” is a career, and they feel “validated by the fame and attention” and “rewarded for their life choices.” Unlike the Communitarians, the Professionals actually want tangible change, or a “win,” but politics is still playing second fiddle to self. There is nothing spontaneous or organic about the movements they lead. They are waiting for the revolution and hope to be in its vanguard. Their careers depend upon it.

   Nothing we didn’t already know.

2. MetricButtload says:

   December 20, 2011 at 4:59 pm

   I’m good either way. No Mexican would do my job.

3. Kira Argounova says:

   December 20, 2011 at 6:57 pm

   I blame BIG Storage! Just another example of corps. suckling at the govt teat. But, ya’ know, if they were to take the steel out of storage and build the fence, just think of all the storage workers who would be out of work. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. *sigh*

4. iron308 says:

   December 21, 2011 at 6:08 am

   These fence guys are pikers when it comes to this crony capitalism thing.

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