No business as usual
Published March 20, 2003
Of course, your own version of "No business as usual" could be anything you create out of it. I have friends who are keeping their kids out of school. What good will that do? They'll be missed. If other parents do it, maybe the class will have 5 kids instead of 20. It will feel strange. It will be hard to just get on with the routine. Staying away from work will have the same effect. The more people have their routines interrupted, the more they will be reminded that something besides television entertainment is actually happening here. The environment should remain appropriately tense and unpredictable, as if there are still unanswered questions, as if it is not yet time to relax into acceptance and watch the TV show.
The way I interpret it, "No business as usual" means that I will contribute to forcing the city I live in to be incapable of business as usual. A convergence march is scheduled for 5 pm at Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave on the second day of the war. It's one of the busiest intersections in the city, and it controls access to the 101 Freeway. I'm sure there will be plenty of commuters who would like to head up Highland to the 101, so they can drive back to the San Fernando Valley, stop off at Pizza Hut and have a nice night at home with the family.
Sorry, commuter-trying-to-go-on-with-his-life, I won't let you. There's a war on, and your life is going to be disrupted whether you like it or not. Join the protest or get out of your car and tell me why you're not protesting--either way, no business as usual. There's a war on, and it's your war.
That's the sort of thing I'm going to do. I truly hope that if there's anyone reading this who is on the fence about becoming a first-time demonstrator that you'll give it a shot. Come on down and give it five minutes.
Alternately, I guess, one could just sit at home and watch TV.
- No business as usual
- Published: March 20, 2003
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- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet
- Writer: Brian Flemming
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Comments
Rob,
Yes, it bothers me. It bothers me when the radical left seems to have a blind obsession with hating the U.S. These folks are analogous to their counterparts on the radical right, who are similarly an embarrassment to most conservatives.
I also disagree with strictly pacifist organizations who are against war in any situation. History proves that sometimes taking up arms is the only way to achieve justice, and it is naive to believe otherwise.
However, simply because there are groups who are opposed to this war for reasons that differ from my own doesn't mean I'm going to isolate myself from the movement. That would merely be an excuse for inaction. If you've noticed, a word frequently used in the movement is "convergence." The various groups with only one agreement--this war is wrong--have banded together despite their differences.
I guess an analogy on the right would be the Log Cabin Republicans. These gays and lesbians stand side-by-side not only with Republicans who disagree with them, but also a great many who literally hate them. Their voting with and lobbying alongside conservatives doesn't mean they agree with the (usually religious) conservatives who feel they should be rounded up and killed.
I do have a feeling that "bothers" them, though.
We need to block as much traffic as much as we can for as long as possible to piss off the commuters, waste gasoline, and contribute to global warming.
It is kind of like killing for peace only slower.
Well your position is clearer in your reply than it was, to me at least, in your initial post. I think it is "convergence" that actually weakens those anti-war protesters whose motives are purely anti-war, and not anti-capitalism, anti-globalism, etc. As with any party or group affililiation you are known by the company you keep, and your Republican analogy points that out.
As for protests, anti-war Americans primarily spend time demonstrating against the U.S. actions, but never against the actions of any other country or dictator, etc. One reason for this is that we live in a country where the government is actually answerable to its citizens, so the protests might have an effect, and that makes sense. It is that so many of the protesters appear to only be involved if the US is involved This leads to the idea that the protesters are solely anti-US/gov't, and when they affiliate with A.N.S.W.E.R. and others, they weakebn their anti-war case.
Protest away, I just hope that the folks who were blocking emergency vehicles today didn't case someone's death.
Protesters puking and defecating in public, that is somewhat unusual, and should both get their message across and rally more people to their cause.







Does it bother anyone that Int'l A.N.S.W.E.R. is run by the Worker's World Party, a communist organization that is opposed to the US in any and every case?
Did anyone notice that these protesters didn't turn out in the streets to protest any of the dictators and murderers in power around the world, but are more the willing to show up when they can oppose the President of the U.S. ?