This made my day:
She is standing alone with her dogs with an early frost on the grass, staking her claim as part of the 99%. "Occupy the Tundra," says the sign she holds, hand-lettered on an old piece of cardboard.More at the link.
Thousands of Americans are occupying Wall Street and various plazas, parks and squares across America. Diane McEachern has made sure that Bethel, Alaska -- a town of 6,400 way out in western Alaska -- is among them.
The picture she posted on the Occupy Wall Street Facebook page of herself in a musk-ox neck warmer, standing in the grass with her dogs in silent protest of corporate greed, has become the rural equivalent of a million-man march. The photo has been shared by thousands of people around the world.
"I am a woman. The dogs are rescues. The tundra is outside of Bethel, Alaska. The day is chill. The sentiment is solid. Find your spot. Occupy it. Even if it is only your own mind," she wrote as a caption.
McEachern, an assistant professor in the rural human service program at the University of Alaska's Kuskokwim Campus, said she was following the Wall Street protests and wondering how they might be brought home to a town with one main street and no roads out.
There are good people.
ReplyDeleteWill there be enough?
@bmerson - I think an equally pertinent question is will they maintain the effort for long enough and not let the movement get co-opted by the corrupt political system?
ReplyDelete@Bill - I think the question is can they take setbacks and continue to grow? Can the movement be fundamental and organic enough that it reacts like one of those blob toys...the more you squeeze, the more is just pops through the cracks of your fingers. If one form of the movement is co-opted or crushed, the underlying movement simply pops up in another form or another place. If that can happen, then you have yourself a force to be reckoned with.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that this movement is there yet, but it may be the leading edge of a deeper, wider movement of good people who are wholly dissatisfied and disillusioned, but that is still mostly stalled by inertia. When a movement taps into those huge numbers, then things will get truly interesting.
Will this be the thing that makes that connection? We will see.