Another Look at Wall Street's Buttoned-Down Conservative Protester
One of my favorite things to do is compare how the media presents a political activist with what else you might find. You know, they describe some anti-war protester as a grandmother who was moved to get off her sofa in Iowa by the injustice. You Google and realize she launched an SDS chapter back in the 1960s or whatever.
This is much more subtle but today Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker writes of a protester he happened upon down on Wall Street. He writes:
I buttonholed Kevin because he looked genial and had a sticker on his shirt that said INFO. He’s twenty-eight. He grew up in Long Beach, California, in a fairly conservative nondenominational Christian church. His parents were missionaries; the family spent time in Africa, where his father, who is also a doctor, worked on church-sponsored H.I.V. programs. Kevin went to American University, in Washington, where he studied communication law, economics, and government. He got his B.A. in 2006. He couldn’t afford grad school yet, so he took it upon himself to spend a year and a half doing economic research in rural Zambia, where living is cheap. A few months ago he published a weighty paper in a scholarly online business journal. He lives in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.
Well doesn't that counter your expectations? A conservative Christian student with a focus on economics!
And while I'm sure Kevin Sheneberger is a very nice young man, I just find it interesting that Hertzberg didn't describe him -- as Kevin does -- as "an artist working on a found-art sculpture/writing project in my studio/apartment, dealing with meaningful inefficiency and hand-made aesthetics." Or mention that that "weighty paper in a scholarly online business journal" was published on something called "BusinessJournalz.org." Yes, with a "z."
Or that at the aforementioned American University he was head of the student Democrats, his MySpace profile wouldn't pass the Ricochet code of conduct, says it's a myth that professors are "liberal," and was called a "fascist" by critics.
People who expect accuracy from Hendrik Hertzberg are fools, but it's just a great reminder to double check everything you read.
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Oct '10
Re: Another Look at Wall Street's Buttoned-Down Conservative Protester
"...You know, they describe some anti-war protester as a grandmother who was moved to get off her sofa in Iowa by the injustice. You Google and realize she launched an SDA chapter back in the 1960s or whatever..."
SDS chapter, maybe?
I was there, on the other side of the barricades.
Jun '10
Re: Another Look at Wall Street's Buttoned-Down Conservative Protester
I'm so sorry I didn't hear about this sooner. I just heard about a job for a "found-art sculptor" that deals "with meaningful inefficiency and hand-made aesthetics," but it was just filled.
Also, a question: What exactly is "found-art"? I have the impression it bears the same relation to "art" that a roadkill possum bears to a "filet mignon." Can someone enlighten me?
[I apologize for my lack of aesthetic sensitivity--mine quit progressing somewhere in the neighborhood of Andrew Wyeth]
Edited on Oct 14, 2011 at 12:17pmAug '10
Re: Another Look at Wall Street's Buttoned-Down Conservative Protester
Rik Hertzberg is the epitome of the Peter Principle, whereby your zenith is the height of your mediocrity . And he has been steeped in mediocrity from the beginning where he started ,as a speechwriter for Jimmuh Carter .
Oh the malaise.......
Too bad he dragged the New Yorker down with him.
Mar '11
Re: Another Look at Wall Street's Buttoned-Down Conservative Protester
I believe it is what the more aesthetically challenged call "junk."
Aug '10
Re: Another Look at Wall Street's Buttoned-Down Conservative Protester
Percival
I believe it is what the more aesthetically challenged call "junk." · Oct 14 at 3:10pm
Or hang a terlet on the wall. lent