Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
I confess that I found these videos of Lee Stranahan's long interviews from Zucotti park only because someone left my name in one of the comments. My Google Ego Alert notified me that someone, somewhere in the world was talking about me, so I clicked on the link.
I know, from experience, that there's not much of a market for journalism like this. People are busy; they don't have the time or patience; they want the story edited, they want a moral, they're not that interested in watching people ramble on. But I was fascinated. From Istanbul, I've had a terribly difficult time getting a sense of who these people are. After watching these videos, I have a much better sense. They're very recognizable: I've known Americans like this all my life; and I think it's probably true that they wouldn't be in Zucotti Park if the Dead were still on tour. They seem essentially harmless--part of a long American tradition.
They're not articulate, and obviously I don't agree with them about the issues--nor do they agree with each other--but I'm certain I have more in common with them at the deepest level of shared cultural expectations than I do with anyone in Turkey. They all have the idea, implanted in their very souls, that they have rights, that the government is supposed to represent them, that you make schedules, that "books are something good to read," that you get lawyers to represent you, that no harm will befall you if you speak to a journalist, that everyone has read Catcher in the Rye, that you should comply with the fire code, that there is a fire code, that being inarticulate isn't really a problem, that foreign countries don't really exist (so no need to get the details right or think of them as anything but symbols), that you need to "educate people and talk," that it makes sense to be loyal to a social unit larger than the family, that you're not surrounded by secret police, that if you get arrested you won't be tortured (so it's not really that frightening), that everywhere you go there will be a roughly equal number of men and women who won't feel socially awkward when they talk to each other, that when people get too emotional they should "go out and clear their heads," that the kitchen should be run properly, that if you want a job done, you do it yourself, that you shouldn't quit, that every event needs a mental-health worker, and that "negative thinking" is morally bad--a vice to be extirpated.
For all they're easy to mock, they're my fellow Americans. I felt tender toward them.
I'm struck by the sadness and loneliness, though. Dead concerts may have attracted the same kind of people, but they were a joyful affair. These people need some sunshine and daydreams to go with their empty heads. If they put this on the speakers, I'm sure it would lift their spirits:
Thanks, Lee Stranahan. Good work.
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Oct '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
I love your commentary here ... don't know what else to say except I think you've captured a very important point (several, really) in a poignant, touching way. Bravo.
Mar '11
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Great post, Claire - thank you.
I used to be a Dead Head myself (still love the music!), although I never warmed up to the politics of most of the fans. I think your point is spot-on; and sadly I think that that whole scene has been overridden by the angry radicals who used to just be the irritating outliers ruining everyone else's "trip".
I can also tell by the end of your piece ("sunshine... daydream... empty head") that you have at least a bit more than a passing familiarity with their music...
Sep '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Interesting how the ugly language of social science permeates/pollutes their thoughts. Perhaps they would be more articulate if they had worked more and been less educated.
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Heshmon: Great post, Claire - thank you.
I used to be a Dead Head myself (still love the music!), although I never warmed up to the politics of most of the fans. I think your point is spot-on; and sadly I think that that whole scene has been overridden by the angry radicals who used to just be the irritating outliers ruining everyone else's "trip".
A very sweet Turkish kid here, someone who's hopeless about Turkey--as pretty much most young people here are--sent me a link to this. He'd just seen the movie and he was enthralled: that was the ideal civilization, he thought. He wanted to know what I thought of it. I thought of giving him my serious, political response, and then I realized that what he was attracted to, above all, was that insane American optimism. I encouraged him to write to them, visit, check it out for himself if he could. I had the feeling that he didn't need a lecture about the function of prices in conveying information about demand. He needed some hope.
Dec '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Claire Berlinski, Ed.A very sweet Turkish kid here, someone who's hopeless about Turkey--as pretty much most young people here are--sent me a link to this. I had the feeling that he didn't need a lecture about the function of prices in conveying information about demand. He needed some hope. · Nov 16 at 3:10am
While the cadre of disgruntled grad students recently camped out in NY could use a little Truth about markets, at bottom, they could probably use a little hope too.
I keep hoping for a "Morning in America" moment from one of the GOP hopefuls, but they have yet to deliver. Such a moment would be useless without a solid understanding of free market economics as its foundation. However, I'm worried that all the education about free markets will inevitably be useless without the promise of once again shining as the City on the Hill and the hope for humanity.
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism?
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Beasley
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism? · Nov 16 at 3:47am
I'm not sure. Remember, I live in Turkey, so it's hard to tell. I'll be in New York in December, and I'll be curious to see what people say.
Mar '11
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
One of the most insightful comments I've seen from either supporters or opponents of OWS. From the Department of Solipsistic Reactions, I was brought up short by the thought that I've never read Catcher in the Rye (my high school assigned Gatsby).
Sep '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Boone Pickens on tv this morning compares himself to a west Texas farmer who wakes every morning of a drought and says I'm one day closer to rain. I don't always agree w Boone but that seems to me the state of American optimism today. We are keenly aware of the drought.
Mar '11
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Beasley
Claire Berlinski, Ed.A very sweet Turkish kid here, someone who's hopeless about Turkey--as pretty much most young people here are--sent me a link to this. I had the feeling that he didn't need a lecture about the function of prices in conveying information about demand. He needed some hope. · Nov 16 at 3:10am
While the cadre of disgruntled grad students recently camped out in NY could use a little Truth about markets, at bottom, they could probably use a little hope too.
I keep hoping for a "Morning in America" moment from one of the GOP hopefuls, but they have yet to deliver. Such a moment would be useless without a solid understanding of free market economics as its foundation. However, I'm worried that all the education about free markets will inevitably be useless without the promise of once again shining as the City on the Hill and the hope for humanity.
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism? · Nov 16 at 3:47am
I was running low on optimism, until I read this yesterday.
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
PercivalI was running low on optimism, until I read this yesterday. · Nov 16 at 4:31am
I read it too, and I was also cheered by it. Honestly, I think it's impossible to be too pessimistic if you were raised in America, whether or not it's realistic or warranted. It's a very deep cultural trait, and we exhibit it even when we don't realize it.
Dec '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Percival
Beasley
Claire Berlinski, Ed.A very sweet Turkish kid here, someone who's hopeless about Turkey--as pretty much most young people here are--sent me a link to this. I had the feeling that he didn't need a lecture about the function of prices in conveying information about demand. He needed some hope. · Nov 16 at 3:10am
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism? · Nov 16 at 3:47am
I was running low on optimism, until I read this yesterday. · Nov 16 at 4:31am
I just finished reading that same article. I find myself swaying between siding with VDH or Mark Steyn. Britain enjoyed as many glory days as we have, and watch the sunset for the final time on their global dominance during WWII.
We are the most innovative and successful country in the world. Yet we will not be granted an infinite number of mistakes before we succumb to the fate of every great power that has preceded us.
Dec '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
This is such a telling example, especially coming from Pickens, the King of Natural Gas. The primary difference between us and the farmer, is that we are not waiting for the hand of the almighty. We are simply keeping the floodgates closed. (e.g. Keystone XL, Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico)
Edited on Nov 16, 2011 at 4:50amMar '11
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Beasley
Percival
Beasley
I just finished reading that same article. I find myself swaying between siding with VDH or Mark Steyn. Britain enjoyed as many glory days as we have, and watch the sunset for the final time on their global dominance during WWII.
We are the most innovative and successful country in the world. Yet we will not be granted an infinite number of mistakes before we succumb to the fate of every great power that has preceded us. · Nov 16 at 4:45am
Ok, then - a shorter video version.
It's off to work for me. I've gates to storm.
Edited on Nov 16, 2011 at 4:53amRe: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
I'm okay with that if it's because the values that made America what it was have been so successfully exported that we lose in fair competition with countries that are more free, more innovative, and harder-working. I'm not okay with it if it only means that everyone has lost.
Dec '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
I'm okay with that if it's because the values that made America what it was have been so successfully exported that we lose in fair competition with countries that are more free, more innovative, and harder-working. I'm not okay with it if it only means that everyone has lost. · Nov 16 at 4:56am
Agreed. It's hard to say who could take up the free-society battle cry. Maybe a former soviet block country or someone in Southern Asia.
In all honestly it wouldn't break my heart if the US started to break up or at least had a radical states rights movement. I would be more than happy to move home to Idaho or even stay in Colorado after New York, Illinois and California were forced to foot the bill for the monstrosities they have created.
Mar '11
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Beasley
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism? · Nov 16 at 3:47am
I'm not sure. Remember, I live in Turkey, so it's hard to tell. I'll be in New York in December, and I'll be curious to see what people say. · Nov 16 at 3:54am
My sense is that Americans (particularly those under 30) are incredibly optimistic about their own future and terribly pessimistic about everyone else's future.
Sep '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
There's a big difference between expressing principles and living by them. It's the second part that seems to be fading, and that's what makes me feel depressed. Americans are as polarized today as Protestants and Catholics were during the English Reformation, when figureheads changed regularly and policy approaches went from inside out to outside in every time someone died (in this case, gets removed from the front pages of our newspapers and the ubiquitous huff-puff web pages). ... It's the self-righteousness that drives me nuts, and the way it's emphasized in most reports—that and the very very cheap grace of running extension cords from MacDonald's to one's bedrazzled tent. I want to do what Cher does in Moonstruck: slap their pampered little faces and yell "Snap out of it!"
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Casey
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Beasley
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism? · Nov 16 at 3:47am
I'm not sure. Remember, I live in Turkey, so it's hard to tell. I'll be in New York in December, and I'll be curious to see what people say. · Nov 16 at 3:54am
My sense is that Americans (particularly those under 30) are incredibly optimistic about their own future and terribly pessimistic about everyone else's future. · Nov 16 at 5:34am
That's a very interesting comment. I wonder what it means?
Mar '11
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Casey
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Beasley
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism? · Nov 16 at 3:47am
I'm not sure. Remember, I live in Turkey, so it's hard to tell. I'll be in New York in December, and I'll be curious to see what people say. · Nov 16 at 3:54am
My sense is that Americans (particularly those under 30) are incredibly optimistic about their own future and terribly pessimistic about everyone else's future. · Nov 16 at 5:34am
That's a very interesting comment. I wonder what it means? · Nov 16 at 5:53am
Get the government off my back so I can successfully pursue my dreams but the government really ought to do something for them. (the poor, the unemployed, the obese, the victims of a warm globe...)
May '10
Re: Occupy Wall Street: Good Journalism
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Beasley
Do you think Americans are all out of optimism? · Nov 16 at 3:47am
I'm not sure. Remember, I live in Turkey, so it's hard to tell. I'll be in New York in December, and I'll be curious to see what people say. · Nov 16 at 3:54am
Ooohhhh! When? Humza and Emily and I were hoping to have a Christmas/Holiday Rico soirée. You could be the guest of honor! If the dates work I will bring my daughter, who can talk to you about what some young people are thinking.