by Michael Hauser What exactly has the Occupy Wall Street movement come to symbolize from a distance of ten years from its founding? For some, it is seen as a movement that lacked concrete demands, and in which decentralization and an anti-hierarchical sensibility were more important than a coherent political program. For others, it represents …
It was, I think, Barack Obama’s decision to rescue the banks and largely ignore the people that helped to create the political backdrop for Occupy. It was as though Obama’s campaign slogan of 2008, “Yes, we can,” had degenerated into “No, we can’t – at least not for you.” The political backlash this generated from …
Read morePolitically Non-Political: The 10th Anniversary of Occupy Tucson (Some Reflections)
Ten years ago on October 15, 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement arrived in Tucson. Energized people filled Armory Park and set up tents, then began to hold General Assemblies and working group meetings to organize the community that soon became Occupy Tucson. But where is it now? What is left of that once-cohesive group …
Read moreOn the Ten-Year Occuversary, It’s Time to Occupy the Archive
Mister Rogers? That hokey little kid’s show? Now we know: It was a stealth operation. Early in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood we see a lumpy little diorama built up of gaily painted wooden toy images, all of fields, and rivers, and trees, and houses, and animals, and the steam towers of …
In 2013 I was in the public library in Youngstown, Ohio, noticing something that would surprise any regular user of Pima County Public Library (PCPL) – old books. Specifically, in this case, several old books by the popular British playwright Noel Coward, including multiple copies of his celebrated play, “Blithe Spirit.” At that time I …
Read moreNoel Coward Reveals Bankruptcy of Library’s Book Collection Policy