Now that national news outlets have picked up the story, the student union will be having a press conference today at noon (EST). We were also ordered a pizza by some wonderful people in Madison, Wisconsin in a show of solidarity.
These are my friends! They are still in the building at the time of this writing. Given that the newly-elected student government is overwhelmingly affiliated with the student unions, this is quite an excellent way to introduce the new student administration.
The rally for which I made a flyer has just become a rally to support the students currently occupying the administration’s office in Old Queens, one of the original campus buildings at Rutgers. My friends in the student union are having a ‘study-in’ to protest the administration’s complicity with the gradual privatization of the university.
Pittsburgh’s protesters have every reason to be mad at the G20 as the conference commences. These leaders represent the global economic hegemony, and the economic hierarchy they perpetuate is a stage in history that must come to an end.
The methods of the protesters, however, compromise their message. I have no problem with what others call “violence” against property, but I must call its effectiveness into question. Presently, at the very least, a majority of Americans see such acts as dangerous and radical. The message of such protesters, however intellectually robust and morally sound, will fall on deaf ears.
I have no desire to play by the capitalists’ rules, and I have no respect for any law passed to protect property acquired through dispossession. But direct action is not a uniformly good thing. I have the utmost respect for workers who go on strike or refuse to vacate their factories, but I hate to see those with whom I share political goals wasting their efforts on smashing storefronts. This harms the ruling class no more than a fly on a businessman’s arm. It may draw attention to the cause, but not all press is good press. The left’s efforts are much better spent on agitation and strikes.
This blog has been retired.
