tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post4799758243754291718..comments2023-08-14T11:44:27.299-04:00Comments on Jeremiah's<br> Vanishing New York: Slacktivists Eat CakeJeremiah Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11791516443125872364noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-73110068413621851492008-07-16T19:30:00.000-04:002008-07-16T19:30:00.000-04:00wekcome back, L'Emmerdeur.wekcome back, L'Emmerdeur.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-20221434619745811752008-07-15T21:08:00.000-04:002008-07-15T21:08:00.000-04:00Um, "malaka" is Greek for "wanker", used as we use...Um, "malaka" is Greek for "wanker", used as we use the words "idiot" or "asshole". No racial connotations whatsoever.<BR/><BR/>What these protesters need to understand is that the reversal of all the gentrification is coming, whether the powers that be like ti or not. Gentrification requires pools of money and credit. Mony has not been created in many, many years in the US, and credit is being destroyed at breakneck speed.<BR/><BR/>Poor, unemployed yuppies don't gentrify. They move away.<BR/><BR/>Be patient. Time is on your side. But I hope you realize that with the good will come the bad - lots and lots of crime.L'Emmerdeurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03004040303058104490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-5469961588772525692008-07-14T12:07:00.000-04:002008-07-14T12:07:00.000-04:00Honestly, while I side and sympathize with the pro...Honestly, while I side and sympathize with the protestors, lukewarm protests like this really accomplish nothing. Unless the protestors get rowdy and are willing to be arrested, media coverage will die out, and hence pressure on the community board, individual landlords who want to avoid bad pr, and ultimately the state legislature will cease. If people want real change rather than some sort of participatory pleasure in voicing your opposition to gentrification, then they need to invest substantial amounts of time and money in lobbying the people who actually have the power to change things. This means lobbying albany, perhaps forming a legal fund to press whatever claims there are, and much more image control. Honestly, no politician is going to care about a protest if it the flyers advertising it are crude, contain questionable racial rhetoric (i.e. "malaka"), and just amount to yelling slurs at random businesses and residents. Effective protest, seen somewhat in the U.S. during the 60s and 70s, and typified by the 68' may day revolt in France, necessarily involves more than chants and marchings: those protested must feel threatened. This doesn't mean violence, but politicians don't care much about the disenfranchised until what they perceive as their constituents feel threatened by the disenfranchised.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-32882479246774540242008-07-14T10:12:00.000-04:002008-07-14T10:12:00.000-04:00The police were following the orders of their lord...The police were following the orders of their lord and master Bloomie, who undoubtedly told them to keep visible control of the protest so that the surrounding yunnies wouldn’t feel as threatened as they did last time (I told you that one made an impression on them). It’s unfortunate that the cops did this job so well, thereby siding against their own economic self-interest, but I suppose they feared for their jobs. After all, if things really got interesting and the yunnies’ parents sued the city for failing to protect them, you can bet there would be political and legal consequences for the officers on the scene, civil-service protections or not. It’s an unfortunate bind for them to be in. <BR/>Still, some of the blame for the lukewarm character of the protest has to rest with the protestors themselves. To be lulled by food and then flake out in the middle of the protest is sad and embarrassing, especially for people supposedly there to fight for their homes and businesses! I think this protest set a very bad precedent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-35111531945108576372008-07-14T08:49:00.000-04:002008-07-14T08:49:00.000-04:00The second to last picture on your FLICKR slidesho...The second to last picture on your FLICKR slideshow really struck a nerve with me. <BR/><BR/>Once again I really do feel sorry for the police.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand though, did the police feel with this being the summer of 2008 that some of the protestors might start feeling a little too nostalgic?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com