Story and photo by Jacob Weber
SAN DIEGO–Daniel seemed to relish telling me his stories about “going to war” in Seattle and of his arrests for speaking out against the Iraq War. He seemed to truly enjoy attending these rallies, which made as little sense to me as a soldier re-enlisting into the military for the fun of war.
Although the consequences of common combat are infinitely more dire than a presumably peaceful protest, still, that Daniel seemed able to simultaneously hold in mind both indignation and satisfaction, even eagerness—this apparent ambivalence was foreign and unsettling to me.
Is protesting really a cause for excitement? Doesn’t direct-action normally mean that you feel wronged in some way? Aren’t fun and frustration supposed to be at odds? My intention was to find out. Perhaps Daniel knew better than I– that, at protests, there is room for both anger and amiability–after all, soon after stepping off the trolley in downtown, I would join my first protest: Occupy San Diego.
Hippies and anarchists are apparently common at any protest, excluding, I still suppose, those of the Tea Party. Both kinds of protestor were in force—noticeably more of the former than latter–at Children’s Park, near the San Diego Convention Center, when I arrived. However, dwarfing both constituencies was the number of seemingly “average” Americans, having showed up sharply dressed and seeming mad as hell.
Protestors, old and young alike, aimed much of their anger towards corporate greed, sociopathic bankers, and, above all, an overall lack of a democratic process in our society. Yet as I moved through the crowd, listening to some conversations and partaking in others, I noticed some incongruity of aims between certain demographics of activists.
The seeming consensus among older activists was disillusionment stemming from the deregulation of Wall Street under Bill Clinton, which legalized “speculation”–engagement in business transactions involving considerable risk but offering the chance of large gains–with money deposited in commercial banks, such as Wells-Fargo, Bank of America, and Chase.
Meanwhile, the younger crowd at the demonstration seemed to be focused on frustration by the burden of student loans and a lack of employment by which to repay them. As for an overall consensus: the movement seemed insistent that large organizations, namely corporations and labor unions, are running our political system, countering the interests of most Americans.
We began to march.
The police were incredibly cooperative, blocking traffic and ensuring everyone’s safety—a contradiction to the apparent atmosphere of Occupy protests in other cities, where activists and onlookers have reported pepper-spraying and baton-waving by Peace Officers.
We marched about a mile out from Children’s Park, up to the City Administration Building, chanting anti-greed and pro-democratic messages along the way. After hooting and hollering at the government office for twenty minutes or so, we made our way back down to the park. After a half hour or so of rest, we spontaneously began to march, along a similar path as before, carrying the same message to the ears of downtown residents and, with any luck, to our government.
Throughout my time at the Occupy San Diego, there was a shared energy in the crowd that is difficult to describe, yet easy to understand if you had been there. The practice of privatizing gains and socializing losses in our financial system reeks of corruption, and everybody smells it. The reason most of us showed up at the rally was because a large number of corporations recently received multi-billion-dollar bailouts, while everybody else simply got sold out.
All in all, I came to better understand Daniel’s anticipation and excitement. Moreover, although I’d certainly prefer a world where protest is unnecessary, still, through my experiences at Occupy San Diego, I have decided that, though there will always be injustice in the world, by banding together with fellow citizens to address abuse, we become inspired to a sense of solidarity and purpose.
It seems that the movement will continue until a satisfactory policy-change occurs, so I encourage everyone to head downtown, to Children’s Park, and experience direct-action firsthand. With the injustice of our government and the resolve of these citizens as my indicators, I “speculate” that protestors will be here in downtown for a while.
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Weber is a student at Grossmont College and a member of the GC Speech and Debate team; he may be contacted at [email protected]
