Five Before Chaos

So I was in the zoo for much longer than I shoulda been last night (the one inside the arena). The Rage Against the Machine show apparently went off without a hitch, but having an aversion to the combination of “riot cops” and “cages” at this point in my life, I did the “insiders covering insiders” thing, as some have suggested.

Lemme address that point for a sec. I think this whole thing is the biggest farce I’ve ever had witness to. All of it. The pols backslap, preen, and shoot out the endless platitudes, hackneyed clichés, and false promises. The protesters also give their fair share of endless platitudes and hackneyed clichés, the only difference being they get ignored and sometimes get their heads bashed in.

As I’ve said repeatedly, for the most part, most of the protesters are on the right side of history, conspiracy theories notwithstanding. But I don’t see anything changing. My cynicism on both angles is deepened on the bus ride home every night, where I see endless amounts of homeless people who could care less about the Audacity of Hype or Free Mumia/Palestine/the Whales. They’re just barely surviving. And yes, I know, most of the things the protesters are fighting are directly tied to that. I just don’t see it changing much. If activism, as defined by some, were defined by actually accomplishing something instead of just doing something, there’d be a lot less activists. It does indeed make many feel more empowered. At this point in the game, it makes me feel even more frustrated, as there doesn’t seem to be much tangible progress. As a means of self-expression, it’s fantastic. As to results… meh.

And yeah, it’s easy to say, “well, what are YOU doing?” I think I’m doing something. Effective? I don’t know yet. I’m still waiting to see. But I’ve come to believe that it’s a war of information here.  But, hey, it’s easier to yell, I guess.

So yeah, we got access and I’m covering the monkey show inside. You and I have all seen the one on the outside… you don’t need to go to the convention to see that, and I’ve seen and been in it enough to know what’s going on. The access is about the inside. The inside is where the rot is, people.

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