Watching Protest on Television

Earlier this week I linked to the Occupy Wall Street live stream. I guess live stream here should be in quotation marks as whomever filmed and posted live footage from the protests uploaded the footage in shorter form. Also, there were activisty commercials that played in-between each segment, which was disconcerting to me. Anyway, I think a healthy suspicion of a protest movement inspired by Adbusters is of necessary order.

I wasn’t glued to the live stream of Occupy Wall Street like I was to those broadcasting protests across the Middle East earlier this year. I am sure it was the same for many of you–you might not have even watched the live stream at all. But what I did see of the live stream was interesting, like an absurdist play is interesting, but also comedic and tragic. I recall one segment in particular. An enthusiastic young man was talking to the camera person about how he just arrived from several circles where individuals spoke about ‘the problem,’ and its possible ‘solutions.’ I had to infer and impute a number of slogans that I read via CNN or Adbusters so as to come to some understanding of what ‘the problem’ was. Something like a dissatisfaction with Wall Street, with global capitalism, with capitalist sovereignty, something that setting up a Tarhir Square in downtown Manhattan would begin to resolve. When he finished speaking he declared that a march was happening that very minute and took off by himself, declaring the immanent march through a megaphone.

The spectacle of this guy, or, the spectacle he was attempting to create and spread, is not what left an impression on me. Rather, it was the language he utilized to diagnosis the problems of capitalist sovereignty and how to effectively treat it. I am sure many of the people that read this blog know someone, or maybe you are someone, that works/worked for some kind of non-profit. On this assumption, I am sure you are familiar with the ‘professional activist’ archetype that so many young non-profit employees emulate, simulate, etc. There is a language, indeed an entire culture, that is assumed in this non-profit world that is expected of these young professional activists that is thoroughly enmeshed with the coarticulation of capitalism and liberal democracy–this is precisely the language and culture that this young man was relying on to diagnose and treat the woes of capitalist sovereignty. It was a language and a culture that was identifiable throughout these segments, they are still up if you are interested in seeing them by the way.

But this was the comedic/tragic part of the live stream. Right, that much enthusiasm and energy was expended in some kind of attempt at revolution while simultaneously employing the very language and logic of oppression that was being protested against. The question I asked myself watching this guy was, why doesn’t he seem to understand that capitalism and liberalism are not going to revolutionize the crises of capitalism and liberalism? As this ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement spreads, as those denizens of San Fransisco would love it to, if in fact it spreads, I think this might be constant question to some of us who bother watching the live streams as people vocalize their discontent on the basis of this platform. Also, I guess by way of a side note, it was interesting to see this guy talk and think about some tweets shared between two Goldman Sachs employees during the protest: “A#1 (on protesters): I was going to make a sign… Goldman Sachs: Win, cheat, or quit. We don’t fucking lose – ever. A#2 (laughs): Or… ‘Get rich and buy your own shit. Protests and riots are for pussies. #occupywallstreet.”

In any event, Jodi Dean seems to be up on the media coverage.

–MLA

Filed under: Everything's Political, activism, Adbusters, Jodi Dean, Occupy Wall Street, protest