A reader writes:
Yesterday, thousands of protestors converged on Oakland for the first general strike on the city since 1946 and successfully brought the port to a standstill. Aside from the unfortunate actions of a few anarchists that resulted in the vandalism of several businesses, the strike was a peaceful and genuinely moving affair. I was present, and marveled at the cross-section of people who had taken the time out of their day to express their dissent: folks of all ages, races, occupations, political affiliations (one man carried a sign that said "Conservatives for the 99%") were there. How can you ignore images such as this? Those aren't all dirty hippies, you know.
Live-blog coverage of the protests here. A Flickr gallery here. More photos and videos here. And here is a helpful history of general strikes in the US – "rare events." Update from a reader:
Let me get this straight: shutting down a major engine of the local economy and imperiling the livelihoods of people (think about truckers who get paid by the payload, not by the hour) is a "success" and "genuinely moving"? If that's a success, I am rooting for the failure of these people all day long. These are the real nihilists in our politics today, with no clear aim other than spreading economic harm for its own sake. How utterly petulent and self-indulgent.
Another pushes back:
Your reader provides a shallow critique calling the Oakland protesters petulant and self-indulgent. Of course the protesters know the stakes of shutting down the port. That's what give these rare events their potency. When the system of democratic capitalism appears to be rigged by the major players, both government and private enterprise, how can the citizenry be heard? Perhaps your reader thinks people should write to Congress, contact customer-service lines, and simply keep playing the rigged game. That would be unfortunate, and about as workable as trickle-down economic theory.
(Photo by Caitlin Esch/KQED)
The Dish 