The Lady Doth Not Protest Too Much
Occupy Wall Street has been going on for a couple of weeks here and, as of last week, other parts of the country held similar demonstrations. I’ve been mostly uninterested in all of this and, as it’s becoming clear the movement’s no longer nascent, I’ve started to wonder why. In 2003, I protested in Times Square against going to war with Iraq, and in 2008, knocked on doors throughout Pennsylvania for then-candidate Barak Obama. In The New York Times, Jeremy Varon, a historian at the New School, said of Occupy Wall Street, “This is the Obama generation declaring their independence from his administration.” So why haven’t I been there? The flip answer is, “I have a job.” But not once this weekend did I think, “I want to skip yoga, and go see what they’re up to in Washington Square Park [where the protests have expanded to].” In fact, I actually avoided that area while I was out dress shopping. I’m sort of embarrassed typing that. According to the same essay in the Times, written by Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism at Columbia, “Revulsion in the face of a perverse economy is felt by many respectable people: unemployed, not yet unemployed, shakily employed and plain disgusted.” It should be my revulsion too – and it is. So why am I not there? Am I too old? Am I too jaded? Do I no longer see the appeal in anarchy? I am angry at the grotesque inequities in our country — and I don’t doubt that most everyone who’s part of these protests is earnest, intelligent, and, maybe most important, putting off good vibes. And, yet, they’re also romantic, fluid, and unwilling to be pinned down. They’re spending a lot of time talking. Some people love round conversations that seem like they could go on longer than episodes of “Keeping Up With Kardashians,” but unless they’re happening in a dimly lit room that’s well stocked with wine or poker chips, I’d rather be reading a book by myself. I get frustrated, and overwhelmed, by too much talk. Maybe this makes me narrow-minded or unimaginative, or just part of the liberal mainstream that has a lot of other shit to do. My time as an-on-the-ground protestor has most likely passed, which makes me a little sad, but I hope I’m not out of the game entirely. When Occupy Wall Street and the liberal mainstream come together, and I believe they will, I’ll be there, in my new dress.
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