Arrest me whack-a-mole

[joshred]

What if instead of getting arrested we left Lafayette Park every time we were warned and reconvened there every time it was "safe"? They idea would be to be serious nuisance to Cuomo, possibly causing him to overreact or otherwise embarrass himself.

We can follow it up by delivering a message that says he's put more manpower into harassing us then he's he has into investing the rampant fraud and corruption on Wall Street.

[dylan]

Well we'd have to keep the threat that we'd stay. We could roll a 1d4 and stay only if it lands on a 3 for example.

[anonanon]

getting arrested for a cause is supposed to be a principled move. It is a statement that you are willing to put your body on the line and endure personal hardship for that cause. Playing a whack-a-mole game does not convey a principled stance against injustice.

The point is similar for non-violence, where the approach is to take a principled stand knowing you will suffer violence, and to accept the violence done upon you happily and with a smile and love for the person harming you. The equivalent here would be taunting then running away from someone about to harm you. That would be the person Ghandi called a coward, and he said it is better to physically defend yourself against violence than to be a the coward who runs if you were not truly capable of being nonviolent against violence.

[joshred]

I definitely appreciate everyone who put themselves in harms way, but getting arrested in the face of near certain dismissal isn't really comparable to any of the actions Ghandi undertook. I'm just throwing this out as an idea.

[flashmob]

Actually josh we have a plan just like this for next week...... Not going to post it online though.

[shage]

Nov 16, 2011 20:42:36 GMT -5 joshred said:

I definitely appreciate everyone who put themselves in harms way, but getting arrested in the face of near certain dismissal isn't really comparable to any of the actions Ghandi undertook.

That seems like a bit of a callous attitude. Nothing is 'near certain' about our occupation, and it would serve you well to remember that. Please don't let the current tolerance being displayed lull you into thinking you are safe and that this is a game. Simply being involved in the occupation in any way is comparable to some of the actions Gandhi and other inspirations undertook. You are taking a risk and so did all those who got arrested. There are no guarantees as to what the future holds.

While it's great to have a sense of humour and not be ultra serious all the time (this would lead to exhaustion), it is also worthwhile to remember that this all of this is risky and heroic, however authorities play their hand at one particular point in time.

[joshred]

I feel...unwanted...good night.

[anonanon]

not only did I not compare the situation to Gandhi's situation (rather, I made a comparison between two different misunderstandings of powerful tactics and manifestations of cowardly/unprincipled behavior) so this comment does not address my point, I also agree with shage that nothing is near-certain. We know there is talk about a special prosecutor. If you think it is so sure to be dismissed, then you have been arrested?

[joshred]

I was at my girlfriend's child's birthday party. Sometimes life gets in the way. The other six days of the week I was onsite. That's in addition to my full time job, part time course load, and volunteer work with Citizen Action.

Thank you Mike. Clearly you've elevated the level of discourse by turning this into a contest about who's the bigger activist. I can't stand these forums. I'm just going to ban myself before I really lose my shit.

[anonanon]

That's not my point at all - in fact since you bring it up I would say you are more involved since I've officially said to others I would not be participating anymore for certain reasons and even when I was I had no time to do as much as you do given my many obligations as well. We all have obligations and we all do (did) what we can. I would never criticize someone for not putting in as many hours as another. One among many reasons: as a radical it is totally against my principles to measure human worth in that way. I have a habit of being misunderstood on forums I guess.

So to clarify: you said there was next to no risk in getting arrested, and so I posed the question if you were arrested. If you said you had not been, I would have replied that perhaps there is a little more risk than you implied and you were not really in a position to say those arrested were not taking a risk. It doesn't just come in the form of legal proceedings - the press also publishes names, dates of birth and addresses. This can have negative consequences for people in employment opportunities or current jobs in smallbany, in personal relations, and (unlikely) in the form of crazy persons stalking and taking vigilante actions.

[nmbronedad]

Nov 16, 2011 17:32:32 GMT -5 dylan said:

Well we'd have to keep the threat that we'd stay. We could roll a 1d4 and stay only if it lands on a 3 for example.

Amazing that u said a D4.

[joshred]

Indeed. Perhaps a d8 would be better. A three could be stay put, seven could be stand around the perimeter and do the hokey pokey.