Monday, February 23, 2009

Protesting done wrong

I don't know how many people followed the Take Back NYU protest, where a bunch of kids took over the food court for two days. I had to walk past this crap on my way home from class. They wanted outrageous demands like for NYU to open it’s books, for NYU to get involved in the Gaza conflict (“We’ll send our crack team of flashlight security guards there right now!"), and more use of the library. Oh stupid kids.

In the video below, after NYU heads had enough of this childish crap, they walked right past the “barricades” the protesters put up.

In the video I noticed the following things said by the protesters:

  • “We’re trying to do this as a democracy” – No you’re not, you took over a food court. The definition of that is not democracy but actually terrorism.
  • To the incoming security guards: "You can’t come here this is NYU student free space” – Ummmm, no it’s not. It’s space OWNED by NYU and students are allowed to use it. Because you go to a school does not mean you own real-estate.
  • “Brutality! You’re on camera” – This is said to security guards as they are walking away!
  • “You may not detain us!” – Actually they can, you’re trespassing, you’re breaking the law. You can be arrested.
  • From one protester to another: “We’re using consensus as to how we will proceed” – Ummm, no you’re not, you’re just stalling before the cops that have you surrounded arrest you. You were NEVER in control. The administration let you play a game that they could have ended anytime they felt like it, and they did.

I understand that NYU wanted to avoid looking like the bad guy, so they allowed the kids to play their little protest game, but if I were in charge I would have just had the police clear them out the first night. All in all this was not a real protest, but just something that a 40 year old man can look back and say, “Remember that time we took over the food court? That was awesome.”

5 comments:

Bob W. said...

Take Back NYU rocks!

I love those guys! A team of the world's best comedic screenwriters could not have scripted their pathetic last stand to play out any funnier. Corporate Water???? That's the most patently bourgeois thing I've heard in a long time. Water is bad, Apple is good? Take Back NYU! is going to ruin the Apple brand altogether; Apple is marketed for slackers, NOT hippies.

And why did Take Back! narrow their goals when they were doing so well and capturing the imagination of the worldwide public? Why did they not fight to achieve protection for the Cape Fear River shiner, one of the most endangered fishes in North America? Or fight to replace the hurtful "MILF" genre of adult film with the less judgmental "experienced women" title?

If only they had not been so pragmatic, this really could have been a changed world. . .

Josh Homer said...

Bob,
They stopped short of their goals, if only they had worked harder at putting up chairs to stop the police, or made their banners wittier, or did not refuse the free meals NYU provided them because they felt the vendor used prision labor. If only their revolt had an actual ecomoic basis, if only they were not spoiled little rich kids who could afford to go to NYU.

Curtis said...

I don't understand what their point is. You city folk - weird!

amypatrick said...

Aaahhh... to be young, white, entitled, and bored.

Josh Homer said...

Hey Amy,
That's the title of my autobiography!!!