General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Does anyone believe that the CHOP protest achieved something? [View all]brooklynite
(94,502 posts)Have I been to the CHOP zone? No. Have I been to Pike-Pine? Regularly. My MIL live about five blocks from the zone, so I'm very familiar with the area, the shops and residences disrupted by the movement, the opinions of the people in the community, etc.
I'm also familiar with OCCUPY WALL ST, which set up shop outside my wife's office. Both started out as policy-oriented protests, but evolved into insular "autonomous communities" of like-minded people reinforcing their opinions rather than spreading them to the larger body politic. In the case of CHOP, they seemed to think that an anarchic (no governing structure) commue (no capitalist oppression) could thrive without a policing function. Four shootings later.....
No, I'm not fixated on "law and order", but neither am I impressed with chaos. Change comes with a dose of reality. You work within the system because that's where change occurs.