Sunday, December 18, 2011

Return of the "Radical Chic" Evening? (Hardly)


This is an eye opener as far as understanding what the young, uninvolved (except with themselves) hipsters in New York think of the Occupy Wall Street movement (and a lot else).

It addresses the hope for involving the rich young in the (revolutionary?) movement.

Right. Good luck with that. Wonder how many of them like Warren Buffett are willing to pay more (their fair share of) taxes?


Saturday, Dec 17, 2011

The Return of the Radical Chic Evening

Penn Badgley, Zoe Kravitz and other young NY celebs throw a sparkly party for Occupiers. Confusion rules.

“Whatever the reasons, we’re all in the same room, and that’s pretty powerful, right? We’re participating in a conscientious … participation.”

Penn Badgley, an actor on the hit series “Gossip Girl,” has a face too mathematically perfect to be truly interesting, but at this celebrity consciousness-raising gig for Occupy Wall Street, he looks genuinely excited. He bounds onto the stage, grabs the microphone and yells “mic check!” Invited guests from the Occupy movement wince at this earnest misunderstanding of the people’s mic and its reworking of the relationship between society and spectacle in an age where politics takes place mostly on television.

In the early days of Zuccotti Park, the people’s mic was developed as a solution to the police ban on electric amplification. The order ended up being a gift to the movement, as voices were carried by chanting a speaker’s words back to them — which kept remarks pithy and aware of the audience.

In the chic Bowery Hotel, the formula isn’t quite working.

I hope no one's holding your breath.

4 comments:

Tom Harper said...

It's a nice gesture, I guess -- young trustfunded VIPs showing their "empathy" the the Occupy movement and the 99%. It's straight out of that Jello Biafra song "Love Me I'm a Liberal." Go to a trendy party, make a few politically correct soundbites, and then go on to the next party.

Cirze said...

Shucks, Tom,

I thought it was from "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"

Because the one emotion I caught from this nonradical chic crowd was how bored they became immediately when forced to listen to stories about those in real need, and how many were just looking around the room wondering if they were being perceived as being properly "concerned" (or where the next party would be).

Radical? I don't think any of these children know what that word means.

Or "need."

Thanks for commenting!

Marc McDonald said...

I've long believed that, try as they might, wealthy people simply will never have even the slightest clue as to what it's like to be poor, or even working class.
These days, life is so brutal for the poor that I don't even think government employees know what it's like out here in the capitalist jungle.
I have a friend who works for the government, in the civilian sector.
He makes around $100,000/year and enjoys fantastic benefits, 7 weeks vacation, loads of sick days and holidays and he has a nice fat pension to look forward to.
Oh, and he's a hard-core Republican, too.
I've talked to him and he seems to think that the incredible benefits he enjoys on the taxpayers' dime are common in the private sector.
I tried to explain to him that NOBODY in the private sector gets 7 weeks vacation, or any kind of pension at all. But I don't think my friend grasps this. He continues to listen to Rush and he's convinced that the real problem is that U.S. workers are fat, lazy and overpaid. It's bizarre.
I myself worked in the newspaper biz for years. I never had any holidays, vacation, or even sick days. If I had the full-blown flu, I was forced to come into work or risk being fired.
I've talked to friends from Europe and they think I'm exaggerating when I tell them this. They simply can't understand how a society like ours screws over workers in such a vicious manner. "Why don't you people take to the streets?" one French person asked me.
Well, the OWS are trying to do this (even though they're facing police brutality and pepper spray and clubs). I guess it's a start.

Cirze said...

Thank you, Marc.

You've focussed my thoughts powerfully with your prose.

And I speak for tens of millions, I'll bet.

Friend?

Anyone who continues to spout Rush/Savage/Beckkk nonsense is not doing it ignorantly.

They know.

They just don't want to know. Or admit that they know.

And they sure as hell don't want to be held to account for their opinions.

And they will if the Rethugs don't take back the formal levers of the government quickly.

Thanks so much for your comments. I always look forward to reading your blog.

Love you,

S