I seem to recall a lot of skepticism and negativity about the potential popular appeal of the "work less, consume less, degrowth" slogans. There is actually quite a bit of analysis behind those slogans for anyone who cares to investigate. Some of it is puerile. Some of it is incisive. I don't agree with all of it. There is a strain of nihilism and activism for activism's sake in the Adbusters, Degrowth, Work Less Party orbit. But maybe now would be a good time for "leftists" to start to sort through and evaluate the arguments they've been dismissing out of hand as "too radical" to even be worth considering.
> Anti-Wall Street protests take off thanks to a Canadian idea > > ROD MICKLEBURGH > > VANCOUVER > > From Wednesday's Globe and Mail > > Last updated Wednesday, Oct. 05, 2011 9:11AM EDT > > > Several thousand kilometres from the heart of the growing anti-Wall Street > protests in New York, Kalle Lasn says he is astounded that an idea he and a > few others hatched in Vancouver is now expanding across North America and > beyond. > > “Of course, we had some hopes and dreams, but we had no idea it would turn > into a movement in the United States, then into Canada, and become global,” > said Mr. Lasn, co-editor of the influential, Vancouver-based, anti-consumer > publication Adbusters, which first called for a people’s occupation of Wall > Street. > > “The way this has bubbled to the top is quite amazing. We really didn’t > expect it.” > > After the weekend arrest of more than 700 demonstrators on the Brooklyn > Bridge, American unions are joining in. The next big protest is scheduled > Thursday in Washington and strategy sessions are being called in Canadian > cities to plan similar actions. > > The escalating wave of protests stems from a routine brainstorming session > of five or six people this past summer at Adbusters. > > “We just felt America was ripe for a Tahrir moment of its own,” said Mr. > Lasn, referring to the throngs who congregated in Cairo’s central square > earlier this year to bring down Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. > > The group conceived a centre spread in the magazine’s July edition, > depicting a ballerina delicately balancing on the iconic Wall Street bull, > with the words: “What is our one demand?....#OCCUPYWALLSTREET, September 17, > Bring tent.” > > The slogan quickly captivated Adbusters’ 90,000-strong network of > self-styled “culture jammers.” Word began to spread. > > “We just did this thing and watched as it started to grow and grow,” Mr. > Lasn marvelled. “Then some groups in New York got behind it. The buzz grew, > and suddenly it took off, and now it’s a real movement.” > > Mr. Lasn believes that the swelling anti-corporate protests, which have yet > to focus on specific demands, have the potential to revive the long-dormant > left wing in the United States. > > “I was scared the loony left would take over again, and the whole thing > would fizzle into nothing. But real, substantial people are turning up, > people with a bit of backbone,” said Mr. Lasn, who describes himself as > being old enough to remember the sixties. > > “They are starting to have the same sort of chutzpah that the Tea Party > has. That’s what the political left sorely needs.” > > Protests have been slower to come to Canada, Mr. Lasn said, because > economic conditions are much worse in the United States. > > “They are losing their jobs, their houses. Nearly 40 per cent of young > people between 19 and 25 can’t find work. There is a lot of anger out there. > I think that the moment was absolutely ripe for this to happen.” > > In the United States, protests are springing up from Florida to Boston to > Los Angeles. > > “This could have legs to it,” observed *Moneyball *author Michael Lewis, > who has also written about Wall Street and global economic turmoil. > > Activists in Toronto and Vancouver are holding meetings Friday and Saturday > to plan protest occupations starting Oct. 15. > > Young people, with their Internet and social media savvy, are in the > forefront of Occupy Wall Street, Mr. Lasn said. > > “Egypt and Tahrir Square proved that a few smart people on the Internet can > call for something and, if it captures the public’s imagination, it can get > tens of thousands of people out on the streets.” > > Adbusters, meanwhile, is relishing its role in what Mr. Lasn calls one of > the most hopeful moments in the magazine’s 20-year history. > > “This was all cooked up right here at Adbusters. It’s a Canadian > adventure,” he said. > > In the past, the publication has galvanized action around campaigns such as > Buy Nothing Day and Digital Detox Week. “But this takes the cake,” Mr. Lasn > said. > > -- Sandwichman
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