"It's turning into us against, them," says a 36-year-old Occupy Boston
protester quoted by the Boston Herald's Howie Carr. Wait, wasn't that
the idea? Not exactly. It turns out that when he says "them," the guy is
referring not to billionaire Jewish bankers but street vagrants. "They
come in here and they're looking at it as a way of getting a free meal
and a place to crash, which is totally fine, but they don't bring
anything to the table at all."
The same is true in New York, where, according to the Daily News,
"Zuccotti Park has become a haven for the homeless," who are abandoning
shelters and camping out at the park, "enticed by the allure of free
food and a community of open-minded people." But as in Boston,
open-mindedness goes only so far. "We have compassion toward everyone.
However, we have certain rules and guidelines," says Lauren Digioia, 26,
who belongs to the "sanitation committee":
"If you're going to come here and get our food, bedding and
clothing, have books and medical supplies for no charge, they
need to give back," Digioia said. "There's a lot of takers
here and they feel entitled.
As is often the case, the Onion anticipated all of this, in a 2002
article titled "Marxists' Apartment a Microcosm of Why Marxism Doesn't
Work":
The filthy, disorganized apartment shared by three members of
the Amherst College Marxist Society is a microcosm of why the
social and economic utopia described in the writings of Karl
Marx will never come to fruition, sources reported Monday. . . .
The situation is familiar to Donald Browning, author of Das
Kouch: A History Of College Marxism, 1970-1998.
"When workers willfully become less productive, the economy
of the household suffers," Browning said. "But in a society
where a range of ability naturally exists, someone is bound
to object to picking up the slack for others and end up getting
all pissy, like Josh does."
According to Browning, the group's lack of productivity
pervades their lives, with roommates encouraging each other
to skip class or work to sit on the couch smoking pot and
talking politics. . . .
The lack of funds and the resulting scarcity breeds not only
discontent but also corruption. Although collectivism only
works when all parties contribute to the fullest extent, Foyle
hid the existence of a $245 paycheck from roommates so he
would not have to pay his back rent, in essence refusing to
participate in the forced voluntary taxation that is key to
socialism. Even worse, Dorff, who is entrusted with bill
collection and payment, recently pocketed $30, a theft he
claimed was "for the heating bill" but was put toward buying
drinks later that night.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports on the "library" at Occupy Boston,
which carries a full range of titles from Z to Zinn. The best detail is
this: "The librarians have eschewed the Dewey Decimal System, concerned
by historical accounts that portray Melvil Dewey, its inventor, as a
racist and misogynist."
Take a college humanities department and deprive it of all the support
it receives from capitalist enterprises--investment income from the
institution's endowment, tuition money from well-heeled parents,
subsidies from taxpayers--and what do you get? A bunch of crazy
freeloaders sleeping in a park.
--
"If Barack Obama isn't careful, he will become the Jimmy Carter of the
21st century."
