posted by Amy Kingsley | Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012 at 5:11 PM
Slogans that capture the interdisciplinary anger of the Occupy movement don’t come much pithier than this: Shit is fucked up and bullshit. A protester at the F29 (that’s Feb. 29) protest at NV Energy in Las Vegas stenciled that onto a piece of cardboard.
The afternoon protest attracted an edgier, but smaller, crowd than earlier Occupy protests. Many of the 40-odd activists wore Anonymous masks and jackets with patches. Many came to protest the utility’s government-sanctioned monopoly, its use of coal-fired plants and, of course, its role in the 2010 explosion that damaged Main Street businesses.
But the larger issue that inspired similar protests nationwide was the influence of the lobbying organization ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. Protesters targeted NV Energy because they said it was a member of the group. ALEC is a public-private coalition of state legislators and corporate big wigs. According to a recent series in The Nation, the group crafts model legislation to deregulate industry and change tax laws that is subsequently introduced in statehouses across the country. Corporate members of ALEC can veto bills and alter the language as they see fit.
Some Nevada legislators belong to ALEC. And according to the blog Desert Beacon, some legislation remarkably similar to their model bills has surfaced in Carson City. If you believe that corporations shouldn’t have undue influence on the political process, you might agree with the sign-guy that it’s kinda fucked up.
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Panic made the sign and Wade was holding it!!! And Winter was selling the patches!!! Love it!! She was the one who made them too. I guess we are getting edgy, I like it, more edges, right!
I like it, except there were between 80-100 of us.
I left a comment on the CL page, and it actually published! That's never happened to me on any other local newpaper's website.
Kudos for that, CITYLIFE.
If I may, and I posted on this a few days ago.The Problem in a Nutshell
The problem with places like WalMart et al, beyond the obvious, is the fact the real damage from spending one's money there is monetary in nature.
How one articulates this issue onto a 3x5 sticker I don't know. What I do know is this single issue is the KEY to moving this country away from the abyss. It has not a lick of partisanship attached to it. It is as basic a concept as one can get. It affects all of us on a daily basis. The spending of one's money is the KEY.
Each dollar which leaves this country is eating us alive. To replace it the Government has only ONE answer, print more. Because of broken Tax Codes and Toxic Trade Policies (Seattle WTO 1999), this problem is accelerating.
How do we communicate this to others?
Good question. Let's brainstorm on that.