I went out to hold a sign in downtown Concord MA to support the Thursday protests. I was there for an hour and a half. Alone. I am ashamed that the birthplace of the American revolution (and also the birthplace of Thoreau's non-violent protest concept) is so little involved in these historic actions to restore Democracy. I was thinking of going to stand on the north bridge and was imaging telling the (Minuteman Historic) Park Rangers that they are today's "redcoats" and royalists.
I had several reasons for going out.
- To support today's global protests
- To show that an older, reasonably middle class looking person supports the movement (it is not all DFHs).
- To get people to experience a couple of seconds of awareness. Perhaps they'll encounter "99%" again later in the day.
- To represent my town as not entirely soulless.
My sign just said "99%" but after standing there a while I added the word "Honk!" in smaller letters. I figured people would know what this means and there was no point in elaborating. But off hand I would say from peoples' expressions that lots of them do not know what "99%" means. Here is how it breaks down in the commuter population going through this prosperous (wannabe "1%" town):
- most people just drive bye, many on cell phones.
- many people get a faintly guilty look, if you meet their eyes
- most non-Anglo faces take on faintly puzzled look, and act as if they are having trouble reading the sign (which was in pretty simple easy-to-read letters)
- a small fraction (<10%) smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Some of them honked.
The "honkers" were mostly young people, or older women. Only a few older men honked.
- One guy in a blue pickup leans out and says "Idiot!".
So I spent a few minutes looking for a witty rejoinder. First thought was "f*ck you". Second though was to call him a fool. Then I started thinking about what kind of "information" leads this guy to be insulting to someone with a simple message? What does he know that leads him to thinking about and then calling me an idiot? I would bet this guy is FOX "news" viewer. Low information and largely misled by his sources. In the end, the right word for someone who has given up having their own thoughts is "slave". Should we not try to create a well-understood name for such people? The Republicans are good at creating branding and memes. So I think a concerted effort should be made to pick some good answer when we are called Idiots.
Suggestions are welcome.